(See attached file: muck.pdf)

96554-21315540@re
quests.muckrock.c
om To
Foil@bpdny.org
07/14/2020 05:02 cc
AM
Subject
RE: New York Freedom of Information
Law Request: Police department
misconduct allegations and
disciplinary proceedings

Buffalo Police Department
FOIL Office
74 Franklin Street
Buffalo, NY 14202

July 14, 2020

This is a follow up to a previous request:

To Whom It May Concern:

I wanted to follow up on the following New York Freedom of Information Law
request, copied below, and originally submitted on June 22, 2020. Please
let me know when I can expect to receive a response.

Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.

Filed via MuckRock.com
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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 News
DEPT MR 96554
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.

---

On June 22, 2020:
Subject: New York Freedom of Information Law Request: Police department
misconduct allegations and disciplinary proceedings
To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the New York Freedom of Information Law, I hereby request the
following records:

All materials and records describing and sufficient to show/disclose all
allegations of misconduct made and all disciplinary proceedings taken
against Armonde Badger and Michael Norwood, Jr..

As described in the New York Freedom of Information Law, a record is "any
information kept, held, filed, produced or reproduced by, with or for an
agency or the state legislature, in any physical form whatsoever including,
but not limited to, reports, statements, examinations, memoranda, opinions,
folders, files, books, manuals, pamphlets, forms, papers, designs,
drawings, maps, photos, letters, microfilms, computer tapes or discs,
rules, regulations or codes." Records kept in a digital or electronic form
are also records, would be responsive to this request, and should be
provided.

These records are typically required to be retained under the New York
State Records Retention and Disposition Schedule MU-1 (
http://www.archives.nysed.gov/records/retention_mu-1), including, but not
limited to, item no. 365, which includes: "Investigative records and
disciplinary proceedings, including but not limited to statement of charge,
transcript of hearing, notice of decision, letter of termination or
resignation, letter of reinstatement, record of appeal procedure, and
correspondence." While materials under that schedule have a set retention
of 3 years after the final decision rendered, this request and materials
responsive to it include *all* records held in the possession of any office
or individual employed or formerly employed by this policing agency,
including those kept off-site, in digital form, and in personnel files.

Please note that any failure to provide all potentially-responsive
materials and/or the destruction of materials potentially responsive to
this request would be a violation of the spirit of the New York Freedom of
Information Law, as well as unlawful under the New York FOIL and the terms
of the attached litigation hold notice.

Materials responsive to this request include — but are not limited to — all
complaints, reports, records of discipline and penalties, aggregate
collections of complaint and disciplinary materials (spreadsheets,
databases), investigatory materials, relevant related correspondence,
photographs, video, other related evidence, proof of discipline or
fulfillment of penalties, and all personnel materials (including those used
in promotion, contract, and other employment negotiations and
considerations) that reference or utilize misconduct allegations or
disciplinary materials of any sort.

Materials responsive to this request include all complaints— internal,
external, and civilian — and include records disclosing the names, badge
numbers, and personnel identification of each officer involved and/or
serving as a witness, as well as all available details of the
incident/complaint: date, time, location, nature of the incident,
description of the incident, nature of the investigation, investigatory
materials, the disposition of the case, and any subsequent materials
related to the execution of any resultant discipline. Responsive materials
include all complaints and allegations against any officer, employee, or
representative of this policing agency, regardless of whether that
complaint or allegation resulted in any investigation or disciplinary
action.

Responsive materials also include all records of use of force by officers,
including records disclosing the names, badge numbers, and personnel
identification of each officer involved and/or serving as a witness, as
well as all available details of the incident: date, time, location, nature
of the incident, description of the incident, nature of the use of force,
subsequent investigatory materials related to the use of force, the
disposition of any investigation into the incident, and any subsequent
materials related to the use of force.

Please provide materials on a rolling basis, beginning with materials
created during the following timeframes:
• January 1, 2010 - June 15, 2020
• January 1, 2000 - January 1, 2010
• January 1, 1990 - January 1, 2000
• January 1, 1980 - January 1, 1990
• January 1, 1970 - January 1, 1980

Pursuant to NYCRR Section 1401.5(c)(1), should any of this request be
unclear or lack sufficient description for your office, please provide
direction that would enable this requester to request records reasonably
described. Please also note that the New York FOIL states: "An agency shall
not deny a request on the basis that the request is voluminous or that
locating or reviewing the requested records or providing the requested
copies is burdensome because the agency lacks sufficient staffing or on any
other basis if the agency may engage an outside professional service to
provide copying, programming or other services required to provide the
copy...." Please also see FOIL AO 19671, an Advisory Opinion from the
Committee on Open Government [https://docs.dos.ny.gov/coog/ftext/f19671.htm
].

If your office has questions about this request or would like to discuss it
for any reason, please contact this requester via the contact email address
provided and feel free to follow up by phone: 617-299-1832. This request is
being submitted to each policing agency in New York as part of a
collaborative project led by MuckRock and involving multiple other
educational and journalistic partners and participants. For this reason,
over the lifetime of this request, your agency may interface with
individuals not listed on this initial communication.

This request is being made in the public interest by a news organization as
part of non-profit (not commercial) journalistic work and research on
behalf of the public. 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 and as part of the necessary negotiations for successful
processing. As far as it is possible, please fulfill elements of this
request 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,

Robert Galbraith

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com
Upload documents directly:
https://accounts.muckrock.com/accounts/login/?url_auth_token=AAAaszhfJ8CiL6bxa-aoCNNQf3s%3A1jvGol%3A0yevG7XxJNj-6oyD_R3wQQEKyXQ&next=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.muckrock.com%2Faccounts%2Flogin%2F%3Fnext%3D%252Faccounts%252Fagency_login%252Fbuffalo-police-department-4897%252Fpolice-department-misconduct-allegations-and-disciplinary-proceedings-96554%252F%253Femail%253DFoil%252540bpdny.org

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 News
DEPT MR 96554
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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