Flock Exposed - Monthly Police Report Request Template

Before You Begin, Please Read This

If this feels intimidating, it should not. You are not asking to see anyone's police file. You are not accusing your police department of anything. You are asking for a routine report that your own elected officials already receive every single month.

Here is what this document does for you. In most towns the police chief hands the board a written report at every meeting. It goes into the board packet, the members read it, and it is almost never posted where the public can see it. It is not a case file and it is not an investigative record. It is a document prepared for elected officials in a public meeting, which makes it far harder for an agency to withhold than actual police records.

That report often shows what the surveillance equipment is actually doing, how many alerts or hits it generated, and what the department is telling the board about its value. If the cameras are not producing what was promised, this is usually where you will see it first.

You do not need a reason, and you do not need to explain yourself. Keep it narrow, keep it polite, keep a copy.

One more thing. Delete this preamble before you send it. Everything from the top of this page through the end of the How To Use This Template section is guidance written for you, not part of the request. Remove all of it, along with any bracketed notes, so the document you hand to your clerk is clean and begins with the date and ends with the acknowledgment block.

How To Use This Template

Fill in every item shown in brackets with your own information, then delete the brackets. Check your own state's public records law for its name, its deadlines, and its fee rules, and insert the name where indicated.

Keep the request narrow on purpose. Ask for the monthly report as presented to the board, not for police records generally. A narrow, specific request is much harder to refuse as unduly burdensome, and it keeps the agency from redacting the whole thing under law enforcement exemptions.

Before you send it, look at your town's published board minutes. If the minutes say something like "the monthly police report was in everyone's packet for review," quote that line back to them. It proves the document exists and that the board receives it.

Pick a start date you can justify. Going back many years invites a burden objection. If you are unsure, start with the last two or three years and ask for more later.

The FOIA Request

[Date]

[Name of Records Officer or Clerk]

[Name of Town, City, County, or Agency]

[Street Address]

[City, State, ZIP]

Re: Public Records Request - Monthly Police Reports Presented to the [Board or Council]

Dear [Records Officer or Clerk]:

Under [Name of Your State] public records law, I request copies of the following records in the possession, custody, or control of [Name of Agency], covering the period from [Start Date] to the date this request is processed.

1. The monthly police report, in whatever form it is prepared, that the police department submits to the [Board or Council] for each regular meeting, including every such report included in a meeting packet, distributed to members, or presented at a meeting during the period stated above.

2. Any attachment, exhibit, summary sheet, statistical table, or supporting document submitted along with each report described in item 1.

3. Any portion of the reports described above that reports on, counts, or references activity from surveillance equipment, including automated license plate reader cameras, other cameras, or related systems, such as alerts, hits, notifications, stops, or arrests attributed to that equipment.

To be clear about the scope of this request: I am not requesting individual case files, arrest reports, incident reports, or any investigative record. I am requesting only the periodic report prepared for and delivered to the [Board or Council], which is a record created for the use of elected officials in connection with public meetings.

[Optional, if your minutes support it: The [Board or Council] minutes for [Date of Meeting] state that "the monthly police report was in everyone's packet for review," confirming that these records exist and are routinely provided to the [Board or Council].]

Please provide these records in electronic format, by email to [Your Email Address], if they exist in electronic form. If any record or portion of a record is withheld, please identify it and cite the specific exemption you are relying on, and release all reasonably segregable portions rather than withholding a report in full.

If you anticipate fees, please notify me before any costs are incurred so I may narrow the request or approve the charges. If a fee waiver is available under [Name of Your State] law because this request is in the public interest and not for commercial purposes, I request one.

If you believe any part of this request is unclear, or if the volume of records is a concern, please contact me so we can discuss narrowing the date range rather than denying the request.

Thank you for your assistance.

Sincerely,

_______________________________

[Your Signature]

[Your Printed Name]

[Your Street Address]

[Your City, State, ZIP]

[Your Phone Number]

[Your Email Address]

Acknowledgment Of Receipt

To be completed by the receiving agency. Requester and agency each retain a copy.

Received by: _______________________________

Printed Name and Title: _______________________________

Date and Time Received: _______________________________