Operation Something Bruin (Tenn.) • MuckRock

6 Communications
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Communications

From: Donald Triplett III

09/10/2014

Subject: None

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Tennessee's Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

Any and all copies of the following related to the multi-agency initiative entitled "Operation Something Bruin":
Written correspondence, contracts, agreements between agencies, budgets, investigative reports, press releases, digital media (photos, videos, etc), and documents related to internal investigations.

I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.

In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 7 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Donald Triplett III

From: Tracey E. Boyers

09/11/2014

Subject: None

To whom it may concern:

The Agency is in receipt of your request for records pertaining to "Operation Something Bruin". Your request was forwarded to me for review and response.

Please be advised that Tennessee did not participate in this initiative, and the Agency has no records in its possession pertinent to your request.

Tracey E. Boyers, Attorney
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
P.O. Box 40747
Nashville, TN 37204
615-781-6657 phone
615-781-5264 fax

Notice: This e-mail message as well as any attachment to this e-mail message contains legally privileged and confidential information from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, Legal Division. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not review, transmit, convert to hard copy, copy, use or disseminate this e-mail or any attachments to it. If you received this e-mail in error, please immediately notify us by return e-mail or telephone at 615-781-6657 and delete this message. Please note that if this e-mail message contains a forwarded message or is a reply to a prior message, some or all of the contents of this message or any attachments may not have been produced by the Legal Division. Receipt by anyone other than the intended recipient is not a waiver of the attorney-client or work product privilege.

From: Donald Triplett III

09/14/2014

Subject: None

Dear Ms. Boyers:

I would ask that another search be conducted, as the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency was specifically mentioned as part of the team involved in the initiative by the chief of Division of Law Enforcement for North Carolina's Wildlife Resources Commission:

“I must acknowledge the teamwork behind Operation Something Bruin and recognize those who contributed to its success,” said Col. Dale Caveny, chief of the Division of Law Enforcement, who accepted on behalf of Arnold and the Wildlife Commission.“The cohesive efforts of the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service on the federal level; and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency at the state level, made this investigation work. Here at home, I have to thank North Carolina’s wildlife commissioners for their personal support and the entire Wildlife Commission, especially the Division of Wildlife Management, for their assistance. And I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the sportsmen and public.”
(http://www.ncwildlife.org/News/NewsArticle/tabid/416/indexID/9439/Default.aspx)

Thank you for time and cooperation in this matter.

Sincerely,
Donald Triplett, III

From: Tracey E. Boyers

09/15/2014

Subject: None

Mr. Triplett,

The Agency has no records of any correspondence, contracts, agreements between agencies, budgets, investigative reports, press releases, digital media or internal investigations concerning Operation Something Bruin. As the attorney for the Boating and Law Enforcement division of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, agreements creating and authorizing multi-state/multi-agency investigations are reviewed by me prior to execution by our Executive Director. The Agency was not a party to any such agreement regarding Operation Something Bruin.

With regard to the comments made by Col. Caveny, I asked the Chief of the Boating and Law Enforcement Division, and the lead criminal investigator, who has oversight of and manages these operations on behalf of the Agency, to clarify what if any participation the Agency might have had in Operation Something Bruin. Neither individual had any knowledge that Operation Something Bruin was being conducted until after the operation ended and details were made public.

It is my understanding that law enforcement officers with the U.S. Forest Service served a federal search warrant in Tennessee, based on information obtained from Operation Something Bruin. Agency law enforcement personnel were asked by the federal officers to assist with execution of that warrant, which is a fairly common occurrence. Since no state charges were filed by TWRA law enforcement personnel, there is no documentation in our possession with regard to the execution of the warrant. Any documentation or records regarding that search warrant would be in the possession of the U.S. Forest Service. While the warrant stemmed from information obtained during Operation Something Bruin, Agency law enforcement personnel merely assisted the federal officers with a search conducted in Tennessee, and had no part in the underlying investigation that provided the information necessary to obtain the warrant.

Finally, it is possible that Agency law enforcement personnel could have shared information with law enforcement officers participating in Operation Something Bruin, however, we are not required to create records of conversations or phone calls with regard to routine information sharing with other law enforcement entities and I have found nothing to indicate that information actually was shared, or that Agency personnel had actual knowledge of Operation Something Bruin before details were reported by the media.

If you have further questions, you may contact me.

From: Donald Triplett III

09/15/2014

Subject: None

Ms. Boyers,

In your reply, you note that Agency law enforcement personnel were asked by federal officers to assist in the execution of the search warrant which was served in Tennessee.

In my original request, I asked for correspondence related to the Operation. As federal officials requested your Agency's assistance with the execution of the warrant, this would imply that some correspondence related to the Operation may exist. I would ask that any correspondence between the Forest Service and your Agency's law enforcement personnel regarding the request for assistance be provided.

I appreciate your time in this matter.

Sincerely,
Donald Triplett, III

From: Tracey E. Boyers

09/15/2014

Subject: None

Mr. Triplett,

Again, we have nothing in our possession that is pertinent to your request. There will be no correspondence between this Agency and the Forest Service regarding a request for assistance of that nature. That would have been handled on a local level by a simple phone call, as it is with other requests of that type received from federal agencies and other law enforcement entities serving warrants, etc. We do not receive formal requests for simple assistance of this nature. There is no correspondence between the Agency and the Forest Service concerning this matter.

If we had anything, we would certainly provide it. We do not have anything pertinent to your request. If you have questions, you may contact me.

Files

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Submitted	Sept. 10, 2014
Est. Completion	None