Monday, February 23, 2015

Free Police Records Resources Can Be Found Online

By Claire Dowell


Police records in Texas or any police records in the United States are generally available for public access. Police reports are official documents that contain information such as the defendant, the plaintiff, the officer report and the case between the parties. Three types of police reports are available that can be requested from the police department - crime, administrative and traffic report. A crime report is usually a record of criminal offense by nature. Records of this nature are available to the public once the case reaches conviction or a decision is made. However, the record is restricted from public access if the case is on-going or involves a juvenile or a minor and only the public part of the information is available to the public.

Records that are classified as administrative involve officers of the government who have committed violations or misconduct and violated the police policy. Traffic reports, on the other hand, are those cases that involve traffic incidents, infraction and can include the vehicle name, driver's license as well as the case filed.

To obtain a copy of the police report, it is important that one knows the case number or file number of the case. A person named as defendant can get a copy from the police department where the case was filed. Third party individuals who are interested in obtaining a copy of the police record can only do so once the case has already reached a decision or the case was closed. Different ways to obtain police reports include going to the Police department record division, email request, and walk in or through accessing the police records online.

Those who want to obtain a copy of the records in Austin can do so by first checking the APD incident reports database. Reports that are less than seven pages are free; however, charges will apply for more than 10 pages. Each page costs about $.10. All requests should be directed to the Austin Report Sales unit. The Sales unit is not open daily and as such, one should call first if one intends to visit the office.

On the other hand, those who want a copy of the reports in Houston can obtain copies in several ways. They can email the Houston police open records division, in person request and through fax. One can obtain a copy of an open case by submitting an ''open records request" to the Attorney General's office. Processing time would take about 60 days. To obtain public copies of the report, one can send in a request through mail, attach a US$6 with a self-stamped envelope. For walk in persons, crash reports cost about$6 and are payable through cash, money order or cashier cheques only.

For a more convenient approach of extracting police records and other public records, one can check out online commercial public search sites that offer free public searches. This is the fastest and most convenient way to retrieve information without having to wait for longer periods.




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