Case Hubs

Transparent Law Enforcement uses case hubs to keep related records, notices, findings, and analysis in one place. Each hub is built around a specific agency, issue, or systemic concern, so readers do not have to piece the record together from scattered posts.

Each hub explains what is being examined, why it matters, what records are available, what findings have been made, and what remains unresolved.

Active Hubs

Monroe County Interpreter Access Audit

This audit asks a practical question: when a Deaf or hard-of-hearing person encounters law enforcement in the field, can the agency show how effective communication is supposed to happen, who is responsible, and whether the system is actually usable?

The work looks at written policy, interpreter access pathways, ADA coordination, training records, field documentation, notices of population-level risk, and whether the records leave an auditable trail.

FOIL Appeals and Administrative Silence

FOIL appeal rights only matter if agencies actually respond to appeals, issue determinations, and create a record that can be reviewed by the requester, the public, and the Committee on Open Government. Without that record, silence defeats both access and oversight.

This hub tracks administrative silence, constructive denials, delayed appeal determinations, and required notices to oversight bodies. The current record set begins with Monroe County agencies, but the issue being tested is not limited to Monroe County.

Foundational Hubs

RPD Interpreter Access: Deaf Motorist Case

This is the case that pushed TLE into Title II effective-communication work.

In January 2024, Rochester Police handled a crash investigation involving a Deaf motorist without providing a qualified interpreter. The records obtained through FOIL raised questions about interpreter access, body-worn camera documentation, internal review, and whether the department’s accountability process produced any clear public correction.

This hub includes case documentation, policy analysis, FOIL records and responses, body-worn camera review, and findings relevant to ADA Title II effective-communication obligations.

Completed or Reference Hubs

Monroe County FOIL Submission Audit

This audit looked at the front door of FOIL: how Monroe County local governments accepted requests, what fields they required, and whether their systems added submission barriers not required by New York law.

The audit is closed for now, but it does not disappear from the record. It stays here because submission barriers are often where access problems begin: before a requester ever gets to a denial, an appeal, or a record.

How to Use These Hubs

Use the hubs to move from summary to source material. The point is not just to describe a problem, but to show the records, notices, timelines, and findings behind it.

A new hub gets added when there is enough public record to support a separate evidence file.