Metropolitan Police Department’s D.C. FOIA Compliance

On September 22, 2023, Director Allen issued an advisory opinion through the Office of Open Government (OOG) concerning the Metropolitan Police Department’s (“MPD”) D.C. FOIA Compliance. MPD issued a justification for a denial of records that inaccurately described sections 134 and 135 of the Comprehensive Policing Act. The advisory opinion analysis found the inaccurate language was not applied in the analysis MPD used to deny the requesters access to police disciplinary records under D.C. FOIA. The inaccurate description of sections 134 and 135 of the Comprehensive Policing Act did not substantively impact MPD’s decision to deny the release of records to D.C. FOIA requesters. To fully comply with the requirements of D.C. FOIA, OOG advised that MPD provide a supplemental response to the D.C. FOIA requesters impacted with a correct recitation of the Comprehensive Policing Act.