Warner Robins Police Department ~ For The Record

The Warner Robins Police Department is committed to keeping the public informed about community crimes and events.
This page allows us to "set the record straight" and offer clarifications and/or commentaries on some of the events involving the Warner Robins Police Department.

Open Records Request

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

The following is a clarification to an article published by the Macon Telegraph dated August 31, 2010.

"In another instance, it took four business days — the law allows three — for a student to
view the Warner Robins Police Department’s previous day’s incident reports. When she
requested a copy, much of it was redacted, including the name of the complainant."

Clarification:
While the law does state the records custodian has three days to process the request, the Georgia Open
Records Act states in section 50-18-70 (f) that “Where responsive records exist but are not available
within three business days of the request, a written description of such records, together with a timetable
for their inspection and copying, shall be provided within that period . . .”

A records custodian at the Warner Robins City Hall contacted the student to let them know the estimated
152 page request would be have to extend past the three day deadline due to the large amount of material
in the request.

The article also failed to mention why certain information was redacted from the reports. Anytime information
is redacted from a record, the reason the information was redacted and a reference giving the legal authority
to redact the information are included in a letter to the person requesting the record. In the case cited above,
the two records involved juvenile suspects and/or offenders. In instances where juveniles are listed as suspects
or offenders, the department is required to redact any information that would identify the juvenile
[See O.C.G.A. 15-11-82(b)]. In one of the reports, the complainant was the juvenile offender’s mother.
Thus, her information (name, address, phone number, etc.) was redacted because it would identify who the
juvenile suspect was.

The Warner Robins Police Department Records Division processes an average of 2,347 open records request
per year and is in line to receive that many requests again this year. For more information on how to file
an open records request, contact the Department’s Records Division at 478.929.6917.