Need to make a FOIA request, Anyone got a template or guidelines available?

[Nutczak]

I was the subject of a multiple LEO traffic stop this weekend, The stop was originated by a LEO who has perpetrated multiple unwarranted stops against me in the last 10-12 months, and this latest stop took place in a jurisdiction other than his own by requesting the help of other multiple other jurisdictions on false pretenses. No citations were issued, no arrests made, just same old rousting and harassment for whatever bullschitt reason he chose this time.

I need to find out what was said by the originator to dispatch, and the other officers involved with other departments, and why this guy seems to have a throbbing hard-on for me, and I need to put an end to his twisted little game before someone gets injured.

As per the actual stop, yes I was asked if there were any weapons in the vehicle, and my only reply was "it depends on what your definition of a weapon is"
Yes a request was made for a search, of course I denied that request, upon being ordered out of my vehicle, the doors got closed and locked as I exited and the keys went in my pocket, yes I was carrying IWB, and nothing was said by any person involved.

I am a little disappointed in the performance of the iPhone App named "Unstoppable recorder" (u-recorder) because when my phone went into power-save, the recording stopped along with it. I guess I am going back to video, and to hoping the recording is not erased by someone who wants to make sure it is not seen by others.

What was his BOLO for? "Operator consuming alcoholic beverage while driving" now for anyone who knows me well enough also knows that I do not drink, never liked the stuff, and I don't plan on liking it anytime soon.

I think it is time to get the in-vehicle HD recorder with GPS speed monitoring, multiple camera angles, and time-stamping that I have seen mentioned in this forum, enough is enough of this crap. I wonder who else this azzhat pulls this with.

 

[AaronS]

I only know you from your posts in the past few years...

Even I know you better then to pull you over for no reason.

Keep us posted.

No FOIA form, you just have to ask for the info. You might be asked for the time it went down, but ask for any and all info for the stop.

 

[Law abider]

Let me guess. You OC and the local leo is one of those who believes that a US citizen doesn't have a right to bear arms because the militia means national guard that wasn't created till the last century. I am contemplating that scenario once I oc here in my town. Ask MKE gal about your issue.

 

[bnhcomputing]

You will need to change the WHO the request is going to. Also change the pertaining to part to say,
Any and all records pertaining to and traffic stops on June 23, 2012 or whatever the day was.

You send this to the County Sheriff of each county involved, the 911 dispatch centers for each county involved, and the city/village police chief of each city/village. In total, you will probably be submitting 8-10 separate requests to different entities. You should also add video or dash cam recording to your request.

Re-read your request several times, and have someone else proof it as well. There have been a view times when I have sent something to the city and it still said village or vice versa, then they just tell you they have no records because they don't.

Lastly, in my county, dispatch is separate from the sheriff, hence the need to two requests for each county where the officers came from.

Good luck and keep us informed....

June 1, 2010 SUBJECT: Open Records Request re "911 dispatch transcripts, logs, and police reports" Jim Arts, Chief of Police Green Bay Police Department 307 S. Adams Street Green Bay, WI 54301 Dear Sir: This is an Open Records Request for all records pertaining to any calls or contact the City of Green Bay police department had with the public or any individual between the dates of May 20, 2010 and June 1, 2010 regarding carrying, and/or displaying, of firearms within the City of Green Bay. I am requesting any record, including but not limited to emails, faxes, letters, applications, permits, licenses, memoranda, logs, transcripts, reports, policies, police reports, incident reports, or any other correspondence pertaining to any interaction between the Green Bay police department and the public regarding carrying or display of firearms within city limits. Such documentation might include or pertain to such things as police reports, 911 logs, 911 transcripts, dispatch logs, department policies, incident reports, internal memos, or any other documentation regarding the carrying or display of firearms with the city limits. As you know, the law requires you to respond to this request "as soon as possible and without delay." Please also be aware that the Open Records law "shall be construed in every instance with the presumption of complete public access consistent with the conduct of governmental business. The denial of access generally is contrary to the public interest and only in exceptional cases can access be denied." Should you deny my request, the law requires you to do so in writing and state what part of the law you believe entitles you to deny my request. Wis. Stat 19.35(4)(a). The Open Records Act states that you may charge for "the actual, necessary and direct cost" of locating records, if this exceeds $50, and for photocopies. The Wisconsin Department of Justice advises that copying fees under the Open Records law should be "around 15 cents per page and that anything in excess of 25 cents maybe be subject." Please advise me before processing this request if the total cost will exceed $75.00. Thank you in advance for responding to this request at your earliest convenience and I will also mail you a hard copy of this request to: Jim Arts, Chief of Police, Green Bay Police Department, 307 S. Adams Street, Green Bay, WI 54301. Electronic delivery of records at my email address would be most appreciated . Alternatively, please mail these records to my home address listed below. Thank you for your service and kind attention in this matter. Sincerely,

 

[Nutczak]

Thanks Hubert, that is an excellent template, I only got the 1st 60 seconds of audio from the stop, and it is the goober telling me why I was stopped due to other cop saying he saw me drinking beer and driving, then asking if there is any alcohol in the vehicle, then nothing cuz my phone went to into sleep mode and ended recording. Argh! Oh well, it was a free application, I just figured it would continue recording and uploading to Mobile-Me, and/or the cloud to keep data safe and from tampering.

 

[McX]

Nutczak, see, i told you, having lunch with Yassar Arafat would come back to haunt you!

 

[rcawdor57]

It does seem you have a "friend" in the police force that really wants to keep tabs on you. I hope you get all the video/audio records instead of them becoming "lost" as seems to be happening a lot these days. I think if you can prove this guy has a personal vendetta against you you can sue him and hopefully he won't get away with "Qualified Immunity".

Protias has a video/audio system you may be interested in for your vehicle. I don't know the manufacturer but his videos on Y.T. are very good quality. Just type in "Protias" in Y.T. and you will see his videos.

We have a GoPro camera system mounted in our vehicles that records for about 8.5 hours (plugged in the power jack in the car) on a 32 gig SD card. GoPro now has a newer model with an 11 MP lens that has amazing video quality and supposedly decent recording in low light conditions such as at night. I also carry a VEHO ProHD video recorder that records for an hour which I wear around my neck on a lanyard. The VEHO recorder is what the Janesville P.D. currently use for their interactions with "citizens".

It is very bad that people that are not breaking any laws have the biggest problems with those whose job it is to enforce the laws. Those that violate our rights and the Oath they took should never be allowed to work in law enforcement or any other government job.

 

[McX]

Protias, and his car of 10,000 antennas?!

 

[protias]

Blackvue DR400G-HD - though there are some heat issues with it. This is only a temporary install in my car until I can find a quality Mobile DVR that has several cameras and records to a hard drive.

If you have a smartphone, you can use Qik to record as well. You can also have Record My Call to make a phone call to someone.

 

[MKEgal]

That's a really good model FOIA letter up there.

I've usually just asked for "any & all records, recordings, reports, etc. pertaining to the incident at [address] at [time] on [date]".
If I want to be sure to get something specific, I'll reference a statute (as when I asked for records of the strip searches in the jail... they say there aren't any), or include reference to a dash-cam or incoming phone number (as examples).

If this yahoo LEO has a pattern of abusive behaviour, & now he's escalating to something that could easily get you hurt (maybe killed) plus harming your reputation, I'd say it's about time to have a Little Chat with his boss.
Maybe that should happen by way of an attorney, just so they pay attention.

If you don't have someone local, I recommend John Monroe [john.monroe1@earthlink.net].

In fact, I know he was (or is) handling an almost identical case. Multiple harassments over months, culminating in a multi-agency false arrest/stop/detainment.

 

[Motofixxer]

CopRecorder2 on Android works great.



Sample wording



All audio &/or video of phone calls, radio traffic, recordings made by all devices worn or held by officers or in patrol cars relating to the incidents at my address on this day (Tues. 22MAR11). Include audio of phone calls which relate to this incident which were made to or from officer's cell phones, and any text messages or emails to or from their phones or in-car computers. Please be sure to include audio & video from the car which transported me...



SUBJECT: Open Records Request re "911 dispatch transcripts, logs, and police reports"

Jim Arts, Chief of Police
Green Bay Police Department
307 S. Adams Street
Green Bay, WI 54301


Dear Sir:

This is an Open Records Request for all records pertaining to any calls or contact the City of Green Bay police department had with the public or any individual between the dates of May 20, 2010 and June 1, 2010 regarding carrying, and/or displaying, of firearms within the City of Green Bay.

I am requesting any record, including but not limited to emails, faxes, letters, applications, permits, licenses, memoranda, logs, transcripts, reports, policies, police reports, incident reports, or any other correspondence pertaining to any interaction between the Green Bay police department and the public regarding carrying or display of firearms within city limits.

Such documentation might include or pertain to such things as police reports, 911 logs, 911 transcripts, dispatch logs, department policies, incident reports, internal memos, or any other documentation regarding the carrying or display of firearms with the city limits.

As you know, the law requires you to respond to this request "as soon as possible and without delay."

Please also be aware that the Open Records law "shall be construed in every instance with the presumption of complete public access consistent with the conduct of governmental business. The denial of access generally is contrary to the public interest and only in exceptional cases can access be denied." Should you deny my request, the law requires you to do so in writing and state what part of the law you believe entitles you to deny my request. Wis. Stat 19.35(4)(a).

The Open Records Act states that you may charge for "the actual, necessary and direct cost" of locating records, if this exceeds $50, and for photocopies. The Wisconsin Department of Justice advises that copying fees under the Open Records law should be "around 15 cents per page and that anything in excess of 25 cents maybe be subject." Please advise me before processing this request if the total cost will exceed $75.00.

Thank you in advance for responding to this request at your earliest convenience and I will also mail you a hard copy of this request to: Jim Arts, Chief of Police, Green Bay Police Department, 307 S. Adams Street, Green Bay, WI 54301.

Electronic delivery of records at my email address would be most appreciated . Alternatively, please mail these records to my home address listed below.

Thank you for your service and kind attention in this matter.

Sincerely,

 

[Nutczak]

Thanks guys/gals.

Here is where I am at right now mentally, He's got two against me, should I let him get the 3rd before acting? Or do I stop it before he has a chance for a 3rd attempt?

I think I am going to let this continue for a little while longer and give him a long enough leash to let him hang himself with it. This way there is absolutely zero doubt that there is a pattern of harassment towards me from this particular officer. I was able to get a few minutes audio recording of this latest stop, and I still have video of our first encounter from this last winter.
I am going to request everything involved with the latest stop and just sit on it, I hope this clown does not give me reason to bring it all into court.

I was not arrested or cited in either incident, and this has me wondering WTF I did to deserve this crap.

My employees are all laughing because they know the cops pulled over probably the only sober person in the entire county at bar-time during this last stop, and it took 3 of them on scene, and one from another city to do it. So how much of their patrol resources did this douche-nugget waste on a sober person at bar-time who was breaking no laws?

 

[protias]

Nip it in the butt now!

 

[AaronS]

I would tend to agree with Protias.

I would also think that as soon as you ask for the info, he will find out. This could get him to stop, or it could make him mad, and things could get worse for you.

I would hate to hear that he snapped, and you are no longer "with" us. I would want to make sure everyone knows, and he is stopped now, before any "next issue".

 

[davidmcbeth]

OP may want to check google scholar and see if an exemption applies here .... if charges are pending then a FOIA request may conflict with discovery options and also FOIA exemptions for LE records ... just a thought ...

 

[paul@paul-fisher.com]

http://www.doj.state.wi.us/dls/OMPR/PROM-2011/public-records-handout.pdf

 

[Nutczak]

OP may want to check google scholar and see if an exemption applies here .... if charges are pending then a FOIA request may conflict with discovery options and also FOIA exemptions for LE records ... just a thought ...

No charges, no nothing, just douchebaggery and jaboonery on his part, and involving other departments in his douchebaggery.

 

[McX]

sounds like someone needs to do a 'ride along' with the 'czak.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIbaISxK8QY

 

[bnhcomputing]

OP may want to check google scholar and see if an exemption applies here .... if charges are pending then a FOIA request may conflict with discovery options and also FOIA exemptions for LE records ... just a thought ...

If charges are pending them "maybe" they can redact some things, but in most cases they are required to turn it over to the public.

Example: We had a guy here who charged a police officer with a knife, they shot him. He was facing assault charges (assault of an officer) and other charges. The dash cam of the shooting was requested and released to the press within 48 hours of the incident.

Now having said that, I say the OP should submit the FOI specific to the incident, and then submit a second asking for all records pertaining to the OP himself. There may be all kinds of sh1t going back/forth that he/we are unaware of.

Ask and ye shall receive.

Carry On.

 

[Motofixxer]

Also FOIA related...Are personnel records available in a Request or are they considered private? Such as investigations, discipline, or performance info for public officials?