Police Data Collection (Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office, 2013-2020)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Texas Public Information Act, I hereby request the following records:

1. the total number of use of force incidents, separated by year and by type of force used from 2013-2020 (for example, "27 taser incidents in 2013, 3 baton incidents in 2014, etc.)

2. the total number of civilian complaints alleging any form of law enforcement misconduct that were reported and the total number sustained, separated by year from 2016-2020 (for example, 8 complaints in 2019, 2 complaints sustained in 2019, 4 complaints in 2020, 1 complaint sustained in 2020, etc.)

3. the total number of civilian complaints alleging law enforcement use of excessive force that were reported and the total number sustained from 2016-2020, separated by year.

4. the total number of civilian complaints alleging biased policing or racial profiling that were reported and the total number sustained from 2016-2020, separated by year.

5. the total number of civilian complaints alleging criminal conduct that were reported and the total number sustained from 2016-2020, separated by year.

6. all information reported to the FBI’s National Use-of-Force Data Collection program to date.

Note that my requests for civilian complaints are specifically for civilian complaints alleging police misconduct, please do not include complaints filed by one officer/the department against another officer.

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, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Samuel Sinyangwe