Missing Native Americans
| Submitted | Jan. 26, 2021 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Urban Indigenous Collective
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the following records:
Basic information on all cases (open and closed) of missing American Indian/Alaska Native person (including juveniles) within New York; this basic information can include but is not limited to: person name, age, DOB, incident date, case closure date, county/jurisdiction in which person was reported missing.
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,
Urban Indigenous Collective
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New York Freedom of Information Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 26, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New York Freedom of Information Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 26, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Buffalo Police Department
02/21/21
FOIL Request: (Missing Native Americans)
The City of Buffalo Police Department (BPD) is in receipt of your Freedom
of Information Law request. Please allow this letter to serve as an
acknowledgment of your request pursuant to New York State Public Officer’s
Law, Section 89, entitled Freedom of Information Law.
The BPD has researched your request for information pertaining to Missing
Native Americans with negative results. BPD’s reporting systems does not
allow for a search using ethnicity therefore BPD has no records responsive
to your request. You may want to try New York State.
Please be advised that you have the right to appeal any denial contained
herein in writing within thirty (30) days. Appeals must be directed to
Timothy A Ball, Corporation Counsel, City of Buffalo Law Department, 1100
City Hall, Buffalo NY 14202.
Respectfully,
Jeff Rinaldo
Captain
HQ
From: Urban Indigenous Collective
Thank you for replying back to our FOIL request,
We did have a few follow-up questions based on your response:
1. Is there a particular reason as to why you do not keep records based on race and/or ethnicity?
2. How do you categorize your missing people records?
3. Is this categorization system similarly to how you file murder records?
4. Are there any discussions on filing or recording missing and murdered records based on race and/or ethnicity?
Thank you in advance for your anticipated participation in the matter.
Sincerely,
Urban Indigenous Collective
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following New York Freedom of Information Law request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 26, 2021. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Buffalo Police Department
FOIL Request: (Missing Native Americans, Request on 1/26/21)
The City of Buffalo Police Department (BPD) is in receipt of your Freedom
of Information Law request. Please allow this letter to serve as an
acknowledgment of your request pursuant to New York State Public Officer’s
Law, Section 89, entitled Freedom of Information Law.
Please be advised, to answer the 4 questions you added(on 5/31/22) to your
orginal request, the Buffalo Police Department SVU did respond to FOIL with
the answer of they categorizes missing people by case managment numbers.
The department plugs in the information and a number is generated based on
the time it was entered. BPD homicide unit did also respond to FOIL with
the same answer as they plug in the information with the incident number in
which the date it occured and it generates a number based on the time the
data was entered. Nothing is categorized by race.
Please be advised that you have the right to appeal any denial contained
herein in writing within thirty (30) days. Appeals must be directed to
Corporation Counsel, City of Buffalo Law Department, 1100 City Hall,
Buffalo NY 14202.
Respectfully,
FOIL Division
HQ