Crime & Safety

Open Records Request: The Process in Port

A recent movement by area police departments to strictly follow requirements in the federal Driver's Privacy Protection Act may change the records you receive.

In need of a copy of a police report from your local station? While such records are open to the public, the information included is changing after a legal battle in Illinois over a $20 parking ticket could potentially cost a Chicago suburb tens of millions of dollars.

The law at the center of the Illinois case is the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act. A centralized database of drivers' information lets officers look up drivers, car registrants and open warrants — but under this interpretation of the federal privacy act, as soon as an officer plugs a person's information into that system, they can no longer release it as part of a report.

  • Related: Police Records No Longer Open in Many Communities

In Port Washington, the redacting of personal information — such as addresses and birthdates — has started as a result of this movement.

Find out what's happening in Port Washington-Saukvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Here's the low down on how to make a record request with the department, and what information will be redacted:

Citizens can visit the department, 365 N. Wisconsin St., to obtain a copy of the Open Records Request form to fill out, according to Administrative Assistant Barb Roska. The form can also be found on the department's website: www.pwpd.org

Find out what's happening in Port Washington-Saukvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"They are told that a supervisor must first approve their request and redact any information that cannot be released," Roska said, explaining the process a citizen would expect. "The requestor will be called when the request is approved and the record is available for pickup."

When asked what information is redacted, Roska provided the following description:

"Absent any other exception (such as an ongoing investigation), when necessary we should continue to provide copies of accident reports and narrative reports, including any witness statements, photographs and diagrams retained by our department.  Before releasing such reports, however, we must redact any personal information or highly restricted personal information that is not relevant to the request, such as the person's home address (except for the zip code), photograph or image, driver's identification number, social security number, the license plate number, and any medical, disability or health care information. This applies to any documents containing information derived from the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles or from the motor vehicle division of another state."

The Port department has also stopped offering civilian ride-alongs, according to its Facebook page.

Messages left with Saukville Police Chief Bill Meloy this week seeking information on changes at the department, and the process for requesting records, were not returned. Patch will follow up and update this story when possible.


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To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.

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