Masked LEOs (Metropolitan Police Department)

This is an automated message from the DC Government FOIA system. Dear Emma North-Best, Request Number 2021-FOIA-08043 has been assigned to the request you submitted in relation to: Request description: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the DC Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. Policies, including implementation, termination and expiration notices, mentioning or discussing mask mandates or requirements for employees.

2. Reports regarding alleged violations of or non-compliance with mask mandates or requirements.

3. Records documenting any disciplinary actions taken regarding Item #2.

4. Emails, letters, memos and other written or memorialized discussions with unions or employee representatives regarding actual or proposed mask mandates or requirements (such as those requested in Item #1).

I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.

As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.

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 15 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Emma North-Best

Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ In all future correspondence regarding this request, please reference request number 2021-FOIA-08043. To check for status, please log in  https://foia-dc.gov/palMain.aspx and go to Request Status. For any questions regarding your request, please contact the FOIA office directly. Find the list of agency Open Governement and FOIA contact information by visiting FOIA Contact Information. For ease of reference, we ask that you have your FOIA Request Number available when you contact the FOIA office. (https://dc.gov/node/818962) Regards,
DC Government FOIA Portal Having technical difficulties? Email FOIA.SystemAdmin@dc.gov or call 202-478-5973

This is an automated message from the DC Government FOIA system. Dear Emma North-Best, The status for your request is below. Please log into https://foia-dc.gov/palMain.aspx and go to Request Status. If you have any questions regarding the status of your request, please contact the agency's FOIA office that you had submitted your FOIA request to. You can communicate directly with the FOIA office by clicking on Inbox, search the request number, and then click Compose Message. OR, visit to see a list DC Government FOIA Office’s/officer’s contact information and have your Request ID ready. (https://dc.gov/node/818962) Contact FOIA Office Request status: Assigned for Processing Request ID: 2021-FOIA-08043 Description: To Whom It May Concern:Pursuant to the DC Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:1. Policies, including implementation, termination and expiration notices, mentioning or discussing mask mandates or requirements for employees.2. Reports regarding alleged violations of or non-compliance with mask mandates or requirements.3. Records documenting any disciplinary actions taken regarding Item #2.4. Emails, letters, memos and other written or memorialized discussions with unions or employee representatives regarding actual or proposed mask mandates or requirements (such as those requested in Item #1).I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.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 15 business days, as the statute requires.Sincerely,Emma North-BestUpload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ Regards,
DC Government FOIA Portal

DearMs./Mrs. North-Best, TheFreedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires that requests describe the recordssought with sufficient detail to allow an agency employee familiar with thesubject area of the request to locate the records with a reasonable amount ofeffort.  More specifically, 1 DCMR § 402.4 states that: A request shallreasonably describe the desired record(s). Please provide a timeframe for therecords you are seeking. Yourrequest does not adequately describe the records sought; therefore, we areunable to process it at this time.  If you wish to pursue your request, pleaseprovide a timeframe for the records you areseeking to enable our office to process your request. If we do not receive the clarificationrequired within five (5) business days from the date of thisletter, we will presume that you are no longer interested in pursuing yourrequest and consider this a constructive withdrawal and close our file. In the meantime, your request will be placed on hold and the time for ourresponse will not accrue under 1 DMCR § 405.6. Regards, LatrinaCrumlin StaffAssistant, FOIA MetropolitanPolice Department 300Indiana Avenue, Rm 4153 Washington,DC  20001

This is an automated message from the DC Government FOIA system. Dear Emma North-Best, The status for your request is below. Please log into https://foia-dc.gov/palMain.aspx and go to Request Status. If you have any questions regarding the status of your request, please contact the agency's FOIA office that you had submitted your FOIA request to. You can communicate directly with the FOIA office by clicking on Inbox, search the request number, and then click Compose Message. OR, visit to see a list DC Government FOIA Office’s/officer’s contact information and have your Request ID ready. (https://dc.gov/node/818962) Contact FOIA Office Request status: Assigned for Processing Request ID: 2021-FOIA-08043 Description: To Whom It May Concern:Pursuant to the DC Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:1. Policies, including implementation, termination and expiration notices, mentioning or discussing mask mandates or requirements for employees.2. Reports regarding alleged violations of or non-compliance with mask mandates or requirements.3. Records documenting any disciplinary actions taken regarding Item #2.4. Emails, letters, memos and other written or memorialized discussions with unions or employee representatives regarding actual or proposed mask mandates or requirements (such as those requested in Item #1).I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.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 15 business days, as the statute requires.Sincerely,Emma North-BestUpload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ Regards,
DC Government FOIA Portal

Ms. North-Best,

An audit of our database, determined you still have open Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with our office. As we continue to work through our backlog to provide you a response for each open request, please find attached the Metropolitan Police Department's final response regarding FOIA Request No.: 2021-FOIA-08043.
Regards,

Lisa Archie-Mills
Supervisory FOIA Specialist
Freedom of Information Act Office (FOIA)
300 Indiana Avenue, NW, Room 4153
Metropolitan Police Department
Washington, DC 20001
(202) 727-3721
lisa.archie-mills@dc.gov<mailto:lisa.archie-mills@dc.gov>

"Excellence is Transferable."

This is an automated message from the DC Government FOIA system. Dear Emma North-Best, The status for your request is below. Please log into https://foia-dc.gov/palMain.aspx and go to Request Status. If you have any questions regarding the status of your request, please contact the agency's FOIA office that you had submitted your FOIA request to. You can communicate directly with the FOIA office by clicking on Inbox, search the request number, and then click Compose Message. OR, visit to see a list DC Government FOIA Office’s/officer’s contact information and have your Request ID ready. (https://dc.gov/node/818962) Contact FOIA Office Request status: Closed Request ID: 2021-FOIA-08043 Description: To Whom It May Concern:Pursuant to the DC Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:1. Policies, including implementation, termination and expiration notices, mentioning or discussing mask mandates or requirements for employees.2. Reports regarding alleged violations of or non-compliance with mask mandates or requirements.3. Records documenting any disciplinary actions taken regarding Item #2.4. Emails, letters, memos and other written or memorialized discussions with unions or employee representatives regarding actual or proposed mask mandates or requirements (such as those requested in Item #1).I am a member of the news media and request classification as such. I have previously written about the government and its activities, with some reaching over 100,000 readers in outlets such as Gizmodo, MuckRock, Motherboard, Property of the People, Unicorn Riot, and The Outline, among others. As such, as I have a reasonable expectation of publication and my editorial and writing skills are well established. In addition, I discuss and comment on the files online and make them available through non-profits such as the library Internet Archive and the journalist non-profit MuckRock, disseminating them to a large audience. While my research is not limited to this, a great deal of it, including this, focuses on the activities and attitudes of the government itself. As such, it is not necessary for me to demonstrate the relevance of this particular subject in advance.As my primary purpose is to inform about government activities by reporting on it and making the raw data available, I request that fees be waived.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 15 business days, as the statute requires.Sincerely,Emma North-BestUpload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/ Regards,
DC Government FOIA Portal