How Long Do LEO Depts Keep Police Reports?

[anthonyca]

How long are police incident reports kept? What are the chances of a mistomeaner battery report still on file? The DA and court responded with a
letter and date of when the copy of the report was destroyed but the police department will not confirm if it is still in existance.

[yzErnie]

There are some rules under, I believe it is the Government Code, that dictate how long reports must be kept. Each dept has their own protocols about how long they will keep them after the required time limits. My dept keeps them forever on microfilm/scanned computer docs.

[anthonyca]

There are some rules under, I believe it is the Government Code, that dictate how long reports must be kept. Each dept has their own protocols about how long they will keep them after the required time limits. My dept keeps them forever on microfilm/scanned computer docs.

Thank you.

[Ron-Solo]

It varies so much by department. Until the digital age, LASD only kept most misdemeanor reports for a year. Now, it is pretty much indefinate thanks to digital imaging.

[BigDogatPlay]

Every agency I worked at we kept hard copy seven years then they went to be microfilmed and archived. With many, if not most, agencies these days writing their reports on computers and only printing when they have to I would wager that now they would live indefinitely in a digital manner.

[CaptMike]

My department keeps hard copy reports for 5 years. Then they are sent off to be digitally scanned and archived until Y3K, when all the computers will stop working (just kidding). once scanned they are stored in two different digital locations so ultimately, they will exist forever.