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Publishing a police report

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kram113

Junior Member
What are the laws regarding either scanning a police report and posting it online or even typing it up? Does it vary from state to state? If so, the police report is from Delaware. If I do post it, I am required to scratch out the names of other people mentioned in it? Is it a public record or a private one? Thank you.
 


CdwJava

Senior Member
It might matter as to how you came into possession of the report. If you are legally permitted to have it, I would think you can do with it what you will.

However, if you post the entire report on-line, and something should happen to one of the named parties (ID theft, assault, etc.) and it can be traced back to that exposure, you could find yourself at the receiving end of a nasty civil suit.

Why would you want to post the entire thing on-line?

If you do, I would STRONGLY recommend redacting (blacking out) any potentially critical identifying information such as last names, addresses, birthdates, etc. And I would avoid publishing the names of any juveniles if I were you.

However, the best bet would be for you to consult a local attorney before taking this action ... it's better to be safe than sorry.

- Carl
 

kram113

Junior Member
I was arrested along with two others, while only one was guilty. Initially he would not confess which caused all three of us to get arrested. He then placed all blame on me. In the long run, I pled not guilty and my charges were dismissed. He pled guilty and had to face the consequences. He recently wrote a short article online defaming my character and placing blame on me. The police report pretty clearly states what actually happened, so I figured it would be very easy to just type of the report and not put our names in. Since I was arrested, the police report belongs to me. There were no juveniles involved. Would I be permitted to type of parts of the police report without using names, using terms like Defendent 1, Defendent 2, and Defendent 3 in place of the names?
 

CdwJava

Senior Member
I hestitate to give you a definite yes or no answer, because I honestly do not know the laws in your state. You likely cannot go wrong with publishing the info and leaving out the full names, but I can't guarantee that. You might consider consulting an attorney just so you can keep your behind in the clear. Heck, you might be abel to get that info with a call to the local Bar Association or representative.

- Carl
 

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