MTPD Canine Detection Team Performance Records
| Submitted | Nov. 1, 2012 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Carlton Purvis
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act of 1974, D.C. Code Ann. § 2-531 et seq. ("D.C. Act"), I hereby request the following records:
All field performance records, including any unverified alerts, as well as evidence of training and certification for the Metro Transit Police Department’s five canine teams.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, 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,
Carlton Purvis
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 1, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Thom, Keysia A.
Dear Mr. Purvis,
We have received your request and it is being processed. I will follow-up with an official acknowledgment by tomorrow.
From: Thom, Keysia A.
Dear Mr. Purvis:
This acknowledges receipt of your request for copies of all field performance records, including any unverified alerts, as well as evidence of training and certification for the Metro Transit Police Department's five canine teams. Your request references the District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is not subject to the FOIA, but we have adopted a Public Access to Records Policy (PARP), which is base on the federal FOIA. Thus your request is being processed in accordance with the PARP. The PARP can be viewed on our website at http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/<http://www.wmata.com/about_metro/>public_rr.cfm, under the section marked, "Legal Affairs." Generally, we aim to issue decisions on a request for records within 20 working days after the date of receipt of the request.
Although we cannot yet provide any documents, we can impart some general information:
Exemptions:
Certain types of information are exempt from disclosure under the PARP. The exemptions include the following: information that could compromise WMATA's infrastructure or security; contractor proprietary information; internal deliberations on policy matters; attorney-client privileged communications; information that if released would cause a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; certain information compiled for law enforcement purposes; and SmarTrip and customer financial information. WMATA's response will not include any exempt information.
Fees:
Our PARP provides for the assessment of fees associated with your request if it takes more than two hours of staff time to search for, assemble and review the records that you requested. This fee shall be calculated at the employees' basic rate of pay, plus an additional 50% to cover benefits, for the time spent responding to this request. Also, there is a 15 cents per page copying fee beyond the first 100 pages. In general, a request is considered an agreement to pay all applicable fees. However, we note that you have requested a fee waiver. We do not anticipate that there will be a fee associated with your request, but will contact you for additional information to determine your fee waiver eligibility if there is a fee.
Future correspondence regarding your request should reference the PARP request number noted above and be directed to Keysia A. Thom, PARP/Privacy Policy Administrator. You may also contact Ms. Thom via telephone at 202-962-2058 or via email at kthom@wmata.com<mailto:kthom@wmata.com>.
Sincerely,
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 1, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Thom, Keysia A.
Dear Mr. Purvis,
This is regarding your request for records relating to Metro Transit Police's Canine teams. The records that you are requesting go back approximately 6 years. Please let us know whether there is a particular date range that you are interested in.
Sincerely,
From: Carlton Purvis
Keysia,
I'm looking to get all six years worth.
Thanks,
Carlton
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 1, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 1, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Thom, Keysia A.
Mr. Purvis,
We are in the process of reviewing some legal issues regarding your request. We are working to resolve those issues and hope to issue a decision shortly.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 1, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 1, 2012. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Thom, Keysia A.
Dear Mr. Purvis,
Our last correspondence to you stated that we were researching legal issues regarding your request. We are in the process of conducting an internal review of the records and hope to issue our decision shortly.
From: Thom, Keysia A.
Dear Mr. Purvis:
This is in response to your request for copies of all field performance records, including any unverified alerts, as well as evidence of training and certification for the Metro Transit Police Department's five canine teams. Your request references the District of Columbia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) is not subject to the FOIA, but we have adopted a Public Access to Records Policy (PARP), which is based on the federal FOIA. Thus, your request was processed in accordance with the PARP, which can be viewed on our website at http://www.wmata.com/ about_metro/public_rr.cfm<http://www.wmata.com/%20about_metro/public_rr.cfm>, under the section marked, "Legal Affairs."
Attached are the certification records. In accordance with PARP Exemption 6.1.6, (personal privacy), we have redacted employee names. WMATA does not have any records that are responsive to the remainder of your request because the canine program is run by a separate agency/entity. In accordance with PARP § 3.0, we provide documents received or generated by WMATA in the regular course of business. The PARP does not contemplate retrieving documents held by third parties, other than agents of WMATA. See PARP § 3.0. WMATA reserves the right to review and determine whether or not any exemptions apply for any future requests.
If you wish to appeal WMATA's decision, in accordance with PARP § 9.1, you may file a written appeal of the action with the Chief of Staff within 30 business days of the date of this decision letter. Further details about our appeals process can be found on our website.
Future correspondence regarding your request should reference the PARP request number noted above. If you have any legal questions, please contact David Shaffer, Assistant General Counsel at 202-962-2820 or dshaffer@wmata.com<mailto:dshaffer@wmata.com>. You may also contact me at 202-962-2058 or kthom@wmata.com<mailto:kthom@wmata.com>, if you require clarification on any administrative matters.
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