Update: Following publication of this story and a notice of the complaint from the Attorney General’s office, the department provided the requested records stating it was an “unintentional oversight” that the documents had not been provided as required by law.
PROVIDENCE – NRI NOW filed a formal complaint with Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha’s office on Monday against the Glocester Police Department for failure to respond to an Access to Public Records Act request.
On Friday, April 25, NRI NOW filed an APRA request to Lt. Jeffrey Jenison, who serves the department’s records officer, asking for copies of two specific arrest reports from the month of March.
By law, the department had ten days to respond to the request but to date, NRI NOW has not received a response.
First enacted in 1979, Rhode Island’s Access to Public Record Act guarantees access to public records of government bodies at all levels. Police reports reflecting the initial arrest of an adult are explicitly deemed public under the act.
The law allows ten days for a public body to deny a request, and if the agency does not respond within ten days, it is deemed a denial.
It is not the first time the publication had difficulty obtaining public records from the Glocester Police Department. When NRI NOW submitted similar requests for arrest records in January and February, Jenison responded that the investigations in three different cases were still ongoing – even as all three individuals involved had criminal charges filed against them that were proceeding in state courts.
It was only earlier this month, under threat of an APRA complaint to the Attorney General’s office, that arrest records in the cases from January and February were finally released.
At the time, NRI NOW warned that a complaint would be submitted in the future if the non-compliance continued.
“I’ve been I’ve been happy to wait in hopes of establishing a collaborative, positive relationship going forward,” noted publisher Sandy Hall of the records in an email to Jenison. “I know there are, indeed, times when an investigation is ongoing – but that’s typically in about one out of every 50 or so cases with the other agencies that I work with. Now that I’ve been denied records in 3/3 cases in Glocester it has become clear that I need to take further action.”
“At this point, all three requested records are well past the state-mandated deadline, and while I’d prefer to save your department the headache of an official complaint, I will submit one soon if that’s what’s needed in order to access these public records,” the note continued. “Please do confer as needed with the Attorney General’s office and get any clarification that might be necessary in order to regularly comply with this important law.”
In the latest records request, a complaint was filed via email with supporting documentation on Monday, May 12.
A court can impose a fine of up to $2,000 for “knowing and willful” violations of the APRA, and a fine of up to $1,000 for reckless violations.
Good job, Sandy. Please don’t give up. We need people, especially journalists, who are not afraid to speak up for the public. Please continue your requests and your reports to the Attorney General’s Office in search of the truth. Where is the Chief of Police in all this? It is a shame that this continues to happen.
This is a common issue with police departments as I also have problems with the burrillville police in requesting information. The police are paid by the people to inform the public not keep secrets so they can do what they want. When information is withheld it can only suggest something very wrong is going on.
Yea got that right
I ALSO WAS NOT ABLE TO REQUEST THE REPORT FILED IN MY OWN ARREST. THEY STATED IT COULD ONLY BE DONE BY MY LAWYER. IT TOOK ME MONTHS TO RECEIVE IT. MULTIPLE COURT DATES WITHOUT KNOWING WHAT WAS REPORTED AGAINST ME.