In early 2009, the Partnership for Civil Justice filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court in the hopes that the D.C. Police Department would get its act together and comply with a very basic FOIA request. What did the civil rights lawyers want?

They wanted the D.C. Police to cough up their operational procedures and general orders. In other words, just the rules on how the police are supposed to govern themselves, and utilize their authority with the general public. The complaint stated:

“Public disclosure of the operational policies and practices, orders and staff instructions of the police department is essential for policing in a democratic society and to establish accountability….The D.C. FOIA mandates that the MPD specifically make public and make available upon demand its policies, procedures, manuals and staff instructions….Additionally the MPD is required to publish a general index of all such records unless the materials are promptly published and copies offered for sale.”

Today, the Partnership announced that the D.C. Police Department has finally complied with the FOIA.

Read More "It’s About Time: D.C. Police Release General Orders In Response To FOIA Fight" »

Yesterday, the Washington Post broke the news that the D.C. Police Department has gotten a p.r. firm to do a little pro bono work to help buff up its image. I was quoted in the story (I hope I wasn't too whiny) on a subject that should be familiar to loyal readers of City Desk: police stonewalling.

Read More "The Post: D.C. Police Way Behind On FOIAs" »

The other day Carl Kerstetter sent me the above picture of his son David with his medals from his military service which included a tour of duty during the first Gulf War. The picture shows what David was before his mental-illness reared up and took over much of his life. On November 6, he was shot and killed inside his Logan Circle home by D.C. Police Officer Frederick Friday. While the incident is still under investigation, my cover story on the subject raises many questions left unanswered.

I am using this new picture of David as an excuse to complain about the latest stonewalling on the part of the D.C. Police Department's press office.

A month after the shooting, I submitted a FOIA to the D.C. Police Department's spokesperson Traci Hughes. The FOIA was very simple. I asked for e-mails sent from a few police officials to the officials at the Department of Mental Health. My request gave a specific time frame and a specific subject matter to search. But after I sent my FOIA, I heard nothing back from police brass.

I waited. And then I waited some more.

Read More "Obvious Blog Post: D.C. Police Suck At FOIAs" »

Buried in today's Style section is a story about what the Post dug up when it filed a FOIA request on author Norman Mailer, who died last year. There's not a whole lot of shocking news in the files, which may explain why it's buried in the Style section---Feds impersonated friends to extract Mailer's whereabouts, but otherwise the file seems largely stuffed with press clippings.

There's a big missed opportunity here, though. There are plenty of Mailer scholars---or just garden-variety lit nerds like myself---who'd love a peek at the file. So why won't washingtonpost.com, which prides itself on pioneering new ways to make stories sticky and engaging online---post a few jpegs or PDFs from it? If nothing else, I'd like to see the FBI agent's attempt at a review of Mailer's book about the '68 conventions, Miami and the Seige of Chicago. "It is written in his usual obscene and bitter style," the agent explained.