2. Police blotter.

The police blotter is a public record under the authority of Birmingham News Co. v. Watkins, No. 38389 (Cir. Ct. of Jefferson County, Ala., Oct. 30, 1974) (based upon First Amendment, not Public Records Law, with discretion for police department to withhold portions of records or entire records if and as necessary to prevent “actual interference” with law enforcement); see also Op. Att’y Gen. Ala. No. 97-00043 (Nov. 27, 1996) (Alabama Uniform Incident/Offense Report is public record, but “portions of such reports may be kept confidential and not subject to public disclosure, especially any portion the disclosure of which would compromise criminal investigations, result in potential harm to innocent persons or infringe upon the constitutional rights of the accused”); Birmingham News Co. v. Jones, CV-00-677 (Cir. Ct. of Shelby County, Ala., Oct. 27, 2000) (back side of Alabama Uniform Incident/Offense Report is work product of officer and therefore not subject to public inspection; front side is generally public record but sensitive information, such as social security numbers, may be redacted on case-by-case basis). 

The Alabama Criminal Justice Information Center Law Enforcement Officers’ Handbook largely mirrors applicable case law and Alabama Attorney General opinions.  The Handbook states that social security numbers, unlisted telephone numbers, medical information, and identifying information concerning juveniles must always be redacted from the police reports.  In addition to these mandatory exemptions from disclosure, the Handbook states that identifying information about individuals may be redacted from the reports for the following reasons:

(1) "the information would compromise criminal investigations, result in potential harm to innocent persons or infringe upon the constitutional rights of the accused";

(2) redaction "is necessary to protect witnesses and/or victims";

(3) "[t]o protect the identities of law enforcement officers currently working undercover with their agencies";

(4) "disclosure would reveal the identity of informants";

(5) "disclosure . . . would impede an agency's enforcement or detection efforts";

(6) "disclosure would reveal investigatory techniques"; and

(7) "disclosure would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication." 

Finally, the Handbook states that law enforcement officials are not required to, but may at the discretion of the chief executive officer of the agency, release the second page (or "back side") of the reports.   See ACJIC, Law Enforcement Officers' Handbook (August 2006), available at http://www.acjic.alabama.gov/documents/law_handbook.pdf.

The sheriff’s department is required to expunge identifying information from its records and website, including the booking photograph, of individuals who are released without being charged or cleared of an offense. Att'y Gen. Ala. No. 2007-052, 2007 Ala. AG LEXIS 25 (Feb. 26, 2007).