[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/blog\/obtaining-police-records\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/blog\/obtaining-police-records\/","headline":"Getting Your Police Records","name":"Getting Your Police Records","description":"Mayor Ted Wheeler announced Friday that Portland will no longer charge crime victims for copies of their own police reports after an investigation by The Oregonian\/OregonLive found people face high fees and long waits to get them. Wheeler\u2019s announcement came minutes before a scheduled interview with an Oregonian reporter, who had told the mayor\u2019s staff...","datePublished":"2018-12-19","dateModified":"2024-05-22","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/blog\/author\/rizklaw\/#Person","name":"Rizk Law","url":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/blog\/author\/rizklaw\/","identifier":9,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10e23ce5e6c4dadb4589cd8edf2c3f59ac356a6e876c3656917777913d9c3bc1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/10e23ce5e6c4dadb4589cd8edf2c3f59ac356a6e876c3656917777913d9c3bc1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Rizk Law","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/rizk-law-logo-footer.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/rizk-law-logo-footer.jpg","width":278,"height":65}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Richard-Rizk-headshot.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Richard-Rizk-headshot.jpg","width":383,"height":427},"url":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/blog\/obtaining-police-records\/","about":["Legal News"],"wordCount":1060,"articleBody":"Mayor Ted Wheeler announced Friday that Portland will no longer charge crime victims for copies of their own police reports after an investigation by The Oregonian\/OregonLive found people face high fees and long waits to get them.Wheeler\u2019s announcement came minutes before a scheduled interview with an Oregonian reporter, who had told the mayor\u2019s staff he would inquire about the city\u2019s response to the investigation. It also came after most city commissioners had told The Oregonian\/OregonLive that crime victims should not pay for their documents and recommended additional changes.In the interview Friday, Wheeler said he was \u201csurprised\u201d that his Police Bureau did not already have a plan in place to eliminate fees for crime victims and credited the newspaper with spurring the change.\u201cWhen I heard you were going to ask me about that I was a little surprised we didn\u2019t already have a plan in place to execute on that,\u201d Wheeler said.Eileen Park, the mayor\u2019s communications director, said aides had been \u201cworking on it\u201d but without the mayor\u2019s knowledge.Wheeler also said he will enact other changes to keep him in the loop when some records are withheld from journalists.The Oregonian\/OregonLive\u2019s October investigation found people seeking Portland police reports must pay at least $30 up front and face long delays, even if they are seeking the report as a victim. In 2017, the average wait for a police report was 133 days. In contrast, Seattle is able to turn around most reports in under a week. It charges about $1 per report and doesn\u2019t charge victims.Though Wheeler\u2019s announcement means crime victims will be able to receive police reports free of charge, it doesn\u2019t guarantee they will get them quickly. Several crime victims The Oregonian spoke to for its investigation said the long delays harmed their abilities to move forward with their lives.It\u2019s unclear how or whether the Police Bureau will tackle its deep backlog of requests that results in weeks or months of delay \u2014 a central shortcoming revealed by The Oregonian\/OregonLive\u2019s investigation into police records policies.Park said the mayor\u2019s office is preparing a budget proposal for next year that would add money to the bureau\u2019s records unit and seek efficiencies. Commissioners Nick Fish and Amanda Fritz had already told The Oregonian they\u2019d support hiring more records employees to shorten the backlog.In preparing to follow up on its investigation, The Oregonian asked each of Portland\u2019s city commissioners for their thoughts. All but Commissioner Chloe Eudaly responded, and most urged the Police Bureau to make sweeping reforms.\u201cPortlanders are waiting too long for Police Bureau records, and the city is not meeting community expectations around transparency and accountability,\u201d Commissioner Nick Fish said in a statement.\u201cIn this next budget, I want the bureau to tell us what it will take \u2013 whether it\u2019s better training, better technology, or more people \u2013 to improve service, especially for victims,\u201d he said.Fritz said she would support a one-time funding allocation to help the agency dig out of its backlog, with the goal of achieving a one-week turnaround for simple police reports.A police spokesman could not be reached Friday for comment for this story. It\u2019s unclear whether Chief Danielle Outlaw or other Police Bureau leaders coordinated with the mayor\u2019s office on the upcoming change in records policy. Wheeler said it will take effect Jan. 1.Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who used to be police commissioner, told The Oregonian\/OregonLive that while it\u2019s easy to say crime victims should get reports, the bureau will expect funding to cover those costs.As it is, the Portland Police Bureau largely views public records as an extra service for which the the public must help it recoup costs, not a core part of its mission as an organization.Some Oregon public agencies and government entities in other states view providing access to documents as a cost of doing business for the public \u2014 not a service for which reimbursement is required. But Oregon law allows state and local agencies to reimburse for the \u201cactual cost\u201d to find, compile, review and release government records.Washington\u2019s strict laws, which punish agencies for delaying records, are the reason the Seattle Police Department deploys enough staffers to be able to turn around simple police reports in under one week and for less than $1, its director of transparency and privacy told The Oregonian.The problem extends well beyond crime victims\u2019 access. The Oregonian\/OregonLive also wrote about how activists struggle to get information, which can stymie civic engagement on issues the city has declared a high priority, such as pedestrian deaths.In a recently released report on records access in Oregon, the state\u2019s public records advocate wrote that agencies need to view fulfilling records requests as a core function, not an afterthought. Better-funded records departments would curb the need to charge high fees for public records requests, she wrote.\u201cWhen public bodies are not adequately funded, the requests are expected to make up the difference to cover the costs of public records requests,\u201d advocate Ginger McCall wrote. \u201cPublic bodies\u2019 ability to procure necessary technology and staff depends on buy-in from leadership.\u201dWheeler made another records-related announcement during the interview: He said he intends to direct city bureaus under his control not to deny members of the press access to documents without his knowledge and city attorneys\u2019 go-ahead.\u201cIf they are going to withhold records from the press, I personally want to know why they are withholding records and I want somebody upstairs in the legal department to sign off on it,\u201d the mayor said.He cited as the impetus for the change a mid-level manager\u2019s decision to keep records from a reporter, which spurred an appeal to the Multnomah County district attorney, who ordered the city to release the documents because they were withheld improperly.\u201cThat as mayor is disappointing to me because it undercuts the public\u2019s faith and trust in government,\u201d Wheeler said, bemoaning the \u201ccolossal waste of my time and my staff\u2019s time\u201d to explain that misstep.That change has implications only for the bureaus Wheeler directly oversees as a commissioner-in-charge. But that includes bureaus that frequently withhold information from the press and general public, including the Police Bureau.Cited Websites:The Oregonian"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Getting Your Police Records","item":"https:\/\/www.rizklaw.com\/blog\/obtaining-police-records\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]