Sterling Heights, MI PD Citizen Complaints

From: Natalie Minaudo
Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2017 3:15 PM
To: 'requests@muckrock.com '
Cc: Dale Dwojakowski; Jamie Dubay
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Act Request: Sterling Heights, MI PD Citizen Complaints

Good afternoon Professors Cartwright and Dirmeyer,

I am the assistant FOIA Coordinator for the Sterling Heights Police Department. Interim Chief Dwojakowski has forwarded your original FOIA request of August 18th as well as this follow-up email from August 25th to me. Unfortunately the Chief was on vacation when your email was sent to him and he was not able to forward it until August 23rd. I am sending you today by U.S. mail a 10-day extension letter informing you that your request will be granted, denied, or denied in part by September 14, 2017 (a copy is also attached to this email).

Please feel free to contact me at shpdfoia@sterling-heights.net<mailto:shpdfoia@sterling-heights.net> or with the contact information listed below should you have any further questions or concerns.

Respectfully,

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Natalie Minaudo
Administrative Secretary
Sterling Heights Police Department
40333 Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights MI, 48313 USA
Tel: (586) 446-2916 fax: (586) 276-4069

IF THE READER OF THIS MESSAGE IS NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any downloading, copying, disclosure dissemination, distribution, or forwarding of this communication is strictly prohibited.

If received in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original message including attachments.

The City of Sterling Heights reserves the right to assert the deliberative process privilege or any other applicable privileges authorized by law with respect to e-mail messages sent or received where appropriate.

From: requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com> [mailto:requests@muckrock.com]
Sent: Friday, August 25, 2017 5:02 AM
To: Dale Dwojakowski
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information Act Request: Sterling Heights, MI PD Citizen Complaints

August 25, 2017
Sterling Heights Police Department
Police Department
Dale Dwojakowski, Interim Chief of Police
40333 Dodge Park Road
Sterling Heights, MI 48313

This is a follow up to a previous request:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Aug. 18, 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.

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On Aug. 18, 2017:
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Michigan's Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 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 annual number of officers involved in shootings in your department for the past 10 years? 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.
4. 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 5 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Alexander Cartwright and Jennifer Dirmeyer

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Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
Upload documents directly: https://www.muckrock.com/accounts/agency_login/sterling-heights-police-department-9632/sterling-heights-mi-pd-citizen-complaints-42243/?email=ddwojakowski%40sterling-heights.net&uuid-login=06facb96-c047-4c52-8b1a-1e384d8f0c78#agency-reply
Is this email coming to the wrong contact? Something else wrong? Use the above link to let us know.

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock
DEPT MR 42243
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share, and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed (i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.
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[http://email.requests.muckrock.com/o/eJwNjUsOwiAUAE8jO8nj-2DBrvUaRvm0iC0R2vT6sp7JTHBKaZIdB4ZguAILTGoqhNFI0aqH4TgbMaGdUd4ktPg7Yz863U5fWvWF-rqR1QmBAEm9pQ42eZaYCuiFTSFG7QchQ9ueOTjJJTeMNBfCVT-vUq9e8gj3I7Zv3pf7GvOyjsEejz9ZTi-l]

A letter stating the requester must agree to or prepay assessed or estimated fees in order for the agency to continue processing the request.

Good morning Mr. Cartwright,

Attached please find a copy of a Good Faith Estimate form which was mailed to you yesterday. A significant amount of time will be required to gather the data you are asking for.

Please let me know if you have any questions once you have had a chance to review this information.

Regards,

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Natalie Minaudo
Administrative Secretary
Sterling Heights Police Department
40333 Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights MI, 48313 USA
Tel: (586) 446-2916 fax: (586) 276-4069

IF THE READER OF THIS MESSAGE IS NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any downloading, copying, disclosure dissemination, distribution, or forwarding of this communication is strictly prohibited.

If received in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original message including attachments.

The City of Sterling Heights reserves the right to assert the deliberative process privilege or any other applicable privileges authorized by law with respect to e-mail messages sent or received where appropriate.

Good afternoon Mr. Cartwright –

I checked with the individual who would be preparing this information for you and unfortunately amending your request to include only the total numbers under items #1 and #2 does not make a significant difference in the amount of time required as each record still has to be searched. Would you be interested in amending the number of years that you would want records from? That would result in a lowered estimate of costs.

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Natalie Minaudo
Administrative Secretary
Sterling Heights Police Department
40333 Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights MI, 48313 USA
Tel: (586) 446-2916 fax: (586) 276-4069

IF THE READER OF THIS MESSAGE IS NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any downloading, copying, disclosure dissemination, distribution, or forwarding of this communication is strictly prohibited.

If received in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original message including attachments.

The City of Sterling Heights reserves the right to assert the deliberative process privilege or any other applicable privileges authorized by law with respect to e-mail messages sent or received where appropriate.

Good afternoon Professor Cartwright –

Attached please find a revised estimate regarding your FOIA request. This estimate reflects the expected costs to prepare the requested data for the past 5 years.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Respectfully,

[cid:image001.jpg@01D337AA.D51382B0]

Natalie Minaudo
Administrative Secretary
Sterling Heights Police Department
40333 Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights MI, 48313 USA
Tel: (586) 446-2916 fax: (586) 276-4069

IF THE READER OF THIS MESSAGE IS NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any downloading, copying, disclosure dissemination, distribution, or forwarding of this communication is strictly prohibited.

If received in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original message including attachments.

The City of Sterling Heights reserves the right to assert the deliberative process privilege or any other applicable privileges authorized by law with respect to e-mail messages sent or received where appropriate.

A letter stating the requester must agree to or prepay assessed or estimated fees in order for the agency to continue processing the request.

Good morning,

We received your good faith deposit payment for this FOIA on June 6, 2018. Per our original request for deposit, we will provide a response within 15 business days. Our new due date for this FOIA request is June 27, 2018.

Because the amount paid ($193.95) was the full amount of the estimated costs, there may still be some difference in the amount due. Once we have completed compiling the requested records, a final response letter will be sent to you.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Regards,

[new logo]

Natalie Minaudo
Administrative Secretary
Sterling Heights Police Department
40333 Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights MI, 48313 USA
Tel: (586) 446-2916 fax: (586) 276-4069

IF THE READER OF THIS MESSAGE IS NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any downloading, copying, disclosure dissemination, distribution, or forwarding of this communication is strictly prohibited.

If received in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original message including attachments.

The City of Sterling Heights reserves the right to assert the deliberative process privilege or any other applicable privileges authorized by law with respect to e-mail messages sent or received where appropriate.

A copy of documents responsive to the request.

Good morning Mr. Cartwright,

The data regarding officer involved shootings that was included in our response to your FOIA request is for any intentional or accidental discharge of a weapon by an officer involving another individual.

Regards,

[new logo]

Natalie Minaudo
Administrative Secretary
Sterling Heights Police Department
40333 Dodge Park Road, Sterling Heights MI, 48313 USA
Tel: (586) 446-2916 fax: (586) 276-4069

IF THE READER OF THIS MESSAGE IS NOT THE INTENDED RECIPIENT or the employee or agent responsible for delivering this message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any downloading, copying, disclosure dissemination, distribution, or forwarding of this communication is strictly prohibited.

If received in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete the original message including attachments.

The City of Sterling Heights reserves the right to assert the deliberative process privilege or any other applicable privileges authorized by law with respect to e-mail messages sent or received where appropriate.