Records release: GN-ORA-2026-003, City of Coweta, NextRequest #26-116. Section 5 released October 26, 2026, with the radio audio and reports from Sections 2 and 3.
The City of Coweta has now produced what it holds on the August 26 use of force on James Rogers, 69, plus 27 emails and 12 text-message screenshots from Police Chief Michael Bell's accounts. We are posting everything that passed our privacy screen.
Open every record in this request
Our reporting on what the records show is in our first release story and in our featured investigation, linked on the Paper Trail. This post lists what is in the folder.
What's in the Records
- Chief Bell's emails, August 26 to September 9, 2026. 27 messages. They include the Chief's exchanges with Crossroads Communications about the draft press release, with an Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group lawyer about the video, and with officers about the case. Most of the rest concern routine business: a radio tower, phone billing, a homecoming parade, vendor mail.
- Text-message screenshots. 12 screenshots from the Chief's phone, dated through mid-September. These are images, not the native export our request asked for.
- Dispatch radio audio. 18 recordings from August 26, running from about 9:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. Several are only a few seconds long. We also hold the City's September 30 release of 41 recordings, which sits behind the City portal login.
- CAD incident history. Seven pages for incident 26-22945, with unit-by-unit times.
- Incident report 2026-0493. 13 pages with six officer narratives.
- Use of Force Report. Two pages.
- Administrative review reports. 29 pages: the Chief's September 15 statement, department policy 301, and four board members' write-ups.
- The City's September 17 status letter. Item-by-item position on all 12 requested categories.
What We Held Back
We follow a privacy screen before posting. Files with device identifiers, private citizens' personal details or unrelated legal matters stay out of the public folder, and public copies of other files have those details removed. Our unredacted originals remain on file.
Body camera video, provided by the City on September 3 and 4, is not posted. It goes through our video review first.
What's Missing
- Items 6 through 11 of request 26-116 have not been produced to us: Officer Rice's personnel and training file, his reports, and use-of-force records and video for him and for every officer.
- Text messages as a native export, with sender, recipient, date and time.
- Telephone 911 recordings. The September 30 release held radio traffic and the CAD history only.
We filed a second request on October 12 for the Chief's and City Council's communications, the review board's written recommendation, body-camera audit logs and risk-pool correspondence.
How to Use These Records
- Start with the Drive folder. File names carry the section number.
- Compare the dispatch log's times to the incident report's narratives.
- Read the Chief's August 31 to September 8 emails in order.
Our radio-audio transcripts are machine generated and rough. We are not publishing them as quotes. Listen to the recordings yourself.
Editor's Note
This post lists records released by the City of Coweta under the Oklahoma Open Records Act, 51 O.S. ยง 24A.1 et seq. It describes the files and makes no allegation that any person named broke the law. Mr. Rogers' charges are misdemeanor accusations, not findings of guilt. This is not legal advice.
Corrections: ron@guerrilla.news
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