Knoxville, TN PD Citizen Complaints
Submitted | Aug. 10, 2017 |
Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Carlton Purvis
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to Tennessee's Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:
We are Economics Professors in the College of Business at Ferris State University, and are engaged in an empirical research project on police behavior and citizen complaints. This project requires us to request data from your department. If you have questions about this request or suggestions, we would be happy to discuss them with you.
1. What is the total number of citizen complaints (allegations of misconduct) made against your department’s officers annually for the last 10 years? If your department logs complaints in a database, spreadsheet, or other log, a copy of those logs is fine instead.
Please include the type of complaint (i.e., use of force, abuse language, unwarranted search) and the result of complaint (i.e., sustained, exonerated).
2. What is the total number of complaints police officers made against their peer officers in department annually for the last 10 years? If your department logs complaints in a database, spreadsheet, or other log, a copy of those logs is fine instead.
Please include the type of complaint (i.e., use of force, abuse language, unwarranted search) and the result of complaint (i.e., sustained, exonerated).
3. What is the total number of calls for service your department received annually for the past 10 years? If your department logs calls for service in a database, spreadsheet, or other log, a copy of those logs is fine instead.
4. How many officer-involved-shootings were there per year for the last 10 years in your department? Any documentation or reports that detail the annual number of officer-involved shootings in your department for the past 10 years would be sufficient.
Please include documentation regarding how many of these officer-involved shootings involved disciplinary action. (Please list officer firearm discharge directed at a person separately from a shooting involving an animal and separately from accidental firearm discharges).
Please include the number of officer-involved shootings resulting in discipline.
5. Which of the above data are published publicly? Please provide a link to any and all publicly available reports containing the data above.
Collecting this information is very important to our research, so we would like to emphasize, if you have questions about my request or suggestions, we would be happy to discuss them with you.
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 7 business days, as the statute requires.
Please note that I am a citizen of Tennessee, and am using MuckRock's services to help manage and track my request.
Sincerely,
Carlton Purvis
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 10, 2017. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Ronald Mills
Mr. Purvis-
As you have been previously advised several times, because of questions regarding the validity of requests for information under the Tennessee public records laws from request fulfillment services, particularly those located outside the State of Tennessee, the City of Knoxville will not provide copies of public records through such entities, including muckrock.com. Should you wish to submit a request to inspect or copy public records directly to the City of Knoxville, you may do so through the City department holding the requested records or through the City’s Department of Communications, either in person, by phone, by letter or by e-mail, using the form provided at this link: http://www.knoxvilletn.gov/government/city_departments_offices/communications/. Pursuant to state law, requestors are expected to provide proof of Tennessee citizenship at the time of the request.
Ronald E. Mills
Deputy Law Director
City of Knoxville
400 Main Street Suite 699
P.O. Box 1631
Knoxville, TN 37901
(865) 215-2050 phone
(865) 215-2643 fax
rmills@knoxvilletn.gov<mailto:rmills@knoxvilletn.gov>
[Description: http://www.cityofknoxville.org/logos/NONE_cok_horz_seals_gold.jpg]