J20 Protests (Virginia State Police)
| Submitted | Jan. 22, 2017 |
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Communications
From: Curtis Waltman
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Compilations of equipment or munitions to be used, after action reports, incident reports, Special Event Threat Assessment (SETA) Reports, and any other reports on preparing for the protests in regard to the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington, DC on January 20th 2017 and January 19th 2017, as well as the Women’s March on January 21st 2017. I would also request department Telex messages for the January 20th 2017 and January 19th 2017 protests.
As a member of the news media working for MuckRock News I request that a fee waiver for my request be granted. My work has been published by national outlets. My work for Motherboard can be viewed at the following link: http://motherboard.vice.com/author/cwaltman
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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Curtis Waltman
From: Lambert, Tom, 1/Sgt.
Curtis Waltman
MuckRock
DEPT MR 32367
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516
This is in response to your request sent on Sunday, January 22, 2017, in which you requested:
Compilations of equipment or munitions to be used, after action reports, incident reports, Special Event Threat Assessment (SETA) Reports, and any other reports on preparing for the protests in regard to the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington, DC on January 20th 2017 and January 19th 2017, as well as the Women’s March on January 21st 2017. I would also request department Telex messages for the January 20th 2017 and January 19th 2017 protests.
You are hereby notified that, pursuant to § 2.1-3704(B)(4), the Virginia State Police is entitled to, and hereby asserts its right to claim, seven work days in addition to the five provided for in § 2.1-3704(B) in which to provide one of the responses set forth in § 2.2-3704.
Pursuant to Virginia Code § 2.2-3704(F), the Department is entitled to recover search and copying fees. The fees for your request will not be waived.
Thomas J. Lambert
First Sergeant
Office of Legal Affairs
Virginia Department of State Police
The information in this email and any attachments may be confidential and privileged. Access to this email by anyone other than the intended addressee is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient (or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this information to the intended recipient) please notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete this email and any copies from your computer and/or storage system. The sender does not authorize the use, distribution, disclosure or reproduction of this email (or any part of its contents) by anyone other than the intended recipient(s). No representation is made that this email and any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient.
From: Lambert, Tom, 1/Sgt.
Thank you for your recent e-mail to the Virginia Department of State Police (the Department). As you may be aware, requests for records of the Commonwealth, its agencies and political subdivisions are governed by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), §§ 2.2-3700 et. seq. of the Code of Virginia. Under FOIA the Department is not required to answer questions or create documents that do not already exist. In your email you requested copies of records in relation to the inauguration of Donald Trump in Washington, DC on January 20th 2017 and January 19th 2017, as well as the Women’s March on January 21st 2017. Those records requested were:
· Compilations of equipment or munitions to be used – The records sought would be contained in the Departments tactical plans and are exempt under section 2.2-3706.
· After action reports - The records sought would be contained in the Departments tactical plans and are exempt under section 2.2-3706.
· Incident reports – The records sought would constitute criminal investigative files and are exempt from disclosure under section 2.2-3706.
· Special Event Threat Assessment (SETA) Reports - The records sought constitute records relating relative to criminal intelligence which are governed by specific statutory authority and are excluded from the provisions of FOIA pursuant to § 52.48.
· Any other reports on preparing for the protests - The records sought would be contained in the Departments tactical plans and are exempt under section 2.2-3706.
· Department Telex messages for the January 20th 2017 and January 19th 2017 protests – The Department has interpreted the term “Telex messages” to mean those law enforcement communications received or transmitted over the Virginia Criminal Information Network (VCIN). Communications relating to operations or planning are part of the Department’s tactical plans and are exempt under section 2.2-3706 and VCIN records are exempt from dissemination pursuant to Virginia Code Sections 52-15, 19.2-389, and 2.2-3802, and pursuant to United State Code Section 28 U.S.C.A. § 534.
Your request is therefore denied on all the cited grounds.
Thomas J. Lambert
First Sergeant
Office of Legal Affairs
Virginia Department of State Police
The information in this email and any attachments may be confidential and privileged. Access to this email by anyone other than the intended addressee is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient (or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this information to the intended recipient) please notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete this email and any copies from your computer and/or storage system. The sender does not authorize the use, distribution, disclosure or reproduction of this email (or any part of its contents) by anyone other than the intended recipient(s). No representation is made that this email and any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient.
From: Curtis Waltman
Hello Sergeant Lambert,
For clarification's sake, am I to infer from this response that I can't have any documents whatsoever about the VSP's role in the protests surrounding the inauguration of President Trump? I am very surprised. It seems to me that law enforcement exemptions only cover so much in my request. I fail to see how incident reports are considered criminal investigation files (I did not ask for the files on the criminal investigation of arrested protesters) or how after action reports are considered "tactical plans." I am asking for mostly reports that detail how the VSP responded to these protests. As I am sure you are aware, protesting is a constitutionally protected right, and it is important the public has information regarding law enforcement's response to them. At the bottom of the exemption you provided for most of my requests, is the following line: "Criminal incident information relating to felony offenses is not excluded from the Act unless
disclosure is likely to jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation, compromise the safety of an individual, cause a suspect to flee, or
result in destruction of evidence. Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-3706(B)." Are there any redactions or other actions you can take to provide me with some documentation? Thank you in advance for any clarification you provide.
Best,
Curtis Waltman
Reporter-MuckRock News
From: Curtis Waltman
Hello Sergeant Lambert,
For clarification's sake, am I to infer from this response that I can't have any documents whatsoever about the VSP's role in the protests surrounding the inauguration of President Trump? I am very surprised. It seems to me that law enforcement exemptions only cover so much in my request. I fail to see how incident reports are considered criminal investigation files (I did not ask for the files on the criminal investigation of arrested protesters) or how after action reports are considered "tactical plans." I am asking for mostly reports that detail how the VSP responded to these protests. As I am sure you are aware, protesting is a constitutionally protected right, and it is important the public has information regarding law enforcement's response to them. At the bottom of the exemption you provided for most of my requests, is the following line: "Criminal incident information relating to felony offenses is not excluded from the Act unless
disclosure is likely to jeopardize an ongoing criminal investigation, compromise the safety of an individual, cause a suspect to flee, or
result in destruction of evidence. Va. Code Ann. § 2.2-3706(B)." Are there any redactions or other actions you can take to provide me with some documentation? Thank you in advance for any clarification you provide.
Best,
Curtis Waltman
Reporter-MuckRock News
PS. This is my second email regarding this matter, if I do not receive any further word on this by next week I will make a phone call. I would also like to inform you I am a reporter, and I do plan on writing about this specific request as I cover law enforcement responses from around the country surrounding the protests against the Trump administration and its policies.
From: Lambert, Tom, 1/Sgt.
Your request was reviewed and the Departments response of Feb 7 remains the Department final response. As to your new request for felony criminal incident information in accordance with section 2.2-3704 please be advised that no responsive documents exist .
Thomas J. Lambert
First Sergeant
Office of Legal Affairs
Virginia Department of State Police
The information in this email and any attachments may be confidential and privileged. Access to this email by anyone other than the intended addressee is unauthorized. If you are not the intended recipient (or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this information to the intended recipient) please notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete this email and any copies from your computer and/or storage system. The sender does not authorize the use, distribution, disclosure or reproduction of this email (or any part of its contents) by anyone other than the intended recipient(s). No representation is made that this email and any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient.
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~WRD000