Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department is withholding records on how the agency uses social media surveillance to investigate crimes, one nonprofit group alleges after 14 months of information requests.
The lawsuit, filed Tuesday with the Superior Court for the District of Columbia by public policy institute Brennan Center for Justice and nonprofit group Data for Black Lives, seeks the release of the documents initially requested under a Freedom of Information Act request as well as an award covering court costs and attorney’s fees. The groups accuse Washington, D.C., of failing to provide records on its techniques for gathering data on district residents to monitor groups and identify threats via Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram.
“Police departments nationwide, including MPD, have not been transparent about their use of social media or how it may violate the public’s First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, or privacy rights under the U.S. Constitution,” the lawsuit states. “The public has a right to understand how MPD may be collecting and using this data.”
DC POLICE KEPT ‘WATCHLIST’ TO THWART INFORMATION REQUESTS, LAWSUIT SAYS
The groups initially sought records under an FOIA request in December 2020, with a response due from the MPD by March 24, 2021. However, the suit alleges, the law enforcement agency did not “produce any response documents” until the end of September 2021, more than nine months after the request was made.
The FOIA request sought records detailing the agency’s procedures and policies regarding the use of social media by MPD employees, including the authorization and creation of fictitious personae used for undercover investigations. It also solicited information on how the data are stored and shared within the agency and the other purposes for which they’re used.
“Despite the importance of the requested records, and despite its statutory obligations, MPD did not produce any responsive documents until September 30, 2021,” the lawsuit said. “Even then, the production was woefully incomplete.”
The group alluded to the litigation in a letter to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser giving a Feb. 25 deadline before it filed a lawsuit, arguing, “The Mayor’s Office failed to order MPD to conduct an adequate search and to produce the requested responsive records.”
In September 2021, at the nonprofit groups’ behest, the MPD produced only a “small number of records,” with several referencing files or documents that were not made available, prompting the two groups to submit an administrative appeal to the mayor’s office on Dec. 22, 2021.
Bowser’s office acknowledged the request, but “the Brennan Center and D4BL received no response and no additional records,” according to the lawsuit.
On Jan. 4, Bowser’s office gave the MPD until Jan. 12 to provide a response to the appeal or else the mayor would decide on the appeal without its input. The Brennan Center said that though it missed her deadline, it followed up with the mayor’s office on Jan. 13 and Jan. 20 but did not receive a response.
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The lawsuit comes amid heightened scrutiny of the MPD and city government in recent weeks over concerns of transparency. A suit filed last month alleged the Police Department maintains a watchlist of department critics whose requests for information are subjected to heightened scrutiny, causing delays in reports being released.
Bowser has also been accused of lacking transparency, with Washington’s City Council passing legislation earlier this week targeting the mayor’s office’s use of WhatsApp and other messaging platforms. Her office had previously been criticized for its failure to provide WhatsApp messages for review in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack at the Capitol.
Bowser’s office and the MPD did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s requests for comment.
