A new lawsuit alleges that DC police kept a list of people who it wanted to make difficult to receive requested information about the department.
The suit, filed by attorney Amy Phillips, alleges the department created a list of reporters, activists and community members whose requests for information, under D.C.’s Freedom of Information Act, might make the department look bad, were intentionally delayed or dismissed. Reports are that a former D.C. Police FOIA officer said it was an “unofficial policy” of former Police Chief Peter Newsham.
Mayor Bowser said that she could not acknowledge that a practice was going on until she gathered more information. Current DC Police chief Robert Contee says no watch- list exists under his leadership.