THE CITY MAY NOT CHARGE A FEE FOR REVIEW AND REDACTION OF POLICE BODY-WORN CAMERA FOOTAGE PURSUANT TO A FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW (FOIL) REQUEST (FOURTH DEPT).
The Fourth Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined the city was not entitled to charge a fee for the review or redaction of police body-worn camera (BWC) footage under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL):
… [R]espondents may not charge petitioner a fee for the costs associated with their review or redaction of the BWC footage requested by petitioner … . We note that the Committee on Open Government has specifically opined that “if the document exists in electronic format and the agency has the authority and the ability to redact electronically, we believe it would be reasonable for the agency to provide the requested redacted copy at no charge” (Comm on Open Govt FOIL—AO—18904 [2012]). While “the advisory opinions issued by the Committee on Open Government are not binding on the courts . . . , an agency’s interpretation of the statutes it administers generally should be upheld if not unreasonable or irrational” … . We therefore modify the judgment by vacating that part of the judgment permitting respondents to charge petitioner a fee for the cost of reviewing and redacting the requested video footage. Matter of Forsyth v City of Rochester, 2020 NY Slip Op 04250, Fourth Dept 7-24-20