1527 Final Letter

July 31, 2012
U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Washington, D.C. 20528
Homeland
Security
Privacy Office, Mail Stop 0655
SUBMITTED VIA EMAIL TO: [email protected]
Sean A. Dunagan
Judicial Watch
426 Third Street, SW
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20224
Re: DHS/OS/PRIV 12-0068
Dear Mr. Dunagan:
This is the final response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), dated and received in this office on November 3, 2011. Specifically, you
are seeking records related to:
l. Any and all records regarding, concerning, or related to the "Occupy Wall Street" protests
occurring in New York; New York;
2. Any and all records of communication between any official, employee, or representative of
the Department of Homeland Security and any official, officer, employee, or representative of
the New York City Police Department regarding, concerning, or related to the "Occupy Wall
Street" protests, and
3. Any and all records of communication between any official, employee, or representative of
the Department of Homeland Security and any official, employee, or representative ofthe
Office of the Mayor ofNew York City regarding, concerning, or related to the "Occupy Wall
Street" protests.
We have interpreted your request to include all "Occupy Wall Street" records.
In phone conversation with our office on November 22, 20 11, you agreed to narrow the scope of
your request to include responsive records from senior DHS officials only.
In a letter from this office, dated June 4, 2012, we advised you that portions of your request were
referred to the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) for processing and direct response to you.
In our first two interim releases, 743 pages of responsive records were released to you. At this time,
we are releasing an additional 642 pages of records. Of those pages, I have determined that 31 pages
of the records are released in their entirety, 581 pages are partially releasable, and 30 pages are
withheld in their entirety pursuant to Title 5 U.S.C. 552 (b)(5), (b)(6), (b)(7)(C), and (b)(7)(E).
FOIA Exemption 5 protects from disclosure those inter- or intra-agency documents that are normally
privileged in the civil discovery context. The three most frequently invoked privileges are the
deliberative process privilege, the attorney work-product privilege, and the attorney-client privilege.
After carefully reviewing the responsive documents, we have determined that portions of the
responsive documents qualify for protection under the Deliberative Process Privilege. The
deliberative process privilege protects the integrity of the deliberative or decision-making processes
within the agency by exempting from mandatory disclosure opinions, conclusions, and
recommendations included within inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters. The release of
this internal information would discourage the expression of candid opinions and inhibit the free and
frank exchange of information among agency personnel.
FOIA Exemption 6 exempts from disclosure personnel or medical files and similar files the release of
which would cause a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. This requires a balancing of
the public' s right to disclosure against the individual's right privacy. The privacy interests of the
individuals in the records you have requested outweigh any minimal public interest in disclosure of
the information. Any private interest you may have in that information does not factor into the
aforementioned balancing test.
Exemption 7(C) protects records or information compiled for law enforcement purposes that could
reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy. This exemption
takes particular note of the strong interests of individuals, whether they are suspects, witnesses, or
investigators, in not being unwarrantably associated with alleged criminal activity. That interest
extends to persons who are not only the subjects of the investigation, but those who may have their
privacy invaded by having their identities and information about them revealed in connection with an
investigation. Based upon the traditional recognition of strong privacy interest in law enforcement
records, categorical withholding of information that identifies third parties in law enforcement
records is ordinarily appropriate. As such, we have determined that the privacy interest in the
identities of individuals in the records you have requested clearly outweigh any minimal public
interest in disclosure of the information. Please note that any private interest you may have in that
information does not factor into this determination.
Exemption 7(E) protects records compiled for law enforcement purposes, the release of which would
disclose techniques and/or procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would
disclose guidelines for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions if such disclosure could
reasonably be expected to risk circumvention of the law.
In addition, we tasked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United States
Coast Guard (USCG), the Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A), and the National Protection and
Programs Directorate (NPPD) to review records responsive to your request. Because those
components have not yet finished reviewing records, I am referring your request to the following
components for processing and direct response:
DHS Office of Intelligence and Analysis (Ol&A), FOIA Officer Tony Tucker. You may
contact that office in writing at U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office oflntelligence
and Analysis, Washington, D.C. 20528 or via telephone at 202-447-4190.
DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), FOTA Officer, Lizzy Gary. You
may contact that office in writing at U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National
Protection and Programs Directorate, Washington, D.C. 20528, [email protected], or via
telephone at 703-235-2211.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Acting FOIA Officer Monique Booker-
Kasper. You may contact that office in writing at Federal Emergency Management Agency;
500 C Street, S.W., Room 840; Washington, DC 20472 or via telephone at 202-646-3323.
United States Coast Guard (USCG), Acting FOIA Officer, Gaston Brewer. You may contact
that office in writing at U.S. Coast Guard, Commandant (CG-611); 2100 2nd Street, S.W.;
Attn: FOIA Coordinator; Washington, D.C. 20593-0001 or via telephone at 202-475-3522.
You have a right to appeal the above withholding determination. Should you wish to do so, you must
send your appeal and a copy of this letter, within 60 days of the date ofthis letter, to: Associate
General Counsel (General Law), U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Washington, D.C. 20528,
following the procedures outlined in the DHS regulations at 6 C.F.R. 5.9. Your envelope and letter
should be marked "FOIA Appeal." Copies of the FOTA and DHS regulations are available at
www.dhs.gov/ foia.
The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) also mediates disputes between FOIA
requesters and Federal agencies as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. If you are requesting
access to your own records (which is considered a Privacy Act request), you should know that OGIS
does not have the authority to handle requests made under-the Privacy Act of 1974. Ifyou wish to
contact OGIS, you may email them at [email protected] or call 1-877-684-6448.
Provisions of the FOIA allow us to recover part of the cost of complying with your request. In this
instance, because you have been granted a blanket waiver of fees, there is no charge associated with
this response.
If you need to contact our office again about this matter, please refer to DHS/OS/PRIV 12-0068.
This office can be reached at 703-235-0790.
Sincerely,
:r-
James V.M.L. Holzer, I .,
Director
FOJA Operations and Disclosure
Enclosure: 612 pages

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July 31, 2012

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

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