From Mark Scolforo of The Associated Press today:“Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court says the state police doesn’t have to release copies of
its incident reports to the public, reversing the Office of Open
Records.
Commonwealth Court ruled 6 to 1 on Thursday that the forms are covered
by an exception to the Right-to-Know Law that allows agencies to
withhold criminal investigative records.
The case involves a February 2009 request by the Potter
Leader-Enterprise for a complete incident report that pertained to a
fight in Potter County.
The court majority says it reviewed the incident report at issue and
determined it’s ‘a description of an investigation by the PSP into a
complaint of criminal activity,’ and doesn’t qualify as a police blotter
that should be available to the public.”
Both the OOR’s decision on the appeal and the Commonwealth Court’s decision are in our reading room. Scroll down to the “right to know” topic.
