Blog Posts
New Data on D.C. Public Records Requests Show Backlog Mounting – Could Last for Months
October 7, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
Backlogs have grown to almost double last year’s as DC agencies fail to keep up with public requests for records under the D.C. Freedom of Information Act during the pandemic, according to new figures obtained by the D.C. Open Government Coalition. Statistics released to the D.C. Council by the mayor’s office show almost 2,000 requests […]
Police Records on Misconduct Are Opening Up Elsewhere – Time for D.C. As Well
September 29, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
NOTE: For more on access to police body camera video in D.C., watch a D.C. Open Government Coalition discussion forum held Tuesday, Sept. 29. The recorded session is available here. In D.C. a new Police Reform Commission is at work, the D.C. Council is holding hearings on a police reform bill, and police transparency made […]
D.C. Open Government Coalition Hosts Virtual Program on Public Access to Police Videos
September 23, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
UPDATE: Video of the program is now available here. With images of excessive police force, including fatal shootings, reverberating across the country, the D.C. Open Government Coalition is hosting an online program Tuesday, Sept. 29, 12 -1:30, on public access to the video from cameras most patrol officers wear today, including in D.C. Our panel […]
September 17, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
A few minutes of video including graphic images of a D.C. police officer shooting Deon Kay September 2 in Southeast Washington are being watched District-wide by the community and multiple investigators, all in search of answers to what happened and why. The video would not previously have been publicly available so quickly. The mayor has […]
Sign the Letter to the D.C. Council: Reinstate Deadlines for Public Records Access
September 16, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
UPDATE 9/23/20 — The D.C. Council yesterday (22) extended the emergency legislation until December 31. The Council chairman, Phil Mendelson, in a pre-session memo said “it is my intent to revisit certain provisions of the Coronavirus Support Amendment Act that are currently tied to the duration of the public health emergency and to consider that […]
August 31, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
The D.C. state education agency must post its decisions on complaints about special education in D.C. schools., according to a decision of the Office of Open Government released Friday (28). The D.C. Open Government Coalition asked for a review of the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) practice after receiving citizens’ complaints that […]
D.C. Police Union Goes to Court to Stop New Law Releasing Body-Cam Video
August 11, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
UPDATE 11/30/20: The case will come up for a hearing January 15, 2021, on whether to end it early. The union amended its complaint in the summer augmenting claims officers are endangered after release of video showing them at work. In turn, the government asked the court a second time to throw the case out. […]
August 9, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
D.C. officials on July 31 released selected videos from three fatal incidents in 2018 involving Metropolitan Police Department officers, two shootings and a collision of a dirt bike and a police cruiser. The video is here. The released video includes segments from officers’ cameras, from a non-police surveillance camera, on-screen text and narration. One segment […]
July 30, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
The D.C. Open Government Coalition congratulates the many parents and teachers in charter schools, as well as other concerned citizens, energized for reform after charter schools changed programs or even shut down in meetings behind closed doors in the last few years. Their advocacy for board meeting sunshine that we were pleased to support, often […]
July 27, 2020, by Fritz Mulhauser
UPDATE: At the Tuesday (28) session, the D.C. Council passed the amendment discussed below by a vote of 9-4. The Coalition is grateful to all those who contacted Council members in favor of improved transparency. The Open Government Coalition wrote today (27) to Council members asking them to vote in favor of the kind of […]
