A Cabot man filed a lawsuit Friday against the Little Rock Police Department and Little Rock over access to encrypted police communication.
It's the second such lawsuit against the city and its police since the department switched from open to encrypted radio communication in late July.
The latest suit, filed in Pulaski County Circuit Court by blogger and circuit design engineer Sebastian Westerhold, contends that Little Rock police violated the state's Freedom of Information Act.
The suit states that on Tuesday, Westerhold emailed police spokesman Lt. Sidney Allen and requested audio recordings of encrypted police transmissions from Aug. 11 to Monday. He also requested any encryption keys, or passwords, used to unlock radio communications that are available only to law enforcement personnel.
Those requests were denied Thursday, the suit claims.
In an email to Westerhold, Sgt. James Sloan cited a state law restricting access to encrypted communication to certain law enforcement and emergency response agencies. Regarding Westerhold's request for encrypted audio recordings, Sloan wrote that the department was exempt from providing them under the state's Freedom of Information Act. Information in the recordings would have to be redacted and new recordings created, and "the FOIA does not require the creation of a record in order to respond to a request," Sloan wrote.
Sloan also wrote that the department "does not have software with the capability of removing the information that is subject to disclosure."
Westerhold argued that police had not adequately explored other ways to redact the recordings, and that "if LRPD argues it does not have the right resources, this is a pitiful admission on LRPD's inability to perform legally mandated functions."
"An agency is required by law to allocate personnel, money and time to these requests. ... They didn't give a valid reason, so I'm challenging their denial of the requests," Westerhold said Friday.
Westerhold also requested from police a list of talk groups in the encrypted radio network, which he received.
Sherwood brothers Brandon and Jeremy Mullens filed suit against North Little Rock over its use of encrypted police transmissions Aug. 15, then added Little Rock and its police as defendants Monday. They, too, requested access keys to encrypted communications and alleged violations of the state's Freedom Information Act when the requests were denied.
Speaking of both lawsuits, Little Rock City Attorney Tom Carpenter said Friday evening that releasing encryption keys and unredacted police radio recordings would put the city at risk of breaking several privacy laws. Personal information, including license plate numbers, birth dates and home addresses, is frequently broadcast.
Carpenter also echoed Sloan's argument against providing the audio recordings, saying he believes police are exempt under the Freedom of Information Act.
"We're not required to create a new record. It's a situation where, frankly, FOIA may or may not exclude us. I think it does. I think, frankly, maybe a judge is going to have to decide. I understand where [Westerhold] is coming from, and we don't agree," he said.
Police have cited officer safety concerns as the primary reason for switching to encrypted communication.
Metro on 08/23/2014