Follow along as we pull back the curtain through FOIA, whistleblowers, and tipsters – all in service of rooting out corruption through investigative journalism. We’re in this together. Welcome to Transparency Update.
Transparency Update: Tips for Obtaining ALPR Records
If the government is collecting data about you, you have a right to know what is being collected and how it’s being used.
Transparency Update: DESPP Not Fulfilling FOIA Obligation
The Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) is not an agency you want to deal with if you need information in a hurry.
Transparency Update: Stewart scandal shows importance of routine FOI requests
Erin Stewart’s recent legal and political woes are, in some respects, a story of journalistic oversight. We should be filing FOIA’s regularly.
Transparency Update: How to FOI sexual misconduct records
Records of misconduct on college campuses are hard to obtain. Inside Investigator recently published our second investigation into sexual misconduct on public college campuses in Connecticut, focused on the University of Connecticut (UConn). Our first investigation focused on the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities (CSCU) system because, at time…
Transparency Update: 2024 law makes FOI toothless against homicide, fraud
Just as free speech doesn’t mean much if controversial speech isn’t protected, so too does the concept of freedom of information ring hollow if records that shed light on government wrongdoing are sealed off from public scrutiny. In October 2019, a Connecticut state medical examiner ruled the gruesome in-custody…
$300,000 to study FOIA wait times? We could do it for free.
Connecticut has a Freedom of Information Act response time problem, and they want to spend $300,000 to study it. We could do it for free.
Sunshine Week 2026: Tips for Obtaining and Using FOI Records
It’s Sunshine Week 2026! We have tips and tricks for using your right to know, and guidance on how to use what you uncover.
Transparency Update: ALPR exemption kneecaps journalists
Exempting ALPR data from FOIA is at odds with the rest of the bill because it does not limit government authorities. It limits the public.
Transparency Update: Guesswork, Breakdowns, and Privacy
Public officials frequently cite recent increases in the number of public records requests as the cause for backlogs and long response times.
Transparency Update: Enhancing public access
Inside Investigator recently received a tip claiming that Southington was charging an hourly research fee for FOIA requests.
Transparency Update: Manchester police continue to flout FOI duties
The FOIC has already ruled that ALPR data is likely not exempt because it doesn’t reveal investigatory techniques. It’s just data.
Transparency Update: 2025 in Review
Transparency Update: Public officials frequently won’t answer questions unless they’re statutorily obligated to by a records request.
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