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Town of Police Dept.
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Title: Police
Records
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Effective Date:
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Number: 005 |
No. Pages: 5 |
Special Instructions: Replaces P011 dated |
Reference: §§ 19.31,
and 938,
064 Media Releases
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Distribution: All Personnel |
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Reevaluation Date:
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Index as: Police
Records, Open Records, Records Request |
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I. PURPOSE
To provide guidelines for
the custody, security and delivery of official Town of Madison Police
Department records or information.
II. POLICY
It shall be the policy of the Town of Madison Police
Department to presume complete public access to police department records
consistent with the business of the department.
Denial of public access to records will be the exception and may only be
done in accordance with this policy. (
III. DEFINITIONS
Custodian - The Chief of Police is the legal custodian for
Police Department records. The Chief of
Police may designate a deputy legal custodian.
Person authorized by the individual - The parent, guardian,
legal custodian of a child; the guardian of an individual adjudged incompetent;
the personal representative or spouse of an individual who is deceased or any
person authorized, in writing, by the individual to exercise the rights granted
in this policy.
Personally identifiable information - Information that can be
associated with a particular individual through one or more identifiers.
Record - Any material on which written, drawn, printed,
spoken, visual or electromagnetic information is recorded or preserved,
regardless of physical form or characteristics, which has been created or is
being kept by the police department. Record
includes, but is not limited to: police reports, photographs, evidence
receipts, computer generated information (such as e-mail), and film. Record does not include: notes,
preliminary computations and like materials prepared for the originator’s use
or prepared by the originator in the name of a person for whom the originator
is working. Drafts may be considered to
be open records in some situations.
Requests for drafts should be reviewed by competent legal counsel prior
to release.
Requestor - Any person who requests inspection or copies of a
record, except a committed or incarcerated person, unless the person requests
inspection or copies of a record that contains specific references to that
person or his or her minor children for whom he or she has not been denied
physical placement, and the record is otherwise accessible to the person by law.
IV. PROCEDURES
A. Adoption of Procedures
1. The Town of
a. A description of the organization; and
b. Established times and place(s) where requestors may
obtain access to records, and
c. Costs of records.
B. Physical Security and Access to Records
1. Physical access to Town of Madison Police Department
records shall be limited to:
a. Police department employees; and
b. Municipal Court Clerk; and
c. Other Town of Madison employees as designated by the
Chief of Police.
2. Employees shall not reveal police information except as
provided in department policy or required by law or other competent authority.
a. Information considered confidential includes, but is not
limited to:
1) information contained in police
reports that are not public records; and
2) information contained in other
official correspondence that are not public records; and
3) names of informants.
b.
Indiscriminate and unauthorized disclosure of
non-public information reflects gross misconduct and is subject to disciplinary
action.
3. Agencies/Individuals
with Full Access (includes pending and juvenile cases) to reports WITHOUT
CHARGE:
a.
District Attorney’s Office
b.
c.
Probation & Parole
d.
Community Corrections
e.
Other Police Departments
f.
Office of the Corporation Counsel
g.
Victim – Witness Requests
h.
Guardian ad Litem
4. Agencies with access to closed adult
cases WITHOUT CHARGE:
a.
Community Development Authority – Community Housing
b.
Family Court Counseling
5. Other Agencies subject to public
records availability WITH CHARGES:
a. Public Defender’s Office
C. Separation of Juvenile Criminal Records and Adult Criminal
Records
1. Juvenile criminal records shall be kept physically
separate from adult criminal records and are subject to disclosure only
according to the Juvenile Record Policy maintained by the Department.
D. Procedures and Criteria for Release of Department Records
1. General Information
a. Requests for records shall be filled or denied as soon as
practicable upon receipt of the request and shall be given high priority. Typically, the Department shall attempt to
answer or acknowledge a request for records within 10 days of receipt of the
request.
b. Requests may be made orally or in writing.
1) Person(s) making requests are not required to:
a) identify themselves; or
b)
state the purpose for their
request of records.
2) Persons making requests may be asked
to identify themselves and/or state the purpose for their request. However, refusal of the requestor to answer
these questions is NOT a reason to deny release of records.
c. Requests are deemed sufficient if they reasonably
describe the requested record or the information requested.
1) Requests for records without a reasonable limitation as
to subject matter or length of time represented by the record are not
sufficient.
d. Requestors shall be given the option to inspect or
copy public records.
e. The Department is required to provide facilities to any
person comparable to those used by employees to inspect,
copy and abstract the record during established office hours.
f. The Department is not required to purchase or lease
special equipment or to provide a separate room for inspection, copying or
abstracting of records.
g. Partial release of records are permitted where any portion of the requested record is deemed to be public information. Information that is not subject to disclosure shall be redacted from the record prior to release.
h. At the discretion of Department personnel or when
necessary, requests for information may be forwarded to the Department Records
Custodian.
i.
If a requestor makes a request for a record that does
not or no longer exists, the requestor shall be
informed as soon as practicable.
j. Records held for other agencies are considered to be
official police department records and are subject to release per this records
policy. Example: Sheriff’s office
records created as a result of assisting the Town of Madison Police Department
with a homicide investigation.
k. Standing or ongoing requests for records shall be honored
to the extent possible with consideration for use of resources as determined by
the records Custodian.
2. Release of Records Containing Personally Identifiable
Information
a. Unless prohibited by law, a requestor has a right to
inspect or copy any records, including those containing personally identifiable
information.
b. The requestor may be an individual who is the subject of
a Department record containing personally identifiable information; or, the
requestor may be a person who is authorized by the individual who is the
subject of a Department record containing personally identifiable information.
c. Procedure
1) The Department shall first determine whether the
requestor has a right to inspect or copy records.
a) The Department will examine the request within the scope
of the exemptions listed in section IV.D.3 of this Policy.
b) If the requestor has a right to inspect or copy the
record, the request will be granted.
2) If the requestor does not have a right to inspect or copy
the record, the request will be denied in accordance with section IV.D.4 of
this Policy.
3. Records Exempt from Release
a. Any record containing personally identifiable information
collected or maintained in connection with a complaint, investigation or other
purpose that may lead to an enforcement action, administrative proceeding,
arbitration proceeding or court proceeding, or any record collected or
maintained in connection with such an action or proceeding.
b. Any record containing personally identifiable information
that, if disclosed, would do any of the following:
1) Endanger an individual’s life or safety; or
2) Identity a confidential informant; or
3) Endanger the security of any state correctional
institution, jail, secured child caring institution, mental health institute or
center for the developmentally disabled or the population or staff of any of
these institutions, facilities or jails.
c.
Records containing personally identifiable
information about victims should be given careful consideration prior to
release. Department Policy P006, Media
Releases provides information concerning the release of victim information.
4. General Records Release Guidelines
a.
Records NOT SUBJECT TO RELEASE without proper
authorization:
1)
Cases forwarded to District Attorney’s Office - Refer
requestor(s) to DA’s office.
2)
Active cases - Must be reviewed by records Custodian
or Deputy Custodian.
3)
Juvenile cases – Upon review by records Custodian (or
Deputy Custodian), juvenile names may be redacted and then released in
accordance with Department Policy P007, Juvenile Records.
b.
Records forwarded to Town of
5. Denial of Requests
a. An oral request may be denied orally.
1) The Department shall provide a written statement of the
reasons for denying the request upon demand by the requestor within five (5)
business days of the oral denial.
b. A written request denied in whole or in part shall be
denied in writing stating the reasons for denying the request.
1) Every written denial of a request made by the Department
shall inform the requestor that if the request was made in writing, the
Department’s determination for the denial is subject to review by mandamus
under s. 19.37(1) or upon application to the attorney general or a district
attorney.
6. Fees
a. The Department may impose a fee upon the requestor of a
copy of a record not to exceed the actual, necessary and direct cost of
reproduction and transcription of the record.
b. The Department charges $.25 per page for copying
of a public record. Motor vehicle
accident reports may be purchased for $1.00 for a four-page report.
c. The Department may provide copies of records at no charge
or at a reduced charge if the Department determines that waiver or reduction of
the fee is in the public interest.
c.
The Department may require prepayment by a requestor
if the total amount of the request exceeds $5.00.
d.
The Department may require prepayment, of any amount,
by a requestor who has an outstanding balance or who has not paid the required
fees in the past.
e. The Department may impose a fee upon the requestor for locating the record not exceeding the actual, necessary and direct costs of locating the record(s), providing the cost is $50.00 or more.
f.
If the requestor is a prisoner and the prisoner has
failed to pay any fee that was imposed by the Department for a prior request,
the Department may require prepayment both of the amount owed for the previous
request and the amount owed for the current request.
g.
The department will charge a $5.00 fee to locate an
individual or business contact record or an address call history with the Town
of Madison Police Department. If a
listing provided is more than four (4) pages a charge of $.25 for each page
over four (4) shall added to the above fee.
h.
The department will charge a $10.00 fee to copy a
squad car digital video to a compact disk.
i.
Copies of VHS video to VHS video will be
subcontracted to a third party. The
requesting party shall pay all fees and costs associated with this transaction.
E. Records Retention Schedule
1. The Town of
BY ORDER OF:
Scott T. Gregory
Chief of Police