Accessing Field Interrogation Cards
Q: I work for a law enforcement agency. I have been requested by a property management security company to search our database for all events and contacts pertaining to an individual who is a transient and a nuisance to their complex. The security company is in the process of obtaining a “Stay Away Order” and need documentation to support their claim. I am aware of what can be released, however I am not sure regarding Field Interrogation Cards. (FI Cards). My thought is that 6254(f) would bar an FI card info release because it may be considered as intelligence info. I have looked over 6254 gov code and have searched the internet for info regarding this question. I have not been able to find any specific material that mentions anything about FI Cards. I have been told FI cards are not public, but I can\’t find any specific info to confirm their confidentiality.
A: Whether FI Cards can be withheld under section 6254(f) probably depends on the how FI Cards are created and used. In Williams v. Superior Court, 5 Cal. 4th 337 (1993), the California Supreme Court said that not all documents called investigatory by an agency, or placed in an investigatory file, may be withheld.
If FI Cards are only completed after “the prospect of enforcement proceedings [have become] concrete and definite,” they probably can be withheld as long as “they actually relate to the investigation.” Id.at 356, But if interrogation can happen even when the prospect of enforcement proceedirngs are not “concrete and definite,” then the “agency may not shield a document from disclosure with the bare assertion that it relates to an investigation.” Id. Instead, each FI Card would have to be reviewed specifically to see if it was properly included in an investigatory file (i.e., whether an investigation was ever opened and whether the FI Cards actually relate to the investigation).