Question
I am reporting a story on law enforcement agencies encoding police dispatch calls and rendering useless police scanners used by the press and broadcast reporters. Has this issue surfaced in other counties or states? Has it been tested in court? Is there a basis to challenge it in court?
Answer
It wouldn’t appear that you have any basis for challenging this under California law. The public records act only covers writings, not oral communications. Government Code section 6252(d). And such police communications would not constitute meetings that are a required to be open to the public under the Brown Act.
I’m not currently aware of this case arising elsewhere in the US; perhaps it has.
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.