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.
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