Use of force (response to resistance) guidance, policies, and data (Carson City Sheriff’s Department)
| Multi Request | Use of force (response to resistance) guidance, policies, and data |
| Submitted | Nov. 14, 2020 |
| Est. Completion | Feb. 19, 2021 |
MuckRock users can file, duplicate, track, and share public records requests like this one. Learn more.
Communications
From: Beryl Lipton
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Nevada Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
• Policies.
Any and all policies guiding appropriate and inappropriate uses of force by any member or representative of this agency. These may also include “Response to Resistance” policies and similar guidance.
Please also provide all policies regarding the use of lethal, less-lethal, and non-lethal weapons (for example: TASERs pepper ball guns, rubber bullets, gases, sprays, water, etc.), including all policies regarding borrowing, accessing, or assuming responsibility for such weapons, tools, and ammunition.
Please also provide all policies or guidance related to reporting or tracking discharges from or uses of such weapons, as well as any other applicable policies or directives related to the acquisition, use, and reporting of weapons or tools.
Please also provide all policies and guidance used to evaluate any use of force or adjudicate administrative and internal investigations into any use of force or weapon discharge.
• Instructions for reporting. Any and all instructions and guidance related to the reporting of uses of force by any member or representative of this agency.
• Forms, coding descriptions, and other guidance.
All forms, codes, guides, and guidance used in the reporting and review of uses of force or weapons, including:
Any list of codes or definitions for terms or tags used in the reporting, collection, or review of uses of force.
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track uses of force by this agency.
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track the borrowing or use of lethal, less-lethal, and non-lethal weapons
A blank version of each form, log, and other documentation used to report or track any discharge of force from firearms, tools, or weapons employed by this agency
A copy of any guidance, requirements, laws, and policies issued by the state, including those issued as part of grant or other funding requirements, regarding this agency’s responsibilities for reportings uses of force or weapons
A copy of any guidance, requirements, laws, and policies issued by the federal government, including those issued as part of grant or other funding requirements, regarding this agency’s responsibilities for reportings uses of force or weapons
• Use of Force Data
For the period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and the period from January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, data on the each use of force by representatives of this agency, including but not limited to:
Date, time: The date (month, day, year) and time of the incident
Location: Street address, block, and other relevant location information
Subject(s) information: race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, resultant or related injuries sustained or alleged, weapon type (if applicable) in the possession of each involved individual, arrests or charges associated with the incident
Officer information (for each involved officer): employee number or other unique identifier used for the officer, race, resultant or related physical injuries, patrol division, unit
Incident details: incident or other unique identification number for the use of force incident
Type of force details: a description of each type of force used
Body camera or other footage: Inventory of any video record was created of the incident and/or a copy of the captured footage from all present cameras
Disposition of investigation into the incident: The current or final status of each use of force incident, including whether challenges to the use of force were sustained or dismissed or if the incident had no or is currently under investigation
Please provide the information as a csv spreadsheet, if possible, and if not possible, please provide incident reports sufficient to show the requested data.
• Discharge Report Data
For the period from January 1, 2019 through December 31, 2019 and the period from January 1, 2020 through July 31, 2020, data on each discharge of a firearm and other weapons by representatives of this agency, including but not limited to:
Date, time: The date (month, day, year) and time of the incident
Location: Street address, block, and other relevant location information
Incident description and details
Tool or weapon used, including any unique identifier or identification number
Number of discharges
Subject(s) information: race, ethnicity, national origin, age, gender, resultant or related injuries sustained or alleged, weapon type (if applicable) in the possession of each involved individual, arrests or charges associated with the incident
Officer information (for each involved officer): employee number or other unique identifier used for the officer, race, resultant or related physical injuries, patrol division, unit
Type of force details: a description of each type of force used
Disposition or status of any investigation or follow-up review of the incident
Please provide the information as a csv spreadsheet, if possible, and if not possible, please provide incident reports sufficient to show the requested data.
If any portion of materials responsive to this request should be deemed unavailable or non-disclosable, please specifically identify the portions of the records or the specific information that is unavailable and the reason for the unavailability.
If any portion of this request is unclear or if this request could be modified to reduce the burden of producing responsive documents or provide them more efficiently or expeditiously, please reply with a request for clarification or a proposed modification.
This request is being made by a reporter as part of a journalistic investigation. It is being submitted as part of a project to better understand uses of police force nationwide, which has been of public interest for many years and which is of particular interest to large new swaths of the public following the widely-seen death of George Floyd and the First Amendment-protected demonstrations and public discussion that have followed. There is no commercial interest in the submission of this request or the release of these records.
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,
Beryl Lipton
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Nevada Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 14, 2020. 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: Carson City Sheriff’s Department
Dear Mr. Lipton:
I am responding to your records request on behalf of the Carson City Sheriff's Office. Per your email dated November 20, 2020, you explained that you had not received a response to your initial request which was made via email and dated November 14, 2020 (reproduced below). It's my understanding that your initial email was delivered to a general inbox and the Sheriff's Office employee responsible for receiving and rerouting requests for records requests has been out of the office. In any event, please accept our apologies for the delayed response.
With regard to your request, the Sheriff's Office anticipates that it will be able to identify and produce the records by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. Because of the volume and scope of records you are requesting, the time and personnel required to conduct the records search and also because of the upcoming holidays, it will likely necessitate a minimum of this amount of time to produce all responsive records. It may be possible to provide you with the forms and policies you have requested earlier than January 6, 2021, but the remaining records that relate to the use of force will probably take much longer to produce, possibly beyond January 6, 2021. If additional time beyond January 6, 2021 is needed, we will advise you accordingly.
Sincerely,
J. Daniel Yu
Assistant District Attorney
Office of the District Attorney | Carson City
885 East Musser Street, Suite 2030
Carson City, Nevada 89701
Phone: (775) 887-2070
Fax: (775) 887-2129
jdyu@carson.org<mailto:jdyu@carson.org>
[DA color logo low res]
This message, together with any attachment(s), is intended only for the addressee(s) and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, I did not intend to waive and do not waive any privilege or the confidentiality of the message and any attachment(s), and you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you receive this communication in error, please notify me immediately by email at JDYu@carson.org<mailto:JDYu@carson.org> and delete the message and any attachment(s) from your computer and network. Thank you.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following Nevada Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 14, 2020. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on Jan. 6, 2021. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Carson City Sheriff’s Department
Dear Ms. Lipton:
I am responding to your inquiry on behalf of the Carson City Sheriff's Office (CCSO). At this time the CCSO has gathered together some documents that are responsive to your request. Unless you prefer a complete response at one time, the CCSO anticipates that it will be able to begin to produce material to you over the course of next week. However, the CCSO has been unable to gather all of the documents you requested. This is due to the volume and scope of records you are requesting, the time and personnel required to conduct the records search, and previously scheduled absences during the recent holidays. The CCSO anticipates that it will be able to provide you with the records that you have requested by 5:00 p.m. on January 22, 2021. If additional time beyond January 22, 2021 is needed, the CCSO or I will advise you accordingly.
At this time, however, the CCSO is able to provide a response to your request for body cam footage. Concerning use of force data, you requested “Body camera or other footage: Inventory of any video record was created of the incident and/or a copy of the captured footage from all present cameras.” As to an inventory of body cam footage, the CCSO does not create an inventory of body cam footage, so this document does not exist. As to the request for body cam footage for use of force incidents in general, this request does not comport with Nevada law. NRS 289.830(2)(a) provides that body cam footage may be “[r]equested only on a per incident basis.” See also NRS 239.010(1) (citing NRS 289.830 as an exception to the public records act). In this case, because your request does not specify any specific incident, the CCSO is not under an obligation to produce body cam video at this time.
Please let me know if you have any questions or if you prefer a complete response at one time. Otherwise, the CCSO will begin producing documents as they are gathered.
Sincerely,
Todd E. Reese
Deputy District Attorney
Office of the District Attorney | Carson City
885 East Musser Street, Suite 2030
Carson City, Nevada 89701
Phone: (775) 887-2070
Fax: (775) 887-2129
treese@carson.org
This message, together with any attachment(s), is intended only for the addressee(s) and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, I did not intend to waive and do not waive any privilege or the confidentiality of the message and any attachment(s), and you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you receive this communication in error, please notify me immediately by email at treese@carson.org<mailto:treese@carson.org> and delete the message and any attachment(s) from your computer and network. Thank you.
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I'm following up on the following Nevada Public Records Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Nov. 14, 2020. You had previously indicated that it would be completed on Jan. 22, 2021. I wanted to check on the status of my request, and to see if there was a new estimated completion date.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Carson City Sheriff’s Department
Dear Ms. Lipton:
The CCSO has gathered together some documents that are responsive to your request. Due to personnel scheduling, however, I am unable to provide you with a comprehensive update at this time. I anticipate being able to provide you with an update in the next few days, but in any event by 5:00 p.m. on January 29, 2021. If additional time beyond January 29, 2021 is needed, the CCSO or I will advise you accordingly.
Sincerely,
Todd E. Reese
Deputy District Attorney
Office of the District Attorney | Carson City
885 East Musser Street, Suite 2030
Carson City, Nevada 89701
Phone: (775) 887-2070
Fax: (775) 887-2129
treese@carson.org<mailto:treese@carson.org>
This message, together with any attachment(s), is intended only for the addressee(s) and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, I did not intend to waive and do not waive any privilege or the confidentiality of the message and any attachment(s), and you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you receive this communication in error, please notify me immediately by email at treese@carson.org<mailto:treese@carson.org<mailto:treese@carson.org%3cmailto:treese@carson.org>> and delete the message and any attachment(s) from your computer and network. Thank you.
From: Carson City Sheriff’s Department
Dear Ms. Lipton,
Attached is the Carson City Sheriff’s Office blank use of force investigation form, which is responsive to your request. I am currently reviewing certain policies that you have requested for any privilege that may attach. The CCSO also continues to gather documents and information responsive to your request. At this time, I anticipate providing the non-privileged policies to you early next week, and additional documents responsive to your request after that. I anticipate providing you with documents you with documents constituting a more complete response to your request over the next three weeks, but in any event by 5:00 p.m. on February 19, 2021. If additional time beyond February 19, 2021, is needed, the CCSO or I will advise you accordingly.
Sincerely,
-Todd Reese
Todd E. Reese
Deputy District Attorney
Office of the District Attorney | Carson City
885 East Musser Street, Suite 2030
Carson City, Nevada 89701
Phone: (775) 887-2070
Fax: (775) 887-2129
treese@carson.org
This message, together with any attachment(s), is intended only for the addressee(s) and may contain information that is privileged and confidential. If the reader of the message is not the intended recipient or an authorized representative of the intended recipient, I did not intend to waive and do not waive any privilege or the confidentiality of the message and any attachment(s), and you are hereby notified that any dissemination of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you receive this communication in error, please notify me immediately by email at treese@carson.org<mailto:treese@carson.org> and delete the message and any attachment(s) from your computer and network. Thank you.
Files
pages