As has been widely reported in the local press, Twin Cities resident Jamar Clark was shot during an encounter with police in the early hours of November 15, 2015, and later died from that gunshot wound. Controversy over the incident sparked demonstrations outside of the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct headquarters, and led to a protest-related shut-down of Interstate 94.
At present, both the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) are conducting investigations into the shooting. Much discussion in the press has focused on questions of when investigative data will be available to the public, in order to provide a clear picture of the incident. MNCOGI presents the following summary of the status of such data:
Criminal investigative data: When data gathered by police becomes part of an active criminal investigation, it becomes “confidential” or “protected nonpublic” data, depending on whether the data pertains to an individual or not. While data is classified in this way, it cannot be shared with either the subject of the data, or with members of the public who ask for it. This data classification extends to any video of the incident obtained by the police, with the exception of certain arrest or incident data. After an investigation is closed, the “not public” data reverts to a public status, with certain exceptions.
Arrest data: Even after a criminal investigation has been opened, certain data still remains public, even though other, related data gets converted into various forms of “not public” data. Data that is public “at all times” includes certain arrest data, including data documenting whether any weapons were used by police, or whether there was any resistance encountered by police. If this data exists in the form of a video recording, any portion of the recording that documents such details is public data. In the Jamar Clark case, the BCA has indicated that it holds certain video of the incident.
Incident data: Like arrest data, certain law enforcement “incident” data is always public, even after a criminal investigation has been opened. Such data includes the date, time, and place of the police action, police report numbers, and other factual information (such as the use of weapons) similar to the “arrest data” discussed above.
Names of officers: The names of the officers involved in the shooting were released on November 18th, several days after the incident occurred. MNCOGI notes that the names of officers involved in any arrest or law enforcement incident are public “at all times” under Minnesota law. This is true even if other data connected to an arrest or incident has been converted into criminal investigative data.
Public benefit data: The law enforcement section of the Data Practices Act has a little-used provision that deals with “public benefit data.” That section states that even when certain data is being maintained as “not public” criminal investigative data, police agencies can choose to release particular data to the public if the release would “aid with the law enforcement process, promote public safety, or dispel widespread rumor or unrest.”
Federal criminal investigative data: Any Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) data related to the Clark case that has been transferred to the FBI will have its own classification under federal law. Exemption 7(a) of the federal Freedom of Information Act prohibits the release of data on ongoing criminal investigations. Federal law does not contain provisions that make some law enforcement data (such as certain arrest data) public during an investigation, as Minnesota law does. To obtain arrest data related to the Clark case, it would be necessary to request it from the MPD or the BCA – not the FBI.