Accessing Police Reports
Q: I have a court date in small claims court against a termite company. I was told by a detective that I need to prove “perponderous of evidence” which when explained to me meant that I only need to prove that the termite company could have some fault in the burglary that took place at my home while being tented. I have also been told by a community representative at the police station that the same company had 3 other break-ins in their city. She gave me the case numbers. When I went to get the police reports, they told me I couldn’t get them unless I had a subpoena. I went to the court and turned in a subpoena and turns out it was the wrong one. The office told me to either send a letter to invoke the Public Records Act or have a Subpoena Duces Tucem but I would also need to have a Notice to Consumer. Finally my question, would I get the information I need from the Public Records Act (the termite company named in the report along with the mention of the burglary) or do I need a Subpoena Duces Tucem? If so, how do I get that?
A: Under the Public Records Act, the public has a presumptive right of access to records maintained by government agencies, and may inspect or copy those records unless one of the Act’s exemptions applies. One of those exemptions, found at Government Code section 6254(f), relates to police reports. In a case called Williams v. Superior Court, 5 Cal. 4th 337 (1993), the California Supreme Court concluded that under 6254(f), a law enforcement agency can properly refuse to provide police reports themselves (although there is nothing to prevent the agency from providing you with a copy of the police report if they wished). However, in any event, the law enforcement agency is obligated to provide you with certain information typically found in a police report.
Here’s what the CPRA, in section 6254(f), says the department has to provide to the public: “the time, substance, and location of all complaints or requests for assistance received by the agency and the time and nature of the response thereto, including, to the extent the information regarding crimes alleged or committed or any other incident investigated is recorded, the time, date, and location of occurrence, the time and date of the report, the name and age of the victim, the factual circumstances surrounding the crime or incident, and a general description of any injuries, property, or weapons involved. (Govt. Code section 6254(f)(2)).
Agencies must also disclose to the public “[t]he full name and occupation of every individual arrested by the agency, the individual’s physical description including date of birth, color of eyes and hair, sex, height and weight, the time and date of arrest, the time and date of booking, the location of the arrest, the factual circumstances surrounding the arrest, the amount of bail set, the time and manner of release or the location where the individual is currently being held, and all charges the individual is being held upon, including any outstanding warrants from other jurisdictions and parole or probation holds.” Subject to certain conditions, the agency is also required to release the address of every individual arrested by the agency. (Govt. Code section 6254(f)(1) & (3)).
Given all of the information that a law enforcement agency is required to provide about arrests and requests for assistance upon request by a member of the public, it is often easier for them to provide a copy of the report. Indeed, many law enforcement agencies regularly provide copies of police reports upon request.
To the extent the law enforcement agency continues to refuse to provide you with the report and you need it for your litigation against the termite company, you would need to issue a subpoena. The procedures for issuing a subpoena in a civil case are quite detailed and addressed in sections 1985et seq. of the California Code of Civil Procedure. Unfortunately, because of the limited scope of issues we can address as part of this hotline, and because we cannot provide legal advice, we are not able to provide you with specific advice for issuing a subpoena in your particular case. If you are looking for an attorney to assist you in this matter, you might try consulting the website for the State Bar of California, where you can find information about attorney referrals:
http://www.calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10182