A coalition of 40 California newsrooms has published a study examining the challenges of large-scale public records requests. The California Reporting Project developed a tool, RequestAtlas, to manage unstructured data obtained through public record requests related to police use of force and misconduct. 

The study found that early attempts to apply artificial intelligence were not successful in coordinating records, and that human expertise remained essential. Researchers described the traditional request-and-respond process as slow, complex and adversarial. 

Scholars, such as Columbia University scholar David Pozen, have noted similar limitations to the current freedom of information processes. 

 The full study was published in the Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems and is available here. 

Posted: June 12, 2025
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner FOI Project, Brechner Freedom of Information Project, FOI, FOIA, Government Transparency, open records laws