Law Enforcement Agencies Accessing the Face Recognition System

Dear Paul Tepper:
Thank you for your interest in public records of the City of Cincinnati. Your request has been received and is being processed in accordance with the Ohio Sunshine laws. Your request was received in this office on 2/1/2025 and has been given the reference number C006184-020125 for tracking purposes.
Records Requested: To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Ohio Open Records Law, I hereby request the following records:

I would like to learn: 1) which local, state and national law enforcement agencies can currently submit probe photos to be run through the Northeast Ohio Regional Fusion Center's face recognition system, and 2) which law enforcement agencies actually submitted probe photo(s) for a search from January 1, 2023 to the date of the most recently available data.

Please provide any lists, logs, datasets, documents or policies showing this information. With regard to agencies that have submitted probe photos, please provide logs, lists or datasets describing, as available, the requesting organization, the number of requests made, the dates of the requests, and the number of requests granted. If this information is maintained in a spreadsheet, such as Excel, I request that the record be produced in this format.

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 10 business days.

Sincerely,

Paul Tepper

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Ohio Law requires the City to respond to your request in a reasonable amount of time based on the circumstances of your request and whether legal review of the records is appropriate.  The City will review your request and contact you if we have any questions or need to clarify your request.
Your request will be forwarded to the relevant city department(s) to locate the information requested.   PLEASE NOTE: Public Records Law does not require a governmental body to create new information, to do research or to answer questions.

--- Please respond above this line ---

RE: Open Records Request of February 01, 2025, Reference # C006184-020125

Dear Mr. Tepper,

The City of Cincinnati received your Public Records Request on February 01, 2025. As to part one of your request, asking the City to identify certain entities, it is denied for the following reasons: (1) the term "probe photos" is vague and ambiguous. The City assumes, based on the context, it means photos submitted to be run through a face recognition system, but it is not clear; and (2) Your request is for information, not specific documents, which is an improper request; the City has no duty to answer questions, or to create records in order to respond to a request. State ex rel. Lanham v. Ohio Adult Parole Auth., 80 Ohio St.3d 425 (1997). A proper public records request must fairly and specifically describe the records being sought. State ex re. Carr v. London Corr. Inst., 144 Ohio St.3d 211 (2015).
As to the second part of your request (lists, logs, datasets, etc.), neither the City nor the Greater Cincinnati Fusion Center has submitted photos to the NORFC's face recognition system, or has records related to other entities that may have done so, so the City does not have records that are responsive to your request.
With this response, we are closing your request.

Thank you.