Suit alleges DC Police kept ‘watchlist’ of people, intentionally limited access to information
A new lawsuit alleges D.C. Police bucked the mayor’s commitment to transparency and created a list of reporters, activists and community members whose requests for information were intentionally delayed or dismissed.
In the complaint filed in U.S. District Court on Feb. 2, defense attorney Amy Phillips alleged that the city’s police department “maintains a list of people whose requests for information under the D.C. Freedom of Information Act are set aside for special review by high-ranking officials, including the Chief of Police.”
Once on the watchlist, the document says individuals who had made requests for information with the potential to embarrass D.C. Police or its officers faced “hurdles the general public avoids.” Those hurdles include being charged for information that others might get for free.
Former D.C. Police FOIA officer Vendette Parker, who retired in 2020, told Phillips that former Police Chief Peter Newsham had this “unofficial policy” and attested to it in the filings. She noted the practice was applied to 20 requests of what is likely thousands the department receives each year.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said she could not comment on the suit when asked about it at a press conference by multiple reporters and did not respond when asked if she’d spoken to current Chief Robert Contee about stopping the alleged practice if it exists.
“I can’t acknowledge that a practice was going on. So until I have more information, I’m not going to — I can’t comment on that,” Bowser said. “What I can say, as I’ve already said, is our expectation of every agency … is that FOIA requests are dealt with as expeditiously as possible.”
In the complaint, Parker said that her manager, Leann Turner, instructed her to watch for requests from specific people and to highlight them in a weekly email so that Newsham was aware they were submitted.
“Over time, Parker identified the following people (among others) as requesters whom she should bring to the attention of Turner and Newsham: Eric Flack, a reporter with WUSA-9; Marina Marraco, a reporter with FOX-5 DC; the ACLU; Denise Krepp, an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner; Lorenzo Greene, also an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner; and Amy Phillips and other criminal defense lawyers,” the complaint said.
Anthony Lorenzo Greene [sic], who represents ANC 7C, asked Bowser about his status on what he called a “blacklist” during the press conference on Feb. 3.
“I’m very offended that anybody will put me on a watch list because I ask questions about what happened in this community. I really, truly need an answer to that, maybe in writing, but that has to be rectified,” Greene told Bowser.
D.C. Police did not respond to WTOP’s request for comment on the lawsuit.