DC police roster 2023-3-3

This is an automated message from the DC Government FOIA system.
Dear Sam Stecklow,
Request Number 2023-FOIA-04016 has been assigned to the request you submitted.
In all future correspondence regarding this request, please reference request number 2023-FOIA-04016. To check for status, please log in  https://foia-dc.gov/palMain.aspx and go to Request Status.
For any questions regarding your request, please contact the FOIA office directly. Find the list of agency Open Governement and FOIA contact information by visiting FOIA Contact Information. For ease of reference, we ask that you have your FOIA Request Number available when you contact the FOIA office. (https://dc.gov/node/818962)
Regards,DC Government FOIA Portal
Having technical difficulties? Email or call 202-478-5973 (mailto:foia.support@dc.gov) foia.support@dc.gov

This is an automated message from the DC Government FOIA system. Dear Sam Stecklow, The status for your request is below. Please log into https://foia-dc.gov/palMain.aspx and go to Request Status. If you have any questions regarding the status of your request, please contact the agency's FOIA office that you had submitted your FOIA request to. You can communicate directly with the FOIA office by clicking on Inbox, search the request number, and then click Compose Message. OR, visit to see a list DC Government FOIA Office’s/officer’s contact information and have your Request ID ready. (https://dc.gov/node/818962) Contact FOIA Office Request status: Assigned for Processing Request ID: 2023-FOIA-04016 Description: To Whom It May Concern:This is a public records request made via MuckRock under the DC Freedom of Information Act, seeking records related to law enforcement officer certification in this state.This request is brought by Big Local News along with a collaboration of news organizations, including ABC News, KQED, MuckRock, the Invisible Institute and other news organizations. Big Local News is a program of Stanford University’s Journalism and Democracy Initiative and helps journalists collect, process and analyze public data.We are seeking any datasets, databases, and/or spreadsheets sufficient to show the following information regarding every current or former sworn employee of the DC MPD, year-by-year, dating back however far as the data exist for:First nameMiddle name or initialLast nameUnique employee identification numberStar or badge numberRaceGenderYear of birthRankTroop assignmentUnit assignmentDivision assignment (Patrol, Investigations, Support, etc.)Hire dateSeparation date, if applicableReason for separation, if applicableWhether they had prior service with a different police organizationWhether they had sustained misconduct or discipline from prior serviceIf your certification/roster system contains data elements not listed above, please include them in the response, provided they are releasable under the law. On the other hand, we recognize some of the information we are asking for may not be tracked by your system. If that is the case, we are willing to accept as many of the data elements as your agency maintains. If some records are more readily available, we are happy to receive partial information as soon as possible while the remaining request is processed.In addition to the data elements listed, we request documentation necessary to understand and interpret the data, including but not limited to record layouts, data dictionaries, code sheets, lookup tables, etc.Our preference is to receive structured data provided in a machine-readable text file, such as delimited or fixed-width formats. We can also handle a variety of other data formats including SQL databases, Excel workbooks and MS Access. If there are additional formats your agency would prefer to provide, please let us know.We are seeking this information as a news media organization on a matter of public interest concerning the conduct of government. As such, we ask for a waiver of all fees, if allowed under state law. If fees are necessary to reimburse the agency for actual costs, we agree to pay up to $100. If costs exceed that amount, please let us know before fulfilling the request.Please send clarifications and questions via electronic communication at any time. Thank you very much for your time and attention to this request.Sam StecklowJournalistInvisible Institute Regards,
DC Government FOIA Portal

March 7, 2023

Sam Stecklow

Invisible Institute

via: Muck Rock News

DEPT MR141771

263 Huntington Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts 02115

requests@muckrock.com

RE: FOIA Request No.: 2023-FOIA-04016

Dear Mr. Stecklow:

This is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for: "...any datasets, databases, and/or spreadsheets sufficient to show the following information regarding every current or former sworn employee of the DC MPD, year-by-year, dating back however far as the data exist for: First name Middle name or initial Last name Unique employee identification number Star or badge number Race Gender Year of birth Rank Troop assignment Unit assignment Division assignment (Patrol, Investigations, Support, etc.) Hire date Separation date, if applicable Reason for separation, if applicable Whether they had prior service with a different police organization Whether they had sustained misconduct or discipline from prior service".

A search for records responsive to this FOIA request located the following listing of current District of Columbia (DC) employees (including MPD sworn and civilian staff), salary, agency and job titles, and other data found at Public Employee Salary Information | DCHR<https://dchr.dc.gov/node/821352>). Nevertheless, other data requested, such as employment history, personnel assignments and other sensitive personal data constitute personal privacy information in which MPD officers have a heightened personal privacy interest and is exempt from release under D.C. Official Code § 2-534 (a)(2), which covers information of a personal nature, the release of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Please know that, under D.C. Official Code § 2-537 and 1 DCMR § 412, you have the right to appeal this letter to the Mayor or to the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. If you elect to appeal to the Mayor, your appeal must be in writing and contain "Freedom of Information Act Appeal" or "FOIA Appeal" in the subject line of the letter as well on the outside of the envelope. The appeal must include (1) a copy of the original request; (2) a copy of any written denial; (3) a statement of the circumstances, reasons, and/or arguments advanced in support of disclosure; and (4) a daytime telephone number, an e-mail and/or U.S. mailing address at which you can be reached.

The appeal must be mailed to: The Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel, FOIA Appeal, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 407, Washington, D.C. 20004. Electronic versions of the same information can instead be e-mailed to The Mayor's Office of Legal Counsel at foia.appeals@dc.gov<mailto:foia.appeals@dc.gov>. Further, a copy of all appeal materials must be forwarded to the Freedom of Information Officer of the involved agency, or to the agency head of that agency, if there is no designated Freedom of Information Officer there. Failure to follow these administrative steps will result in delay in the processing and commencement of a response to your appeal to the Mayor.

Sincerely,

Bob Eckert

FOIA Specialist

Freedom of Information Act Office

Metropolitan Police Department

District of Columbia

Robert.eckert@dc.gov<mailto:Robert.eckert@dc.gov>

"Excellence is transferable."

This is an automated message from the DC Government FOIA system. Dear Sam Stecklow, The status for your request is below. Please log into https://foia-dc.gov/palMain.aspx and go to Request Status. If you have any questions regarding the status of your request, please contact the agency's FOIA office that you had submitted your FOIA request to. You can communicate directly with the FOIA office by clicking on Inbox, search the request number, and then click Compose Message. OR, visit to see a list DC Government FOIA Office’s/officer’s contact information and have your Request ID ready. (https://dc.gov/node/818962) Contact FOIA Office Request status: Closed Request ID: 2023-FOIA-04016 Description: To Whom It May Concern:This is a public records request made via MuckRock under the DC Freedom of Information Act, seeking records related to law enforcement officer certification in this state.This request is brought by Big Local News along with a collaboration of news organizations, including ABC News, KQED, MuckRock, the Invisible Institute and other news organizations. Big Local News is a program of Stanford University’s Journalism and Democracy Initiative and helps journalists collect, process and analyze public data.We are seeking any datasets, databases, and/or spreadsheets sufficient to show the following information regarding every current or former sworn employee of the DC MPD, year-by-year, dating back however far as the data exist for:First nameMiddle name or initialLast nameUnique employee identification numberStar or badge numberRaceGenderYear of birthRankTroop assignmentUnit assignmentDivision assignment (Patrol, Investigations, Support, etc.)Hire dateSeparation date, if applicableReason for separation, if applicableWhether they had prior service with a different police organizationWhether they had sustained misconduct or discipline from prior serviceIf your certification/roster system contains data elements not listed above, please include them in the response, provided they are releasable under the law. On the other hand, we recognize some of the information we are asking for may not be tracked by your system. If that is the case, we are willing to accept as many of the data elements as your agency maintains. If some records are more readily available, we are happy to receive partial information as soon as possible while the remaining request is processed.In addition to the data elements listed, we request documentation necessary to understand and interpret the data, including but not limited to record layouts, data dictionaries, code sheets, lookup tables, etc.Our preference is to receive structured data provided in a machine-readable text file, such as delimited or fixed-width formats. We can also handle a variety of other data formats including SQL databases, Excel workbooks and MS Access. If there are additional formats your agency would prefer to provide, please let us know.We are seeking this information as a news media organization on a matter of public interest concerning the conduct of government. As such, we ask for a waiver of all fees, if allowed under state law. If fees are necessary to reimburse the agency for actual costs, we agree to pay up to $100. If costs exceed that amount, please let us know before fulfilling the request.Please send clarifications and questions via electronic communication at any time. Thank you very much for your time and attention to this request.Sam StecklowJournalistInvisible Institute Regards,
DC Government FOIA Portal

Hello Mr. Stecklow,

This concerns your message, sent through the District of Columbia (DC) online FOIA portal: "I understand the other data points requested won t be provided. Is it possible to get the same salary data that s on the public portal for previous employees of the MPD?"

Please note that on the referenced website, a number of prior years' data may be accessed.
Thanks,
Bob Eckert
FOIA Specialist
MPD FOIA Office
Robert.eckert@dc.gov<mailto:Robert.eckert@dc.gov>
"Excellence is transferable."

Hello Mr. Stecklow,

This concerns your message, sent through the District of Columbia (DC) online FOIA portal: "...Thanks Bob, I see that now. Last question, it seems like the current data is only available through page-by-page searches. Could we get a .csv of the underlying data for the current employees?"

The MPD does not maintain, control, or serve as the custodian of the referenced web page. You may with to submit a FOIA request to the DC FOIA portal/web page and select the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) as the agency that may have the records. You may submit a FOIA request at the following link: https://foia-dc.gov/palMain.aspx.
Thanks,
Bob Eckert
FOIA Specialist
MPD FOIA Office
Robert.eckert@dc.gov<mailto:Robert.eckert@dc.gov>
"Excellence is transferable."