The Right to Know: How to Fulfill the Public’s Right of Access to Police Records

Democracy depends on the public’s right to know what its government is doing so it can hold officials accountable. California voters recognized the fundamental importance of public access to documents by enshrining the right of access in the state constitution. But the right of access does not always work smoothly in practice. Agencies can take three straightforward steps to meet their legal and democratic duties to ensure public access. First, they can proactively publish records of public interest. Second, they can streamline public records processing. Third, they can implement accountability mechanisms to identify and address any systemic problems that interfere with responding to records requests. This guide focuses on the ways that law enforcement agencies unnecessarily obstruct the flow of public information—and the steps they can take to dismantle the barriers to public access they put up.