911:: Releasing tapes (was 'Miami Incident')

[Guest guest]

>

> why are 911 tapes public record? if you can't say things

> on the air about a disease some one has or certain things

> then what is the diffrence if some one can just request the

> tapes and listen to them all day long? at our agency we

> don't release anything. Have had lawyers come and ask for

> the tapes before and no one get's anything without a court

> order. That generally stops most people right there wont'

> go to the trouble to get one. If i call into 911 for an

> ambulance I would not want everyone to hear how i sounded

> or what i may have said or not said. I do not see how that

> could be considered public record. It i'm sure is in some

> states or on the books some where maybe even here but it

> does not sound right to me.

> <<snipped text of two other messages>>

I can't speak for other states, but in the Commonwealth of

Virginia, Chapter 21, Virginia Freedom of Information Act,

of the Code of Virginia makes it clear that almost anything

and everything must be released except for specifically

exempted privacy information, proprietary data, or notes

pertaining to an ongoing investigation. Quoting from

2.1-340.1 --

" ... The affairs of the government are not intended to be

conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy since at all times

the public is to be the beneficiary of any action taken

at any level of government. Unless a public body or

public official specifically elects to exercsie an

exemption provided by this chapter or any other statute,

every meeting shall be open to the public and all public

records shall be available for inspection and copying

upon request.

The provisions of this chapter shall e liberally

construed to promote an increased awareness by all

persons of governmental activities and afford every

opportunity to citizens to witness the operations of

the government. Any exemption from public access to

records or meetings shall be narrowly construed and no

record shall be withheld or meeting closed to the public

unless specifically made exempt pursuant to this chap... "

It's pretty clear that any portion of our logging tapes

that isn't covered by an exemption to the FOIA has to be

released on request. We do have to go thru any recordings

that are released and expunge (aka 'bleep out') and infor-

mation covered under the 'Privacy Act.' Names of callers,

their phone numbers, etc., are usually excluded unless a

court orders the release but even that's not required

because all public safety communications can be recorded

and callers " have no reasonable expectation of privacy "

when they call unless they specifically request

annonymity.

Court orders are another issue. Almost any good defense

attorney will request every pertinent record as part of

the 'discovery process.' Once the courts order release,

virtually everything is passed on and the court generally

has to rule on anything that will be excluded.

Reality is that any citizen can ask for copies of the

recordings and, for a nominal fee that cannot exceed the

actual cost of producing the recording, we must release

the information. Period.

Take good care of yourself and yours,

Calls occur randomly... all at the same time.

R J 'Tree' Greenwood

doctree@... or tree.greenwood@...

doctree@... on 911 Console

Falls Church City & Fauquier County, VA