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Rights & Responsibilities:
The Rights of Requesters and the
Responsibilities of
The Portsmouth Police Department under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act
The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA),
located § 2.2-3700 et seq. of the Code of Virginia, guarantees citizens of the
Commonwealth and representatives of the media access to public records held by
public bodies, public officials, and public employees.
A public record is any writing or recording -- regardless of whether it is a
paper record, an electronic file, an audio or video recording, or any other
format -- that is prepared or owned by, or in the possession of a public body or
its officers, employees or agents in the transaction of public business. All
public records are presumed to be open, and may only be withheld if a specific,
statutory exemption applies.
The policy of FOIA states that the purpose of FOIA is to promote an increased
awareness by all persons of governmental activities. In furthering this policy,
FOIA requires that the law be interpreted liberally, in favor of access, and
that any exemption allowing public records to be withheld must be interpreted
narrowly.
Your FOIA Rights
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You have the right to request to inspect or
receive copies of public records, or both.
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You have the right to request that any
charges for the requested records be estimated in advance.
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If you believe that your FOIA rights have
been violated, you may file a petition in district or circuit court to
compel compliance with FOIA.
Making a Request for records from the
Portsmouth Police Department
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You may request records by U.S. Mail, fax,
e-mail, in person, or over the phone. FOIA does not require that your
request be in writing, nor do you need to specifically state that you are
requesting records under FOIA.
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From a practical perspective, it may be
helpful to both you and the person receiving your request to put your
request in writing. This allows you to create a record of your request.
It also gives us a clear statement of what records you are requesting,
so that there is no misunderstanding over a verbal request. However, we
cannot refuse to respond to your FOIA request if you elect to not put it
in writing.
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Your request must identify the records you
are seeking with "reasonable specificity." This is a common-sense standard.
It does not refer to or limit the volume or number of records that you are
requesting; instead, it requires that you be specific enough so that we can
identify and locate the records that you are seeking.
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Your request must ask for existing records or
documents. FOIA gives you a right to inspect or copy records; it does not
apply to a situation where you are asking general questions about the work
of the Portsmouth Police Department nor does it require the Portsmouth
Police Department to create a record that does not exist.
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You may choose to receive electronic records
in any format used by the Portsmouth Police Department in the regular course
of business.
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For example, if you are requesting
records maintained in an Excel database, you may elect to receive those
records electronically, via e-mail or on a computer disk, or to receive
a printed copy of those records
If we have questions about your request, please
cooperate with staff's efforts to clarify the type of records that you are
seeking, or to attempt to reach a reasonable agreement about a response to a
large request. Making a FOIA request is not an adversarial process, but we may
need to discuss your request with you to ensure that we understand what records
you are seeking.
To request records from the Portsmouth Police Department you may direct your
request to Sgt. S. Spirek, he can be reached at :
The Portsmouth Police Department
Police Records Unit
711 Crawford Street
Portsmouth Virginia 23704
Phone: 757-393-8737 extension 7153
CLICK HERE to email the Records Unit Commander
Requests for records made by the media should be directed to the Portsmouth
Police Department's Public Information Officer, Ann Hope. Ms. Hope can be
reached at:
The Portsmouth Police Department
Office of the Chief of Police
700 Crawford Street
Portsmouth Virginia 23704
Phone: 757-393-8257 extension 112
Email: hopea@portsmouthva.gov
You may also use the contacts above for questions you have concerning requesting
records from the Portsmouth Police Department. In addition, the Freedom of
Information Advisory Council is available to answer any questions you may have
about FOIA. The Council may be contacted by e-mail at foiacouncil@leg.state.va.us,
or by phone at (804) 225-3056 or [toll free] 1-866-448-4100.
The Portsmouth Police Department's Responsibilities in Responding to Your
Request
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The Portsmouth Police Department must respond
to your request within five working days of receiving it. "Day One" is
considered the day after your request is received. The five-day period does
not include weekends or holidays.
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The reason behind your request for public
records from the Portsmouth Police Department is irrelevant, and we cannot
ask you why you want the records before we respond to your request. FOIA
does, however, allow the Portsmouth Police Department to ask you to provide
your name and legal address.
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FOIA requires that the Portsmouth Police
Department make one of the following responses to your request within the
five-day time period:
1) We provide you with the records that you
have requested in their entirety.
2) We withhold all of the records that you have requested, because all of
the records are subject to a specific statutory exemption. If all of the
records are being withheld, we must send you a response in writing. That
writing must identify the volume and subject matter of the records being
withheld, and state the specific section of the Code of Virginia that allows
us to withhold the records.
3) We provide some of the records that you have requested, but withhold
other records. We cannot withhold an entire record if only a portion of it
is subject to an exemption. In that instance, we may redact the portion of
the record that may be withheld, and must provide you with the remainder of
the record. We must provide you with a written response stating the specific
section of the Code of Virginia that allows portions of the requested
records to be withheld.
4) If it is practically impossible for the Portsmouth Police Department to
respond to your request within the five-day period, we must state this in
writing, explaining the conditions that make the response impossible. This
will allow us seven additional working days to respond to your request,
giving us a total of 12 working days to respond to your request.
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If you make a request for a very large number
of records, and we feel that we cannot provide the records to you within 12
days without disrupting our other organizational responsibilities, we may
petition the court for additional time to respond to your request. However,
FOIA requires that we make a reasonable effort to reach an agreement with
you concerning the production or the records before we go to court to ask
for more time.
Costs
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You may have to pay for the records that you
request from the Portsmouth Police Department. FOIA allows us to charge for
the actual costs of responding to FOIA requests. This would include items
like staff time spent searching for the requested records, copying costs, or
any other costs directly related to supplying the requested records. It
cannot include general overhead costs.
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If we estimate that it will cost more than
$200 to respond to your request, we may require you to pay a deposit, not to
exceed the amount of the estimate, before proceeding with your request. The
five days that we have to respond to your request does not include the time
between when we ask for a deposit and when you respond.
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You may request that we estimate in advance
the charges for supplying the records that you have requested. This will
allow you to know about any costs upfront, or give you the opportunity to
modify your request in an attempt to lower the estimated costs.
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If you owe us money from a previous FOIA
request that has remained unpaid for more than 30 days, the Portsmouth
Police Department may require payment of the past-due bill before it will
respond to your new FOIA request.
Commonly used exemptions
The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from
public disclosure. The Portsmouth Police Department commonly withholds records
subject to the following exemptions:
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Personnel records (§ 2.2-3705.1 (1) of the
Code of Virginia) or records relating to administrative investigations
(2.2-3705.3 of the Code of Virginia).
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Records relating to public safety (§
2.2-3705.2 of the Code of Virginia)
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Criminal Record exemptions (2.2-3706 of the
Code of Virginia)
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Confidential law enforcement records
concerning a juvenile except to persons authorized to receive such
information under 16.1-301 of the Code of Virginia.
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