How Access to California Police Records

The Legislature has responded to public pressure calling for increased transparency into local policing by passing two new laws that mandate disclosure of records related to officer misconduct and use of force incidents. With Governor Brown’s signature, SB1421 and AB 748 will change how police departments respond to requests for certain personnel records and recordings of use of force incidents that were previously exempt from disclosure.

SB1421 – Peace Officer Personnel Files

Previously, a person seeking to inspect a peace officer’s personnel records, including records of citizen complaints against a peace officer, was required to file a Pitchess motion in court. SB 1421 carves an exception from that process for records related to serious use of force incidents and records related to a sustained finding of sexual assault or dishonesty. A law enforcement agency may redact the records to protect the personal data or information of an officer but may not redact the officer’s name or work-related information. The agency may also redact confidential medical, financial, or other information when there is a specific, articulable, and particularized reason to believe that disclosure of the information would place the officer or another person in danger.

For records related to use of force, a responding law enforcement agency may elect to withhold the record for up to 180 days during the administrative investigation into the incident or up to 60 days during a criminal investigation. Additional delay is permissible in limited circumstances when disclosure would interfere with the successful completion of an ongoing investigation. The burden will be on the withholding law enforcement agency to justify delay in disclosure.

AB748 – Audio and Video Recordings

Many law enforcement agencies withhold video and audio recordings of serious use of force incidents as investigatory records under Government Code Section 6254(f). AB748 adds an exception to the investigatory record exemption to now require disclosure of recordings related to a “critical incident.” Critical incident is defined as an incident involving the discharge of a firearm at a person by a peace officer or an incident in which the use of force resulted in death or great bodily injury. A law enforcement agency may redact the recordings if the agency demonstrates that the public interest in disclosure is outweighed by a person’s reasonable expectation of privacy. Agencies should consider using redaction technology to redact, blur, or distort the recording to protect the privacy interest while still allowing disclosure. An agency may only withhold a video or audio recording in its entirety if the agency demonstrates that the privacy interest cannot be adequately protected by use of redaction technology.

A law enforcement agency may withhold the release of a recording for 45 days if the agency determines the disclosure would substantially interfere with an active criminal or administrative investigation. As with the personnel records affected by SB1421, any delay beyond the initial time period will impose a significant burden on the agency to justify the delay. The law enforcement agency will be required to reevaluate the nondisclosure and state its justification to the requestor in writing at regular intervals. source

In 2018, the California Legislature passed SB1421, The Right To Know Act, which gives the public the right to see certain records relating to police misconduct and serious uses of force. You can now request these records under the Public Records Act (“PRA”) — a law that gives the public the right to see the non-confidential documents of our state and local government agencies. Police Use of Force and Misconduct in California is on the rise. learn your rights, learn what you can do. Don’t let authoritarian leaders ruin the Right Way, by going Left. Learn how to access even the Bodycams worn by Sheriff and Police here Police BodyCam Footage Release – California. Even an officer can be charged with a crime for misuse of the warrant system which is a crime against the public.

The ACLU of Southern California, along with other organizations, is in the process of requesting and publishing the records for all incidents that have now been made public from the 400+ law enforcement agencies within California. In the meantime, if you have a specific incident or officer that you would more information on, you can file your own Public Records Act request.

What type of records can I now get access to?

SB 1421 gives the public the right to access three categories of records related to investigation and discipline of peace officers:

• Records related to any incident where a law enforcement officer fired a gun at a person (regardless of whether someone was hit), or used force that resulted in serious injury or death. You can get these records whether the department found the officer acted properly or not.¹
• Records related to incidents where the agency found that an officer committed sexual assault against a member of the public—which includes attempts to coerce sex or proposition sex while on duty.²
• Records related to incidents where the agency found that an officer engaged in dishonesty in the investigation, reporting, or prosecution of crime or police misconduct. This kind of dishonesty could include filing a false report, testifying untruthfully, or planting evidence.³

You are entitled to any documents still in an agency’s possession, no matter how old they are.

What type of records do I still not have access to?

The only records of police misconduct that you can access are those that fall under the three categories listed above: serious uses of force, sexual assault, and dishonesty related to investigations. Records of other types of police misconduct are still secret. Also, while you can access the records of investigation for serious uses of force regardless of whether the agency found that the use of force was wrong, for allegations of sexual assault and job-related dishonesty, you can only access those records if the agency determined that the officer was guilty of misconduct in violation of policy, and the time to appeal that determination has passed.⁴

In addition, the agency has the right to redact or withhold certain confidential information, like the names of witnesses, or the home address of the officer involved.⁵

What type of documents will the agency produce?

The term “record” should include all documents related to the incident, including any reports created by the agency, the records of its investigations, photographic and video evidence, and the agency’s disciplinary decisions.⁶ If you are only interested in certain types of records—like a disciplinary decision or an autopsy report — you can request the specific type of record you want, and that may actually help you get a response to your request more quickly. Agencies also have an obligation to work with you to identify the documents that are responsive to your request.⁷

How do I submit a request for information?

To submit a request send the request via mail, fax, or email to the agency. Some agencies list specific departments or people whose job it is to respond to PRA requests, so check their websites or call them for further info. Always keep a copy of your request so that you can show what you submitted and when.

from the ACLU we have 2 types of SB 1421 Templates for Sample Requests 

1. Incident Based Request: Use this template if you want records related to a particular incident, like the investigative record for a specific police shooting, an arrest where you believe an officer may have been found to have filed a false report, or to find out whether complaint that an officer committed sexual assault was sustained.
ACLU Download Word document | ACLU Download PDF

or from us Download Word document | or from us Download PDF

2. Officer Based Request: Use this template if you want to find any public records of misconduct related to a particular officer or if he or she has been involved in past serious uses of force.
ACLU Download Word document | ACLU Download PDF

or from us Download Word document | or from us Download PDF

We also have more robust sample letters below:

Sample Letter | SB 1421 & SB 16 Records

Download Word document | Download PDF

Sample Letter | Police Recordings

Download Word document | Download PDF

The CPRA is now located at Government Code sections 7920.000-7931.000
The First Amendment Coalition also has some useful information to help explain the PRA process.

Does it cost money to make a request?

An agency is only allowed to charge for the “direct costs” of duplicating the records, or the cost to create certain documents if you are asking it to create a document — like a list — that it does not already have.⁸ You should always ask the agency to waive costs in your initial request, but they are not required to do so. You also have the option to inspect the records by looking at them at the agency during its regular business hours, which you can do for free. You can always inspect documents for free, and then request copying only of those that you want.

Can the agency ask me to pay for the time it takes them to locate files or redact audio or video?

No. The Public Records Act allows agencies only the charge for the “direct costs of duplication, or a statutory fee if appliable.”⁹ That means that agencies can charge for the costs of paper and ink, or for the disks or drives on which they provide data, but cannot charge for the time their staff spend finding records, making copies or even redacting documents. Despite this, for several years, police agencies still tried to charge requestors an hourly rate, often amounting to thousands of dollars, for the time their staff spent editing body camera video to redact confidential information, arguing that editing video was more like programming a computer to extract data (something they are allowed to charge for) than it was like redacting a document.

However, on May 28, 2020, the California Supreme Court in National Lawyers Guild v. City of Hayward (a case brought by the ACLU of Northern California) rejected this argument¹⁰ and held that the Public Records Act does not allow police departments to charge requestors of police body camera footage for the staff time required to locate that footage and edit it to redact audio & video to remove private information.

If an agency has tried to charge you for the time required to make redactions in audio or video, please see our model follow-up letter

 a> notifying them of the Hayward decision and informing them such charges are unlawful.

When should I expect a response?

The law requires that an agency respond to any Public Record Act request in 10 days, acknowledging the request, giving a timeline for a full response and informing the requestor if they are claiming any exemptions.¹¹ An agency can ask for a 14-day extension to respond to the request. The more extensive the request, or if it may require a lot of redactions to keep certain information confidential, the longer it may take to respond. While agencies are supposed to respond promptly, many agencies often take a long time. If you haven’t heard from them, follow-up reminding them that you are still awaiting a response, and document every contact with the agency.

Also, if you are seeking information about a relatively-recent serious use of force, an agency has the right — but is not required — to temporarily withhold the relevant documents if there is an ongoing criminal or administrative investigation that could be harmed by the release of these documents.¹² How long the agency can withhold depends on whether investigation is criminal or just administrative, but in most cases it cannot withhold longer than 18 months after the incident occurred. If criminal charges are filed, the material can be withheld until the criminal case has ended.¹³

What do I do if the law enforcement agency does not respond?

Every agency is required by law to respond and produce relevant, non-confidential documents that they do not otherwise have the right to withhold. If they have records that they need to disclose and do not, they are in violation of the law. You should first follow-up with the agency in writing and continue to request the documents. If they still do not respond, you can enforce your right to this information by bringing a lawsuit in Superior Court. If you win your challenge the agency can be required to pay your attorneys’ fees.¹⁴ So, you may be able to find a lawyer to represent you on contingency, who will get paid only if you collect the fees from your lawsuit. source

1. Cal. Penal Code §832.7(b)(1)(A)(i)-(ii).

2. Cal. Penal Code §832.7(b)(1)(B)(i)-(ii).

3. Cal. Penal Code §832.7(b)(1)(C).

4. Cal. Penal Code §832.7(b)(8); 832.8(b).

5. Cal. Penal Code §832.7(b)(5)-(6).

6. See Cal. Penal Code §832.7(b)(2) for the full list of example documents that you can access under this law.

7. Cal. Gov’t Code §6253.1(a).

8. Cal. Gov’t Code §6253.9(a)(2), (b).

9. Gov’t Code § 6253(d).

10. No. S252445, __ P.3d. ___ (May 28, 2020)

11. Cal. Gov’t Code §6253(c).

12. Cal. Gov’t Code §832.7(b)(7).

13. Cal. Gov’t Code §832.7(b)(7)(B).

14. Cal. Gov’t Code §6259(d).

Sources Cited

(1) Ventura County Deputy Sheriff’s Association v. County of Ventura (2021) 2021 WL 803774, 21 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2070, at 1.

(2) Ventura County Deputy Sheriff’s Association v. County of Ventura (2021) 2021 WL 803774, 21 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2070, at 2.

(3) Ventura County Deputy Sheriff’s Association v. County of Ventura (2021) 2021 WL 803774, 21 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 2070, at 1.

(4) “Appellate court allows release of county peace officer misconduct records,” by Megan Diskin, Ventura County Star, March 4, 2021. (Link)

(5) source

What are some thing you can use SB 1421 for?

Lawmakers passed the landmark “Right to Know Act” in 2018, chipping away at a four-decade wall of secrecy concerning police internal investigations and officer discipline in California. SB 1421 makes public three categories of records:

• Use-of-Force: Records of investigations and findings about use of force that results in a serious injury or death.
• Sexual Assault: Records made when an agency determines that a California peace officer committed sexual assault on the job.
• Official Dishonesty: Records made when an agency determines that an officer was dishonest on the job, affecting the reporting, investigation or prosecution of a

More access also below

Section 832.7 – Peace officer or custodial officer personnel records

Senate Bill No. 1421 – California Public Records Act

Assembly Bill 748 Makes Video Evidence Captured by Police Agencies Subject to Disclosure as Public Records

SB 2, Creating Police Decertification Process and Expanding Civil Liability Exposure

California Senate Bill 16 (SB 16) – 2023-2024 – Peace officers: Release of Records

The Right To Know: How To Fulfill The Public’s Right Of Access To Police Records

PUBLIC RECORDS REQUEST CONTACTS for Los Angeles County (click here for media policy)

How Access to California Police Records

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department SB-1421 Records

Obtaining a Report from LASD Records (You, 3rd party or consel can obtain)

SEARCH SB-1421 SB-16 Incidents of LA County, Oakland

 SB1421 – Form Access to California Police Records

California Statewide CPRA Requests Submit a CPRA Request 

y public records of misconduct related to a particular officer or if he or she has been involved in past serious uses of force.

Download Word document | Download PDF

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Spencer v. Peters– Police Fabrication of Evidence – 14th Amendment

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18 U.S. Code § 242 – Deprivation of Right$ Under Color of Law

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Section 1983 Lawsuit – How to Bring a Civil Rights Claim

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case law: City of San Jose v. Superior Court – Releasing Private Text/Phone Records of Government  Employees

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Frivolous, Meritless or Malicious Prosecution – fiduciary duty

Section 832.7 – Peace officer or custodial officer personnel records

Senate Bill No. 1421 – California Public Records Act

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How Access to California Police Records

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Child’s Best Interest in Custody Cases

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