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Asked & Answered

A&A: Police refuse to release report on shooting

FAC October 31, 2011

Q: The police are refusing to release a report it is doing on a shooting. Many months have passed since the incident. They give no explanation for their actions. What would be the best way to proceed to get them to release the report? A: As you may know, under California’s Public Records Act, public records — which include “any writing containing information relating to the conduct of the public’s business prepared, owned, used, or

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A&A:Trouble obtaining arrest records and mugshots

FAC October 28, 2011

Q: We are attempting to obtain arrest logs and mugshots or the booking photos associated with each arrest from local police jurisdictions for the purpose of crime statistical data gathering. We are asking for data on a consistent basis, i.e. daily email, weekly spreadsheets etc. Some jurisdictions have supplied the arrest logs but no photos. Other jurisdictions act like this is the first time they have ever had a request for such information. Can you

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A&A: Can public access city’s internal investigation report?

FAC October 27, 2011

Q: Can an internal investigation conducted by a city be obtained by an individual. The essence of the investigation is the purchase of equipment from a company and paying twice the amount quoted by another company for the same exact equipment. The difference in price was $25,000. The copy of the outcome of the investigation has been requested but denied twice because the city says it is an internal investigation and is not available to

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A&A: Can police use hidden cameras to videotape the public without consent?

FAC October 26, 2011

Q: Can the police legally use hidden cameras to videotape interactions with the public without the public’s consent? Not just in public–where there may be less of an expectation of privacy–but at an apartment or home entrance? A: You pose an interesting question. A provision of California’s Penal Code imposes penalties for “intentionally and without the consent of all parties to a confidential communication … eavesdrop[ping] upon or record[ing] the confidential communication [by means of

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A&A: Who is allowed to access arrest records?

FAC October 25, 2011

Q: I submitted a request for  arrest and incident reports from a police department for a case involving my client but I got a call from someone in the Records Department who said that I needed to submit signed authorization from my client. Is that the case in your practice? A: If a person were submitting a request for reports under the Public Records Act, then there would be no requirement to submit any kind

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