Police Department Lawsuits (Virginia State Police)

Dear Mr. Morisy,

Thank you for your email request to the Virginia Department of State Police (“the Department”) requesting the following:

Copies of all reports, lists, or databases detailing the number and/or status of lawsuits brought against the city's police department since 2009. This should include requests for, or documentation of, funds used to cover settlement agreements, court costs, or other expenses related to lawsuits.

This request should be construed to include any document submitted to, compiled by, or in any way maintained by the department that lists lawsuits brought against the department between 2009 through the present. If a document exists that contains the requested information for some, but not all of the above mentioned years, please include that/those document(s).

As you may be aware, requests for records of the Commonwealth of Virginia, its agencies and political subdivisions are governed by the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), §§ 2.2-3700 et. seq. To clarify your request, it is unclear if you are searching for city police department records as stated above. The Virginia Department of State Police, perhaps unlike some other states, has no oversight or records of individual cities’, counties’ or towns’ law enforcement agency records.

In the event that you are requesting records of this particular Department, please be advised that, pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-3704(B)(3), there is no single record or database responsive to your request and the Department is not required to create a record if one does not already exist pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-3704(D). However, please note that the information you seek would be contained in the individual civil litigation files and/or also located within the records of the Property and Finance Division, which are also not automated, both of which would have to be manually searched. [Please note that while the civil litigation files are kept, Finance records are purged after five (5) years so they may not go back as far as 2009.]

Unfortunately, while the Department appreciates your request to waive fees, due to extreme budget cuts and manpower shortfalls, this Agency is unable to waive any charges and does bill all requestors for reasonable costs for searching and copying records pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-3704(F).

In addition, the Department further requires payment in advance before any searches are conducted when the estimated cost will exceed $200.00 in accordance with Virginia Code Section 2.2-3704 (H). From a preliminary estimate at this juncture with the current request, it appears that this search of individual civil litigation and finance files could take possibly 40 or more man hours or so to conduct, which may be anywhere from $500 to $800 or more. This amount may also possibly increase if you want civil litigation documents regarding accidents and/or employment litigation.

If you wish for the Department to proceed any further with your request and/or to develop a more accurate estimate, please be advised that in accordance with Virginia Code Section 2.2-3704 (B) (4), and in order to completely and properly respond to your request without negatively impacting public safety and our intense operational responsibilities, the Department is entitled to, and elects to utilize, seven additional work days to respond.

Lastly, pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-3704(B)(3), you may want to contact the Office of the Attorney General, 900 East Main Street, Richmond, Virginia 23219. Again, thank you for your interest in the Virginia Department of State Police. I hope that the above information will assist you and regret that the Department did not have the types of information readily available in the format requested.

Sincerely,

Sara Poole

Bureau of Administrative

& Support Services

Virginia Department of State Police

Post Office Box 27472

Richmond, VA 23261-7472