FOIA

Public Disclosure Procedure for Plymouth Township Police Department

Records requested from this agency will be processed according to the provisions outlined under the 1976 PA442, known as the Freedom of Information Act. We have put together an overview of the process this agency follows in hopes to foresee and answer questions that inform you of what to expect.

State Law requires that a record request must be an identifiable record. This means that your request must be specific as to the information you are requesting. If a request for records is too vague or is so time consuming as to place an unreasonable burden upon our agency we are not required to respond. We would not be required to create a record when one does not exist. Also 0people are frequently confuse as to which agency they should be requesting from. The same rule applies as when you are reporting an incident. The incident is reported to the agency, which the incident has occurred. The Plymouth Township Police Department and the City of Plymouth Police Department share a combined Communications center, however each agency is responsible for maintaining their own records. But both agencies are required to follow a record retention schedule set by and mandated by the state.

Once a request for records has been submitted and received by the Plymouth Township Police Department Records Division, we have 5 business days to respond. Note: The Records Department is not open on weekends. The response to a request may be 1.) The request is complete and may be picked up in addition to the cost for those records pulled. 2.) Your request for information is denied and an explanation as to why. 3.) More time is needed to complete and process the request. When this agency denies a request for information or information is redacted from the document, we have to cite a reason. Our agency uses a form letter for citing the applicable statutes. (see attached document)

It is not uncommon for people to ask that records be release immediately, such as the day of their court date. Requesting records is a process. As much as we would like to be accommodating to you this is not always possible. Requests are received daily and what information may not be apparent in a written report sometimes is discovered through investigator supplements that may not be complete at the time of the request. It is also this agency policy not to release records until the status of the information being requested is closed. However we do our best we can we have 5 days under the statute and usually need only two days in most cases.

We do ask that a request for records be submitted in writing. Understandably we are limited to what information can be offered over the telephone. This is because we are unable to verify the identity of the individual calling. At the time you request is available to be picked up you may be asked to provide some type of picture ID. The state also allows us to charge for the copies provided. You do not have to give a reason as to why you want the records but you may be asked for your relationship to the case. This is to help us determine what information would be appropriate to release.