Policy Text
DEPARTMENTAL
GENE RAL
ORDER
M-9.1
Index as:
Public Records Access
Effective Date:
25 Apr 22
Coordinator :
Record s Division Manager
*This policy has been amended to reflect the settlement in Morris et al. v. City of Oakland.
OPD anticip ates further review and updating of the policy in the near future.
Page 1 of 11
PUBLIC RECORDS ACCESS *
The purpose of this order is to set forth Departmental policy and procedures to assist the public
in obtaining information maintained by the Oakland Police Department. In keeping with the
City’s Sunshine Ordinance, which states in p art, “the Oakland Police Services Agency shall
cooperate with all members of the public making requests for law enforcement records and
documents that are a matter of public record under the California Public Records Act…”
The policy and procedure for r eleasing information is outlined in Departmental General Order
M-9, RELEASE OF RECORDS .
I. OVERVIEW
A. It is the policy of th e Oakland Police Department (OPD) to accept all requests
for records maintained by the OPD, to provide a timely records determination,
and to promptly produce responsive records. Where re quest s are unreasonabl y
burdensome or do not request identifiable re cords, OPD will make reasonable
efforts to assist requestors in overc oming the shortcomings of their request.
B. The position of Public R ecords Supervisor has been established for the purpose
of managing all Public Records Act (PRA) requests .
The P ublic Records Supervisor shall h ave the authority to assign and expedite
requests to ensure compliance policies es tablish ed under the P RA and t he
Sunshine Ordinance.
DEPA RTMENTAL GENERAL ORDER
OAK LAND POLICE DEPARTMENT M-9.1 Effective Date
25 Apr 22
Page 2 of 11 C. The Public Records Supervisor shall oversee a team of Public Recor ds
Specialists (PRS) who rev iew requests, provide records determin ations,
coordinate searches for records, update requestors on the status of their requests,
and publish disclosable record s.
D. The records maintained by the OPD are enumerated in the Appendix, and can generally be
1. Department General Orders, Training Bulletins, and other non- sensitive
materials;
2. Internal Affairs Division records;
3. Crime statistics;
4. Offense rep orts, investigations, and arrest logs;
5. Computer-Aided Dispatch Events (CAD)/communication tapes;
6. Communications Division Voice Tape Recordings;
7. Special enforcement projects; and
8. Departmental training records.
Informat ion pertaining to business, financial, and personnel records are
maintained as official documents in other City departments.
E. All requestors are encouraged, whenever possible, to make written records
requests via the onli ne Next Request plat form, a vailable at
https://oaklandca.nextrequest.com/
. This portal al lows req uestors to track and
receive updates on the sta tus of the request, and to communicat e with the OPD
Records Division .
F. Requests can als o be made in person, via email, mail, or by phone. Instructions
for su bmitting requests by these methods, and a publi c records request form to
be filled out in connection with all written requests, are available at
https://www.oaklandca.gov/services/police- reports -and-documents
G. If a record requested in person or by email, mail, or phone cannot be
immediately pro vided, a PRS shall enter the request into the NextRequest
system so the reque st can be tracked an d processed on the portal. Disclosable
records sh all be uploaded to NextRequest and provided to the requestor directly
via phone or mail when so requested .
DEPA RTMENTAL GENERAL ORDER
OAK LAND POLICE DEPARTMENT M-9.1 Effective Date
25 Apr 22
Page 3 of 11
II. LEGAL REFERENCE S
A. California Government Code (CGC) § 6253
(a) Public records are open to ins pection at all times during the office hours
of the state or local agency and every per son has a right t o inspect any
public record, except as hereafter provided. Any rea sonably segregable
portion of a record shall be availa ble for inspection by any person
requesting the record after deletion of the portions that are exempted by law.
(b) Except with respect to public records exempt from disclosure by express
provisions of law, each state or local agency, upon a request for a copy
of records that reasonably describes an identifiable record or records, shall make the records promptly available to any person upon payment
of fees covering direct costs of duplication, or a stat utory fee if
applicable. Upon request, an exact copy s hall be provided unless
impracticable to do so.
(c) Each agency, upon a request for a copy of records, shall, within 10 days from recei pt of the request, determine whether the request, in whole or in
part, seeks copies of disclosable public records in the possession of the
agency and shall promptly notify the person making the request of the
determination and the reasons therefore. In unusua l circumstances, the
time limit prescribed in this section may be extended by written notice by the head of the agenc y or his or her designee to the person making the
request, setting forth the reasons for the extension and the date on which a determinatio n is expected to be