Avi S.

Adelman
5620 East Side Avenue
Dallas Texas 75214
Telephone 214.923.3562 / Fax 214-292.9761 / Avi@AviAdelman.com

TO

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Office of the Attorney General
PO Box 12548
Austin, TX 78711-2548

CC

Dallas City Attorneys Office

Criminal Law and Police Section

CC

Mickey Osterreicher
General Counsel, National Press Photographers Association

Date

July 1, 2015

On June 29, 2015, the City Attorneys office delivered to Correspondent a letter sent to
your office on June 9, 2015 (attached), in re
ORR# 2015-06160
Requested Information: Body Cam Videos (BWC), 2 CDs
Request Date: April 13, 2015
This letter asked for forgiveness for not submitting a request for approval to withhold
the requested BWC video within the required 10 days from the date my request was
submitted, and a request to withhold the requested BWC video.
This letter was NOT presented to Correspondent until June 29, 2015, only after being told
Correspondent was prepared to contact the Attorney General about the failure to deliver
or reply to requests for BWC files. Note that the document does not include a Copied To
(Correspondent) section at the end of the letter.
Section 552.302 provides:
o If a governmental body does not request an attorney general decision as
provided by Section 552.301 and provide the requestor with the information
required by Sections 552.301(d) and (e-1), the information requested in writing

is presumed to be subject to required public disclosure and must be released

unless there is a compelling reason to withhold the information.
Correspondent petitions the Attorney General to postpone answering the City
Attorneys request until such time as consideration of this document has been
completed. If the request has been answered, it should be declared null and void
pending a review of this submission.
Correspondent also requests that the Attorney General seek legal action against the City
of Dallas for purposely ignoring provisions of the Public Information Act by failing to
include Correspondent on all documentation, and failing to submit the required
documentation per the schedule outlined in the Act.
On April 11, 2015, Correspondent submitted an Open Records Request to the Dallas
Police Department (DPD) for copies of body-worn-camera (BWC) videos related to an
incident on the Santa Fe Trail on March 27, 2015. A copy of that request is attached.
On April 15, 2015, the DPDs Open Records Office notified Correspondent that the
requested files would not be available for at least 30 days.
On May 23, 2015, Correspondent inquired about the status of the request. On
May 26, 2015, DPD Open Records Office notified Correspondent the April 15
email referred to 30 business days, not calendar days, and that the DPD was
working hard to prepare the files.
On Thursday, June 11, 2015, Correspondent was notified the files were ready to
pick up, and they were comprised of five DVD disks.
On Thursday, June 18, 2015, Correspondent went to the DPD Open Records Office
and was given five DVD disks to review.
Upon review, it was determined the video files were dashcam recording systems
installed in five different DPD vehicles which were at the scene of the incident.
There was no BWC video in the package. DPD staff did not know why the BWC
video was not included, and stated they would send a message to the DPD Central
Division (where the incident took place) in an effort to locate the file.
On June 22, 2015, Correspondent notified the DPD Open Records Office that
upon review of photographs from the incident and the dashcam videos that

only one BWC video camera was observed on a DPD officer nicknamed Officer
Mike, and that the second officer, T. Nguyen, was wearing a different device,
possibly a pager or phone, on his uniform.
On June 28, 2015, Correspondent notified DPD Open Records that he was setting
a deadline of Close of Business on July 3, 2015, for the DPD to provide a WRITTEN
answer as to where the BWC file was and when a copy will be delivered.
The Citys June 9 letter asked your office for approval to withhold two BWC files due to
the content, specifically, medical treatment provided to a DPD officer who had suffered
a heart attack on the Santa Fe Trail.
The City Attorney is aware that Correspondents request is not for the medical portion
of the video, but for that portion of the event (less than five minutes) that have nothing
to do with the medical services provided, but instead, with illegal orders and actions by
DPD officers directed at the Correspondent.
The City Attorney is aware Correspondent has filed numerous complaints against many
DPD officers who were present for their combined and individual efforts to violate the
First Amendment rights of the Correspondent, a freelance photographer. A meeting
with the Chief of the DPD division in which these officers work had been postponed due
to timing issues. It has been postponed again due to this request to your office.
The City Attorney is aware Correspondent only wants those portions of the video(s) in
which a DPD officer only known as Officer Mike - and possibly another officer (based on
the request to withhold two CDs) from their arrival through their departure from the
scene.
The City Attorney has reviewed the video(s) and is using the medical treatment as a
pretext to shield what Correspondent believes are incriminating acts committed by the
numerous DPD officers, something they do not want released.
This includes illegal orders to the Correspondent to cease taking photographs,
comments by other officers who either issued similar illegal orders or took physical
actions to prevent Correspondent from taking photographs, all of which are in violation
of DPD General Orders and / or violations of Correspondents First Amendment rights.
The City Attorney is aware anyone using Windows 7 Live Movie Maker can prepare a
redacted tape of the events, deleting those portions of the file which document the

medical treatment, but leaving all recordings from the time Officer Mike and the other
officers arrived on the scene up until their departures from the area.
For example, attached is a transcript of comments by another officer at the scene,
derived from dashcam video recordings off his portable radio. Officer Rugby (real name
unknown) uses several obscenities to describe Correspondent, telling other officers he
really wanted to arrest Correspondent on any charge he could create, and takes specific
physical action to prevent the Correspondent from taking photographs.
Correspondent is asking the Attorney General to deny the Citys request to withhold the
two referenced videos.
Correspondent is asking the Attorney General to order the City to release a file with all
medical procedures redacted, leaving intact all recordings from the time Officer Mike
and other officers arrived on the scene up until their departures from the area.
With best regards,

Avi S. Adelman

In a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) document on the Texas Attorney Generals

website regarding how the Open Records Request process should work, you will find the
following outline:
What procedures must be followed if a governmental body wishes to withhold
information?
Within ten business days of receiving a written request, the governmental body must:
write the Attorney General, asking for a decision and state which exceptions apply
to the requested information;
provide the requestor with a written statement that the governmental body
wishes to withhold the information and that it has asked the Attorney General for
a decision;
provide the requestor with a copy of the governmental body's correspondence to
the Attorney General; and
make a good faith attempt to notify, in the form prescribed by the Attorney
General, any affected third parties of the request.
Within fifteen business days of receiving your request, the governmental body must:
write the Attorney General and explain how the claimed exceptions apply;
provide a copy of your written request to the Attorney General;
provide a signed statement to the Attorney General stating the date the request
was received by the governmental body or provide evidence sufficient to
establish the date the request was received; and
provide copies of the documents requested or a representative sample of the
documents to the Attorney General and the documents must be labeled to show
which exceptions apply to which parts of the documents.
Source: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/open/og_faqs.shtml

According to the Texas Attorney Generals Public Information Handbook 2014

Section 552.302 of the Act provides:
If a governmental body does not request an attorney general decision as provided by
Section 552.301 and provide the requestor with the information required by Sections
552.301(d) and (e-1), the information requested in writing is presumed to be subject to
required public disclosure and must be released unless there is a compelling reason to
withhold the information.
Section 552.302 provides:
If a governmental body does not request an attorney general decision as provided by
Section 552.301 and provide the requestor with the information required by Sections
552.301(d) and (e-1), the information requested in writing is presumed to be subject to
required public disclosure and must be released unless there is a compelling reason to
withhold the information.
Section 552.301(b)
establishes a deadline of ten business days for the governmental body to request a
decision from the attorney general and state the exceptions that apply.
Subsection (d) of section 552.301
requires that the governmental body notify the requestor within ten business days if it is
seeking an attorney general decision as to whether the information may be withheld.
Section 552.301(e)
establishes a deadline of fifteen business days for the governmental body to provide the
other materials required under that subsection to the attorney general.
Subsection (e-1) of section 552.301
requires that the governmental body copy the requestor on its written comments,
within fifteen business days, redacting any portion of the comments that contains the
substance of the information requested.
Section 552.302
provides that if the governmental body does not make a timely request for a decision,
notify and copy the requestor, and make the requisite submissions to the attorney
general as required by section 552.301, the requested information will be presumed to
be open to the public, and only the demonstration of a compelling reason for
withholding the information can overcome that presumption.

Avi S. Adelman

5620 East Side Avenue

Dallas, Texas 75214

April 11, 2015

Dallas Police Department
Open Records Division
In accordance with the Texas Public Information Act, I make the following requests for
information.
Subject of Open Records Request
On March 27, 2015, at approximately 4pm, a Dallas Police bicycle patrol officer suffered
a heart attack while on the Santa Fe Trail near Henderson Avenue.
A review of photographs of officers at the scene confirmed that many of them were
wearing Body-Worn Cameras, issued by the Dallas Police Department.
The attached photographs show at least two officers (names unknown) wearing these
cameras. Correspondent does not know how many other officers at this incicdent were
wearing body cameras.
This request is for all video files generated during that incident, starting approximately at
3:50pm and ending at approximately 4:15pm, by all officers involved in this incident.
The information within these files primarily benefits the general public, especially in
regards to an Internal Affairs investigation into the actions of these officers to prevent
Correspondent from taking photographs of the incident. I am seeking a waiver of all
charges incurred for this request.
This request is made under the Texas Open Records Act, chapter 552 of the Government Code
(formerly V.T.C.S. article 6252) as well as Article I, Sec. 8 of the Texas Constitution, the First
Amendment to the United States Constitution, the common law of the State of Texas and any
statue providing for public access to government information:
I request I be sent copies of the following documents or, if there are a large number, be
permitted to inspect the following documents and receive one copy of the ones I would like.
If you have any questions about the nature or scope of this request, please call me at the
phone number listed below. Should you determine that all or some portion of the information
requested is excepted from required disclosure, I request that you provide me with the portions
of the requested information that are public and reasonably segrable from that which you
believe is excepted. If any records are in active use or in storage, please certify this fact in

Telephone - 214.923.3562

Fax - 214.292.9761

Email - Avi@AviAdelman.com

writing and set a date and hour within a reasonable time when the records will be available, as
required by section 552.221 of the Act.
If you determine that all or some portion of the information requested is excepted from required
public disclosure under a particular exception, I request that you advise me as to which
exceptions you believe apply. If you rely on previous determination, please advise me of the
applicable court decision or Attorney Generals opinion.
If there is no such determination, please advise me of the request for such an opinion, as
required under section 552.301 of the Act, and a dated copy of your letter to the Attorney
General. I call your attention to section 522.353 of the Act, which provides penalties for a
failure to release public records.
I am prepared to pay reasonable costs for copying, within the guidelines set by sections
552.261, 552.262, 552.263, 552.267, 552.268, 552.269.
As an alternative to condensing or compiling information to the specific pieces requested, the
City may provide me copies or access to documents (raw documents) which contain the
information requested. If you have any questions, I can be reached by telephone at the number
below.
Thank you for your timeliness and I await your response.
Sincerely,

Avi S. Adelman

Avi S. Adelman

5620 East Side Avenue

Telephone - 214.923.3562

Dallas, Texas 75214

Fax - 214.292.9761

Email - Avi@AviAdelman.com

April 15, 2015

Avi Adelman
5620 East Side Avenue
Dallas, TX 75214
RE: Public Information Request Number 2015-06160
Dear Ms. Adelman:
The Open Records Team has received your request for information pursuant to the Public
Information Act.
The information you requested will require additional time to retrieve. Factors affecting your
request will depend upon the information you are requesting and the divisions, sections or
units responsible for retrieving that information. With this in mind, the information you are
requesting will be ready for retrieving within 30 business days from the date of this letter and
by 10:00 am.
The Open Records Team apologizes for this delay in fulfilling your request. If you need any
information, please feel free to contact the Open Records Team by calling 214-671-3148.
Sincerely,
DAVID O. BROWN
CHIEF OF POLICE

Phyllis I. Nobles
Phyllis I. Nobles, #5393
Lieutenant of Police
Open Records Team
Office of the Chief of Staff

DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT JACK EVANS POLICE HEADQUARTERS 1400 SOUTH LAMAR STREET DALLAS, TEXAS 75215

Transcript of Officer Rugby speaking at Officer Down

Incident / Santa Fe Trail / March 27, 2015
The recording sequence was activated when the
vehicles emergency lights were turned on. It
recorded everything prior to his arrival at the incident
through the officers heading to Baylor to follow the
ambulance. The entire tape is about 16 minutes long.
This recording was captured on the dashcam tape,
which was released to Avi S. Adelman on June 18.
The officer was not wearing any kind of personal
identification nameplate on his uniform. We have
learned he plays rugby for a local team, so for this
transcript he is identified as Officer Rugby. The names
of other officers speaking are not known, so they
identified by numbers.
The video can be seen on You Tube at this link:
http://tinyurl.com/officerrugby
DPD radio traffic notes where the incident is taking place
Officer Rugby exits his vehicle
Background noise sounds like Avi yelling in background upon his arrival to the scene.
Office Rugby moves out of frame to walk up berm
More of Avi in background
Female Officer #1

GO AWAY!

Avi

I can take pictures (unintelligible)

Female Officer #1

GO ON...

Avi (to Officer Rugby)

Officer, you are wasting your time, deal with the issue

Rugby

Alright.

Avi

(Unintelligible) . Get out of my way.

Another officer yells to Avi, unintelligible (regarding where to stand on berm)

Avi to officer on berm

You are going to have me arrested for WHAT??

Rugby

What kind of individual are you?

Avi

I am a photographer and you are a cop. You need to be a cop.

Are you trying to (unintelligible) with me?

Rugby

Im not trying

Officer #1 (Mike?)

The lines gonna be right there Avi.

Right here. Just stay right here.

Rugby (to himself)

Piece of crap individuals in the world

Avi

You are gonna waste your time.

What are you doing?

Unidentified Teenager walking with officers

I am helping them.

Avi

You are wasting your time.

Officer Mike

Rugby starts following Avi around, along with unidentified Asian officer
Avi to Rugby

Are you crazy?

Rugby

Minding my own business, sir.

I can move like I wanna move, its a free country.

You take your pictures.

I am gonna move my own body.

Rugby (to himself)

Piece of crap.

Rugby to Avi

Get on the street, dude.

Avi

Stop chasing me

Lots of background noise. Rugby is standing by officer being treated, talking to another officer
Rugby to Officer #2

This fool is trying to take pictures of one of our guys. Thats vicious.

Piece of crap here, man

Background radio officer is going to Baylor. Lots of silence as officers leave the area.
After ambulance leaves, Avi starts to go back to his truck
Avi to Rugby

Do you have a problem sir?

Rugby

No not at all, Mr. Adelman.

Avi

Then why dont you get away from me??

Rugby

I can stay right here.

Avi

Then you can hear me call a sergeant.

Rugby

Go ahead and call, go ahead and call

Avi

You are are insult to .

Rugby

Where you going, man?

Avi

Im done whats your problem?

Rugby

I am just going for a walk its a free country.

Just going for a walk.

Avi

What are you going to do to me, harass me??

Rugby

I am just going for a walk. Its a free country, I can walk.

Avi

Knock yourself out.

Rugby

What you worried about me, I need the exercise??

Avi leaves area, Rugby goes back to other officers. Long space of silence.
(Rugby speaking to other officers)
Rugby

Is there anybody you just want to punch the crap out of??

I wish he had gave me any reason to put him in jail.

Long break, Rugby talks about resource center

Rugby to Officer #3

Hey, who that dude work for?? That Avi dude?

Officer #3

Who? That Jewish guy???

Rugby

Yeah

Officer #3

He dont work for anybody.

Hes one of the activists who lives in the area.

Officer #4

Hey, dont worry about Avi

Rugby

Piece of crap right there.

Talk about moving police bicycles

Rugby

What do you say, hes one of these activists?

Officer #5

The guy that was out here taking pictures?

He used to live up on Greenville Avenue.

Officer #6

He lives on East Side now

Rugby

What does he do?

Officer #7

Nuthin, hes just

Rugby

Hes gotta have a website or something

Officer #8

Yeah, hes got a website

Rugby

I hope he puts something on that thing piece of crap.

RE: Re: Open Records Request 2015-06160, Video/Santa Fe Trail

Subject: RE: Re: Open Records Request 2015-06160, Video/Santa Fe Trail

From: "Anderson, Frankie" <frankie.anderson@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us>
Date: 5/26/2015 9:01 AM
To: "Avi@AviAdelman.com" <Avi@AviAdelman.com>
Ms. Adelman,
Your Open Records Request is not complete. Open Records works relessly to compete Open Records Request in a
mely manner. The 30 day me period you were given, was 30 business days, not including holidays. We are working
to complete your request, so please bear with us. I will connue to check on your request and nofy you when it is
completed.
From: Avi S. Adelman [mailto:Avi@AviAdelman.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 23, 2015 11:12 PM
To: Anderson, Frankie
Cc: Mickey Osterreicher
Subject: Fwd: Re: Open Records Request 2015-06160, Video/Santa Fe Trail

Ms Anderson
In regards to the aached leer from April 15...
1 - My name is AVI and it is NOT a female name. It is a Hebrew name derived from Abraham.
2 - Your leer notes that the body cam videos were going to be ready on May 15th. I have allowed extra me to cover
for any unforeseen circumstances which may delay the date.
Please confirm that the video files are ready for me to pick up, preferably at an early hour this week.
I look forward to your reply.
Avi S. Adelman

-------- Forwarded Message -------Subject:Re: Open Records Request 2015-06160, Video/Santa Fe Trail
Date:Wed, 15 Apr 2015 13:51:00 +0000
From:Anderson, Frankie <frankie.anderson@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us>
To:avi@aviadelman.com <avi@aviadelman.com>

1 of 1

6/28/2015 6:43 PM

Subject: BodyCam video - Officer Mike / Officer down video at Santa Fe Trail
From: "Avi S. Adelman" <Avi@AviAdelman.com>
Date: 6/28/2015 4:38 PM
To: "Tillotson, Nekia" <nekia.tillotson@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us>, Mickey Osterreicher
<lawyer@nppa.org>, "Tittle, Gary" <gary.tittle@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us>, "Brown, David"
<david.brown@dpd.ci.dallas.tx.us>
Sgt Tillotson
Nearly two months ago, I filed an Open Records Request for the bodycam video of an ocer iden fied as
OFFICER MIKE (see photo a ached) from the Ocer Down / Santa Fe Trail Incident nearly three months ago.

I was no fied immediately therea er it would take 30 days to deliver the file. Then another 15 days.
Two weeks ago, I was given access to FIVE dashcam videos. I was NOT given the bodycam video. No
explana on was oered as to why it was not included in the files provided. Your oce sent a query to
Central Division about this file.
As of this wri ng, I have not been no fied that the file is or is not available, when I will get it, or who has it
and / or why it has not been released.
Since there has been no communica ons to me about the file, I will assume the Department is illegally
withholding the file contrary to the State of Texas' Public Informa on Act.
If the Dallas Police Department does not provide a WRITTEN answer as to where this file is and when I will
get a copy of it, I will file a complaint with the A orney General's oce. My deadline for the Department to
answer this request is Close of Business July 3, 2015.
Regards,
1 of 2

6/28/2015 7:07 PM

BodyCam video - Of icer Mike / Of icer down video at Santa Fe Trail

Avi S. Adelman
--

A citizen's right to film government officials, including law

enforcement officers, in the discharge of their duties in a public
space is a basic, vital and well-established liberty safeguarded by the
First Amendment. Gathering information about government officials
in a form that can be readily disseminated to others serves as a
cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting the
free discussion of governmental affairs. - US Court of Appeals for the
First Circuit
Avi S. Adelman
Avi@AviAdelman.com

Phone - 214.923.3562
Fax - 214.292.9761

Attachments:

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6/28/2015 7:07 PM