FOIA Request - Documents pertaining to covert surveillance programs, counterintelligence operations, and domestic intelligence activities (Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS))

April 17, 2024

COPS-2024-FOI-0166

Via Email (requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>)

Evan Reevs

Dear Mr. Reevs:

This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated April 17, 2024, to the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office). You requested the following information:

* Internal memoranda, directives, and communications delineating the planning, execution, and objectives of such covert operations, inclusive of any allusions to MK Ultra or analogous programs.
* Operational blueprints, strategies, and protocols dictating the conduct of surveillance and intelligence-gathering activities, encompassing any involvement or coordination with community policing endeavors.
* Records chronicling surveillance operations, encompassing logs, reports, and warrants procured for monitoring targeted individuals or groups, alongside any watch lists or databases utilized for tracking.
* Intelligence reports, evaluations, and analyses engendered as a consequence of surveillance and infiltration efforts, encompassing any evaluations concerning private contractors engaged in intelligence operations.
* Educational resources, manuals, and protocols utilized to instruct personnel involved in covert operations, encompassing any materials pertaining to community alerts or coordination with neighborhood watch groups.
* Budgetary documents germane to the financing and allocation of resources for covert surveillance and intelligence activities.
* Legal opinions, guidelines, and interpretations pertinent to the legality and oversight of covert programs.
* Post-operation analyses, appraisals, and evaluations undertaken to scrutinize the efficacy and ramifications of covert operations.

The COPS Office does not maintain records such as those that you described. The COPS Office is the grant-making component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing by the nation's state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources. This Office maintains records pertaining to the application for, and award and monitoring of COPS grant funding. The office also maintains records on its own administrative operations and procedures.

The FOIA operation for both the Department of Justice and the federal government is decentralized and each Department component and federal entity maintains and handles FOIA requests for its own records. Accordingly, you need to direct your letter to the office(s) you believe have records pertaining to the subject of your request. Additional information regarding the federal government’s administration of the FOIA, including a listing of FOIA contact information, is available at www.foia.gov<http://www.foia.gov>.

For your information, Congress excluded three discrete categories of law enforcement and national security records from the requirements of the FOIA. See 5 U.S.C. § 552(c). This response is limited to those records that are subject to the requirements of the FOIA. This is a standard notification that is given to all our requesters and should not be taken as an indication that excluded records do, or do not, exist.

You may contact the COPS Office FOIA Public Liaison at 202-514-1873 to discuss any aspect of your request. Additionally, you may contact the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) at the National Archives and Records Administration to inquire about the FOIA mediation services they offer. The contact information for OGIS is as follows: Office of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records Administration, 8601 Adelphi Road-OGIS, College Park, Maryland 20740-6001, e-mail at ogis@nara.gov<mailto:ogis@nara.gov>; telephone at 202-741-5770; toll free at 1-877-684-6448; or facsimile at 202-741-5769.

If you are not satisfied with my determination in response to this request, you may administratively appeal by writing to the Director, Office of Information Policy (OIP), United States Department of Justice, 441 G Street, NW, 6th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20530, or you may submit an appeal through OIP's FOIA STAR portal by creating an account following the instructions on OIP’s website: https://www.justice.gov/oip/submit-and-track-request-or-appeal. Your appeal must be postmarked or electronically transmitted within 90 days of the date of my response to your request. If you submit your appeal by mail, both the letter and the envelope should be clearly marked "Freedom of Information Act Appeal."

If you would like further information on the COPS Office, please visit our Internet site at https://www.cops.usdoj.gov.

Sincerely,

Nicole Lee

Government Information Specialist