The purpose of this Policy is to establish guidelines necessary to comply with the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law and ACT 22 Video/Audio Requests.
The Department shall comply with the requirements of the Pennsylvania Right to Know Act (Act 3 of 2008), 65 P.S. Sections 67.101, et seq.
The Chief’s Executive Assistant shall be designated as the Opens Records Officer to ensure compliance with this policy and disseminate records to the public appropriately.
Requests for public records are available, with the appropriate fee, in person from the Newtown Township Police Department Records Division, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, excluding holidays or extenuating circumstances. Records may also be requested by email, fax, or mail with the appropriate fee included.
Under the “Right to Know Law,” investigative reports are exempted from the definition of a “public record,” therefore, any such request will be denied.
Criminal History information is not accessible under the “Right to Know Law.”
Unless a charge of juvenile delinquency is transferred for criminal prosecution under section 6355 of the Juvenile Act, or the court otherwise orders, the records and files of a juvenile shall not be open to public inspection or their contents disclosed to the public.
The Open Records Officer will make a good faith effort to respond appropriately within five (5) business days after the date the initial request is received by the Open Records Officer.
There shall be no limitation on the number of public records that may be requested or made available for inspection or duplication. Fees will be assessed on a per-copy basis.
There shall be no requirement to disclose the purpose or motive in requesting access to records that are considered public.
If a records request is denied, any fee collected shall be returned to the requester. The requester shall be informed of the reason for the denial and of the appeal process.
Exception – Incident reports, photographs, and other investigative information may be released to other law enforcement agencies upon approval from the shift supervisor or a detective. The Department's Right to Know Request Form for Reports and Visual Media need not be completed for these instances.
This policy shall be posted for public view in the lobby of the Township building, as well as being posted on the Township’s website, along with the following:
Newtown Township Police Department
Attn: Open Records Officer, Executive Assistant to the Chief of Police, Valerie Becker
100 Municipal Drive
Newtown, Pa 18940
Phone# – 215-579-1000 ext 233
Email: valerieb@twp.newtown.pa.us
Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
Attn: Open Records Appeal Officer
100 N. Main St, 2nd Floor
Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone# – 215-348-6344
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Office of Open Records
Commonwealth Keystone Building
555 Walnut Street, Suite 605
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone# 717-425-5343
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