As part of the Seattle Police Department’s ongoing commitment to transparency, SPD is publishing data about our public disclosure process to give additional insight into high volume and complexity of requests filed with the department every year.
For the past few years, SPD has received approximately 8,000 public records requests annually, with an year-over-year increase of approximately 10%. Since 2017, requests have increased a total of 30% and that trend is expected to continue.
SPD receives more disclosure requests than any other department in the City of Seattle. These requests can be for a single police report, or as complex request for any and all records pertaining to an incident or topic. These requests frequently involve searches across unconnected systems containing emails, police reports, investigative files, multiple video systems, financial records, phone and even some paper records.
SPD is providing this dashboard to give additional insight into the number, nature, and response timelines for records requests received by the Department. In keeping with the City of Seattle’s equal commitment to privacy, names of requestors and personally identifying information that may be contained in request narratives has been redacted.
Please visit the Public Records Request Dashboard here.