Washington, D.C. police keeps 'watch list' of critics: Lawsuit

A US defense attorney says in a new lawsuit that the District of Colombia's Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) maintains a "watch list" of reporters, advocates and critics, and delays or denies requests for public records based on who is making the requests.

People are put on the watch list when they "publicly criticize MPD or when they request information that has the potential to embarrass MPD or its officers," said the lawsuit lodged Wednesday by defense attorney and police reform advocate Amy Phillips.

The “unofficial, unwritten policy” was instituted under former Police Chief Peter Newsham in order to limit the disclosure of information that “may lead to criticism of the department,” according to the suit filed against the District of Colombia in US District Court in Washington.

In addition, it served to prevent Newsham from being “blindsided” by questions based on records obtained through requests under D.C.’s Freedom of Information Act, which allows anybody to request public documents from government agencies.

Current police chief Robert Contee has continued this policy, the filing alleges.

Those on the list, who make Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, "face hurdles that the general public avoids" such as fees or request denials, the suit stated.

The suit calls for an end to the practice as well as a declaration that the list violates the Constitution.

The MPD acknowledged the "serious nature" of the accusations.

"A thorough review of the assertions will be completed and appropriately acted upon," it said in a statement.

Washington Mayor Muriel Bowser said all FOIA requests should be handled "as expeditiously as possible."

"I expect that from every agency. I'll be looking into that. The speed at which we respond to it should be agnostic to who's asking for it," she said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the lawsuit, Phillips learnt of the list from Vendette Parker, a 21-year veteran of the department who retired in 2020.

Records requests by the people listed were flagged for "special review" as they could embarrass the department, the suit stated.

“The reason we have the Freedom of Information Act is because members of the public, whether they’re journalists or lawyers or ANC commissioners or just someone who lives in D.C. and wants to know what their tax dollars are being spent on, have the right to request a broad amount of information from basically any agency,” Phillips said in an interview with DCist/WAMU.

“If there are agencies that are picking and choosing based on viewpoint who to give that information to, it means that the political process isn’t working the way that it’s supposed to, because people who are friendly to the police department are getting access to information that they can use to advocate for their interests while people that MPD perceives as being unfriendly to them don’t have access to the information that they would need in order to make a case for reforms that we think are necessary,” she added.

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