Question
I am writing to inquire what I can do to obtain a Los Angeles police report. Their website reports are only disclosed to the victims, and references Section 6254 of the Government Code (para. f) which seems to support their limited release.
I’m requesting the documents to investigate the use, or misuse, of helicopters in our neighborhood. The latest example was last night, at 4AM, circling low over our neighborhood for nearly an hour.
I believe I have at least a right to know why this was happening, but the law seems to suggest I am not entitled to a police report. This is certainly contrary to the spirit of the Sunshine Amendment and your own mission.
I have not yet formally solicited a police report as, based on what the LA police website says, I will be denied. What recourse do I have?
Answer
The availability of police records is governed by Govt. Code section 6254(f). As you can see, that section defines both the records that law enforcement agencies may withhold from the public and what information it must extract from its records and provide to the public. Among the records exempt from disclosure are “records of . . . investigations conducted by. . . or any investigatory or security files compiled by any other state or local police agency . . . .”
There is no temporal limitation on this exemption: it applies equally to ongoing and closed investigations. Williams v. Superior Court, 5 Cal. 4th 337 (1993). The Sunshine amendment, which by its terms did not disturb existing legislation, did not modify this exemption. That being said, these exemptions are discretionary. The police may choose to disclose the information to you if you request it. But they are under no legal obligation to do so.
The information required to be extracted from such records upon request basically falls into four categories:
(1) incident and witness information that need be disclosed only to the victim and his or her insurance agency;
(2) arrest information;
(3) calls-for-assistance and dispatch information; and
(4) contact information for arrestees and victims as long as such information will not be used for commercial purposes. ( Please read the section to see the specifics of the information that must be disclosed.)
There are exceptions for information the disclosure of which would interfere with an ongoing investigation or endanger a witness.
The term “police reports” is not used in section 6254(f). However, that term typically colloquially refers to investigative information, most of which is exempt from disclosure.
You maybe able to receive some of the information about the use of the helicopters in your area if they were in fact dispatched in response to a call for assistance. In speaking with the police again, you may want to ask specifically for the information they are required to disclose to you pursuant to section 6254(f)(2) regarding the use of the helicopter on a certain date.
Bryan Cave LLP is general counsel for the First Amendment Coalition and responds to FAC hotline inquiries. In responding to these inquiries, we can give general information regarding open government and speech issues but cannot provide specific legal advice or representation.
Asked & Answered posts should not be relied on as legal advice, and FAC makes no guarantees about their completeness or accuracy. All posts carry a date of publication that readers should take note of in assessing their usefulness, given that laws and interpretations of them may change over time. Posts predating Jan. 1, 2023, that discuss the California Public Records Act may contain statute numbers no longer in use. Please see this page for a table showing how the California Public Records Act has been renumbered.