Gilroy’s Open Government Commission will hear an appeal this
evening by the Gilroy Dispatch regarding access to 911 recordings
related to a February pit bull attack.
Gilroy’s Open Government Commission will hear an appeal this evening by the Gilroy Dispatch regarding access to 911 recordings related to a February pit bull attack.
The Dispatch’s appeal marks the first time the commission has received an appeal for city records. The newspaper’s request comes after Gilroy Police Department and Assistant City Attorney Jolie Houston sent letters to the Dispatch denying the newspaper’s request for tapes of the 911 calls related to the attack.
Doris Knapp, a 70-year-old ROP instructor at Gavilan College, broke her hand and arm Feb. 17 after two pit bulls attacked her 12-year-old chow mix, causing her to get caught in the leash and fall, Knapp has said. Her dog, Genghis, suffered non-life-threatening bite wounds.
Knapp told the Dispatch shortly after the incident that a witness who had called 911 recalled the dispatcher saying they “don’t respond to dog-on-dog calls.”
A computer-generated police report of the call stated that the witness who called 911 hung up at some point and did not pick up the phone when dispatchers called back. It also stated that Knapp later called police from her home to describe the incident, to inform them that she was injured and to say that she would be taking her dog to the veterinarian.
The Dispatch filed a Public Records Act request on Feb. 24 to get a copy of 911 tapes from the incident, requesting that they be released in accordance with the state Public Records Act and the city’s Open Government Ordinance. Police released the computer-generated report from the event the next day. However, they denied access to the tapes of the calls, saying that the tapes are related to ongoing investigations being conducted by the Gilroy Police Department and the Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney.
David Boles, records supervisor for Gilroy Police Department, cited Government Code Section 6254(f) as one of the reasons for not releasing the tapes. The code exempts from the Public Records Act any “records of complaints to, or investigations conducted by, or records of intelligence information or security procedures of, the office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice, the California Emergency Management Agency, and any state or local police agency.”
Houston provided similar reasoning in an April 15 letter after the Dispatch requested the 911 recording from City Administrator Tom Haglund on April 9.
The Dispatch soon after appealed the decision to the Open Government Commission, which the City Council formed in 2008 after approving a city Open Government Ordinance that seeks to increase transparency of city matters.
The Commission, which consists of councilmen Perry Woodward and Peter Arellano and Mayor Al Pinheiro, serves to advise the City Council and provide information to city departments on ways in which to implement the Open Government Ordinance. Those duties include the ability to hear appeals from groups or individuals who have been denied records by city officials. However, the organization has not yet received such an appeal.
If the commission considers the 911 recordings to be public records, it can recommend to the City Council that the request for records be fulfilled.
Gilroy Open Government Commission Meeting
Where: Gilroy City Council Chambers, 7351 Rosanna St.
When: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday
