Purchase records and 'less lethal' use records (Tulare County Sheriff)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the California Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. Purchase records, invoices, procurement documents and other documents sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency since July 1, 2015 of any of the following:
• Firearms of .50 caliber or greater
• Patrol rifles (as commonly denominated for law enforcement use) or assault rifles (as defined in Sections 30510 and 30515 of the California Penal Code)
• Wheeled vehicles that are built or modified to provide ballistic protection to their occupants, such as Bearcats or armored personnel carriers.
• Projectile launch platforms, such as 40mm projectile launchers, "bean bag" or specialty impact munition ("SIM") weapons, and "riot guns" used to disperse chemical agents
• Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD)

2. Purchase records, invoices, procurement documents and other documents sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency since July 1, 2018 of explosives and pyrotechnics, such as "flash bang" grenades and explosive breaching tools, and chemical weapons such as "teargas" and "pepper balls".

3. Records of deployment by your agency since January 1, 2020 of projectile launch platforms, such as 40mm projectile launchers, "bean bag" or specialty impact munition ("SIM") weapons, and "riot guns" used to disperse chemical agents; explosives and pyrotechnics, such as "flashbang" grenades and explosive breaching tools; and chemical weapons such as "teargas" and "pepper balls".

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, 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.

If you would like to discuss this request, please feel free to reach out to me, John Lindsay-Poland, American Friends Service Committee, at 510-282-8983.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, 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 10 calendar days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

John Lindsay-Poland

Dear Mr. McLean,

Thank you for your response to my Public Records Act request for purchase and deployment records of several types of equipment. I appreciate it.

In your response, I see records responsive to request #3. However, I don't see a response to requests #1 and #2, regarding purchase records, nor indication of whether you conducted a search for such records or whether a search is still pending completion.

These two points in my request were as follows:
1. Purchase records, invoices, procurement documents and other documents sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency since July 1, 2015 of any of the following:
• Firearms of .50 caliber or greater
• Patrol rifles (as commonly denominated for law enforcement use) or assault rifles (as defined in Sections 30510 and 30515 of the California Penal Code)
• Wheeled vehicles that are built or modified to provide ballistic protection to their occupants, such as Bearcats or armored personnel carriers.
• Projectile launch platforms, such as 40mm projectile launchers, "bean bag" or specialty impact munition ("SIM") weapons, and "riot guns" used to disperse chemical agents
• Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD)

2. Purchase records, invoices, procurement documents and other documents sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency since July 1, 2018 of explosives and pyrotechnics, such as "flash bang" grenades and explosive breaching tools, and chemical weapons such as "teargas" and "pepper balls".

Could you please let me know the status of the Sheriff's Office response to those requests?

Thank you for your work on this.

best,
John Lindsay-Poland

Dear Mr. McLean:

Thank you for your clarification sent December 1 regarding your response to my Public Records Act request for purchase records for certain types of equipment acquired by the Tulare County Sheriff's Office. I disagree with your assessment.

The pertinent portion of the request was for:

1. Purchase records, invoices, procurement documents and other documents sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency since July 1, 2015 of any of the following:
• Firearms of .50 caliber or greater
• Patrol rifles (as commonly denominated for law enforcement use) or assault rifles (as defined in Sections 30510 and 30515 of the California Penal Code)
• Wheeled vehicles that are built or modified to provide ballistic protection to their occupants, such as Bearcats or armored personnel carriers.
• Projectile launch platforms, such as 40mm projectile launchers, "bean bag" or specialty impact munition ("SIM") weapons, and "riot guns" used to disperse chemical agents
• Long-Range Acoustic Device (LRAD)

2. Purchase records, invoices, procurement documents and other documents sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency since July 1, 2018 of explosives and pyrotechnics, such as "flash bang" grenades and explosive breaching tools, and chemical weapons such as "teargas" and "pepper balls".

You state in your response that you are withholding responsive records based on subsections 6254 (f) and (k) of the California Government Code. However, there is nothing to suggest that purchase records would fall under either of these exemptions.

Subsection (f) relates to "complaints to, or investigations conducted by, or records of intelligence information or security procedures" of police agencies, or "that portion of those investigative files that reflects the analysis or conclusions of the investigating officer." Purchase records do not encompass such records, but instead typically include receipts, purchase orders, and invoices.

Subsection (k) refers to records "the disclosure of which is exempted or prohibited pursuant to federal or state law." We are not aware of any state or federal law that would exempt or prohibit the disclosure of purchase records. Neither are the dozens of other law enforcement agencies in California to whom we submitted an identical request and have disclosed voluminous purchase records for a wide range of equipment in response. If there is such a law that is pertinent to this request, please share it and explain how it applies to this request, since no other jurisdiction responding to this request seems to be aware of it.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this appeal.

Sincerely,
John Lindsay-Poland

Dear Mr. McLean,

Thank you for your assistance in fulfilling our PRA request last month. I am currently looking at the invoices you provided, and notice that there are redactions around what was purchased. Our request was for records "sufficient to show any and all disbursement of public funds for the acquisition by your agency" for the described items. Could you please provide the unredacted copy to fulfill our PRA request? I'm not sure if you're aware of it, the new law AB-481 will require this information to be made publicly available. Thanks so much for your help in answering our PRA request.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Tu
American Friends Service Committee

Dear Mr. McLean,

Thanks so much for your help with this request. We appreciate it.

Sincerely,
John Lindsay-Poland