Facts and Procedural History:

On May 14, 2003, IPAD received a letter from Christopher Coen, on behalf of Communities United Against Police Brutality. In his letter, Mr. Coen asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding his right to gain access to certain data maintained by the City of Minneapolis.

In response to Mr. Coen's request, IPAD, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Craig Steiner, the Data Practices Compliance Official of the City. The purposes of this letter, dated May 19, 2003, were to inform him of Mr. Coen's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the City's position. On June 2, 2003, IPAD received a response from Mr. Steiner. A summary of the facts of this matter follows.

In a letter dated April 11, 2003, Mr. Coen wrote to Mr. Steiner and asked to inspect the following data: the public portions of all non-pending, non-current police department internal affairs complaint forms received since January 1, 1990 by the Minneapolis Police Department, Division of Internal Affairs.

According to Mr. Coen, on May 12, 2003, he was

. . . told by Valerie Wurster, the director of the DIA, that we could only view complaint records against police officers in which a guilty determination has been made. We were shown only 52 complaint records in total, supposedly from the last six years. Yet, we had requested to see the public portions of ALL non-pending and non-current DIA complaint forms. We did not request only the subset of records that have a guilty status determination. Ms. Wurster told us that she would not take the time to show us more records, and that she would not show us any other records other than these that had been litigated. We had already waited for one month for the DIA to simply show us the 52 records that they are willing to share.

When I asked Ms. Wurster what part of Chapter 13 (of the Minnesota Data Practices law) allowed her to withhold the complaint records we had requested to view, she told us that she would not answer that question, and that we should talk to the Minneapolis City Attorney.

In his comments to the Commissioner, Mr. Steiner stated the following:

When the City received the initial data practices request, it was assigned to the Assistant City Attorney assigned to the Police Department, Patrick Marzitelli. Mr. Marzitelli initially misinterpreted Mr. Coen's request and instructed the Internal Affairs Division (IAD) to produce the public data related to cases where final disposition of disciplinary action had occurred. Obviously, this interpretation was not consistent with Mr. Coen's request, and the City apologizes for the mistake. However, based on direction provided by the City Attorney's Office, Lieutenant Wurster, the commander of IAD, instructed the clerk/typist assigned to IAD to compile the data for Mr. Coen. Because IAD has only one clerical staff person, the compilation of the data took some time. Mr. Coen was then invited in to inspect the data and he made copies using his own copying machine. During Mr. Coen's visit to IAD, Mr. Marzitelli made a point of stopping by to introduce himself and told Mr. Coen that if there were any problems, he should call Mr. Marzitelli. When Mr. Coen complained to Lt. Wurster that he was not provided access to everything that had been requested, she directed him back to Mr. Marzitelli. Unfortunately, Mr. Coen did not contact Mr. Marzitelli and Mr. Marzitelli was unaware of any problem until the City received Mr. Coen's request for a Commissioner's opinion.

Mr. Steiner stated that the City has sent additional data related to non-sustained complaints to Mr. Coen, and is in the process of compiling complainant data, which it will forward to Mr. Coen as soon as possible.

Issue:

In his request for an opinion, Mr. Coen asked the Commissioner to address the following issue:

Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, did the City of Minneapolis respond appropriately to a request for access the following data: the public portions of all nonpending, noncurrent police department internal affairs complaint forms received since January 1, 1990 by the Minneapolis Police Department, Division of Internal Affairs?

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Discussion:

Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 2, government entities are required to respond to a request for access to public government data in a prompt and reasonable manner. Minnesota Rules, part 1205.0300, provides further guidance stating that entities must respond within a reasonable time.

In this situation, the City and Mr. Coen agree that the data he requested are public government data, and Mr. Steiner acknowledged that the City erred in its initial response to Mr. Coen. The Commissioner recognizes that forthright acknowledgment.

The Commissioner notes that the type of data Mr. Coen requested have been the subject of two appellate court decisions involving the City of Minneapolis. (See Demers v. City of Minneapolis, 468 N.W.2d (Minn. 1991), and Demers v. City of Minneapolis, 486 N.W.2d (Minn. App. 1992).) These cases clearly state that the data at issue here are public.

The Commissioner further notes that in the circumstances as described by Mr. Coen and Mr. Steiner, there may have been some confusion about the process that the City expected Mr. Coen to follow in order to gain access to the data he requested. Pursuant to section 13.03, subdivision 2 (a), the City is required to establish procedures that explain how an individual may gain access to public data. Clearly, such procedures must apply equally to all individuals seeking access to public data. The Commissioner does not know if the City has created any such procedures and Mr. Steiner did not provide them as part of his comments. If the City has not created those procedures, the Commissioner urges it to do so promptly.

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Opinion:

Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue raised by Mr. Coen is as follows:

Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, the City of Minneapolis did not respond appropriately to a request for access to the following data: the public portions of all non-pending, non-current police department internal affairs complaint forms received since January 1, 1990 by the Minneapolis Police Department, Division of Internal Affairs.

Signed:

Brian J. Lamb
Commissioner

Dated: June 25, 2003

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