A Wisconsin state appeals court says police can release full accident reports without violating federal law but must black out information taken directly from driver records in incident reports.
The decision stems from a lawsuit the New Richmond News filed against the City of New Richmond in 2013. The newspaper alleged police were redacting too much information from reports. The city argued the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act requires redacting all information derived from driver records.
The court said an exception in the DPPA allows full accident report disclosures but information taken directly from driver records must be redacted from incident reports.
The newspaper’s attorney, Bob Dreps, says the decision restores access to police records since most incident reports contain information verified with driver’s records, not taken directly from them.
Topics Law Enforcement
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