Court orders Wilmington Police to cooperate on FOIA reuqest

The Superior Court of Delaware has ruled that the Wilmington Police Department and the American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware should cooperate to resolve a dispute over two Freedom of Information Act requests.

The court order is the result of a suit brought by the ACLU in October 2011 against the Wilmington Police over the department's refusal to provide information about its policies and procedures on taser use and cell phone data.

The first request from the ACLU asked the Wilmington Police for copies of the department's policies related to the use of tasers, as well as training materials and operations manuals. The request was part of an ACLU investigation of taser use statewide. Identical FOIA requests were sent to more than a dozen law enforcement agencies across Delaware. The Delaware State Police, the New Castle County Police and a number of municipal police agencies all complied with the request.

The second request asked for records relating to the Wilmington Police Department's policies and procedures on how they interact with cell phone service providers to secure information. This request was also made to more than a dozen law enforcement agencies throughout the state.