Eugene Police Department Charges Local News Outlet $2.5 Million for Public Records on Officer Misconduct
The City of Eugene, Oregon, through its Police Department, has issued an invoice of nearly $2.5 million to Double Sided Media, a local news outlet, for a public records request. The request sought information regarding police officer Justin Peckels, specifically focusing on potential misconduct between 2018 and 2026. Peckels has been the subject of community complaints, including an incident where he allegedly punched a resident during a traffic stop. The Eugene Police Department justified the exorbitant fee by claiming it would require 44,816 hours of staff time to search for and process the records. They stated that they could not narrow down the custodians of the records, insisting on searching all records of all city employees, past and present, to fulfill the targeted request. A separate request for records concerning former police officer Eric Klinko received a comparatively lower estimate of $195,869.52, bringing the total for both requests to nearly $2.7 million.
