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December 22, 2000; City of Minneapolis
12/22/2000 10:16:43 AM
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.
Facts and Procedural History:For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the person who requested this opinion and the response from the government entity with which the person disagrees are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of IPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On November 7, 2000, Ann E. Walther, an attorney in Minneapolis, requested that the Commissioner of Administration issue an advisory opinion regarding data released by the Minneapolis Police Department in December, 1998. Ms. Walther represents Minneapolis Police Officer Doug Leiter. The background information relating to the data released in December, 1998 follows. On November 27, 1998, Officer Doug Leiter was driving a marked squad car when he and his partner responded to a burglary in progress. En route to the scene, the officers learned that the suspect had left in a dark vehicle. While following a vehicle that matched the description they had received, the officers' squad car collided with a truck driven by Steven Winkel. Mr. Winkel's passenger, Jeffrey Carlson, was killed instantly. Mr. Winkel died one week later from injuries suffered in the accident. On December 2, 1998, Minneapolis Police Chief Robert Olson wrote a letter to Steven Winkel's family. Included with that letter was a copy of the Preliminary Fact Sheet giving some information about the investigation of the accident. Included in the fact sheet was the following statement: Our preliminary investigation indicates that squad 351 was not operating with red lights and siren at the time of the collision. Following the investigation, accident reconstruction and forensic testing, the final conclusion of the investigators regarding the operation of the red lights at the time of the accident were inconclusive. The results of the investigation were used to charge Officer Leiter with misdemeanor traffic violations, as the basis for civil suits against the City and for internal disciplinary action by the police department. In requesting the advisory opinion, Ms. Walther indicated that it was their belief that the preliminary finding regarding the red lights on the squad car was not public data as of December 2, 1998. On November 14, 2000, a letter was sent to the Office of the City Attorney for the City of Minneapolis. The purpose of the letter was to inform the City Attorney of the request for an advisory opinion and to provide the City with an opportunity to respond. In its response on November 27, 2000, James A. Moore of the Office of the City Attorney accepted Ms. Walther's recitation of the facts as accurate and also acknowledged that the Chief of Police had sent the preliminary fact sheet as an attachment to his letter of December 2, 1998 to the Winkel family. Mr. Moore argued that the data released by Chief Olson were public. He further argued that even if they were not public on December 2, 1998, the Chief had the authority to release the data to a victim's family according to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.82, subdivision 15 (2000) which authorizes release of not public data when access to the data will ...aid the law enforcement process, promote public safety, or dispel widespread rumor or unrest. Issues:In the request for an opinion, Ms. Walther asked the Commissioner to address the following issues:
Discussion:1. As of December 2, 1998, was the preliminary finding of investigators that the squad's red lights were not on at the time of the collision public data? The Minnesota Government Data Practices Act, Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, contains a presumption that government data are public unless classified otherwise by federal or state law. See Minnesota Statutes, section 13.03, subdivision 1. In addition, Minnesota Statutes, section 13.82 contains specific classifications for data relating to law enforcement. Minnesota Statutes, section 13.82, subdivision 6 (2000) specifically provides that data created or collected by law enforcement which documents an agency's response to requests for service including traffic accidents ...shall be public government data.... A brief factual reconstruction of the events associated with the action is included in the list of data that are public according to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.92, subdivision 6 (f)(2000). There is no statutory definition for the phrase brief factual reconstruction. As the phrase is commonly understood, the attachment to Chief Olson's December 2, 1998 letter certainly qualifies as a short statement of what happened. Therefore, the preliminary fact sheet fits within the list of items specifically made public by Minnesota Statutes, section 13.82, subdivision 6 (2000). In requesting the advisory opinion, Ms. Walther suggests that language in the December 2, 1998 letter indicate that Chief Olson knew he was releasing not public data. That is not, however, what the December 2, 1998 letter says. It says in pertinent part: Because the investigation, forensic evidence and forensic results are not yet completed, we cannot release those reports. Contrary to Ms. Walther's suggestion, this sentence tells the Winkel family what is not being released. Chief Olson provided that which was releasable; the preliminary fact sheet. In finding that the preliminary fact sheet is public data, it is not necessary to address the issue of whether releasing the data constituted a public benefit according to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.82, subdivision 15 (2000). 2. Did the Chief of Police violate the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act when, on December 2, 1998, he released to the public the preliminary finding of investigators that the squad's red lights were not on at the time of the collision? As the preliminary fact sheet is public data according to Minnesota Statutes, section 13.82, subdivision 6 (2000), the Chief of Police did not violate the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act when he released it on December 2, 1998. Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issue raised by Ms. Walther is as follows:
Signed:
David F. Fisher
Dated: December 22, 2000 |
Law enforcement data
Request for service data (13.82, subd. 3)
