Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department Visit

A week ago, our class embarked on a field trip to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department offices where we learned firsthand about how reporters get their information for their stories from the police.

Deputy Larry McKinnon, also a public information officer (PIO), explained that there are several ways for reporters to get their information for their stories. The most common way of obtaining any public information is through the press releases the Hillsborough County Police Department uploaded on their website. These press releases give the reporter a review of the cases that occurred in the area.

McKinnon explained that technology is changing around us and that even the police needs to get with the times when it comes to producing these reports. The police officers used to hand write their reports, but with the changing technology, they’ve completed their reports electronically.

These reports are sent via air card to the police officer’s laptops and then sent to their supervisors. If approved, it is then sent to the hard drive where it is processed and becomes public information.

McKinnon explained that there is a step-by-step process on how these police records are processed. He went on to explain that when a person is arrested, the arresting officer fills out the arrest report. Once the arrest record is approved, a CRA is completed and then given to the arrestee to take to booking.

With all this information, does a reporter have access to any information the police department holds? A reporter has access to any information except witnesses and victims if it is a closed investigation.

The most interesting part of the trip was our visit to the 911 Call Center. McKinnon explained that the 911 call center has 1.5 million call volume per year and that they are the top 5 largest communication center in the south.

Like most records within the police department, all calls coming into the call center are public record because everything is recorded. But as long as the calls aren’t included in an ongoing investigation, reporters are allowed to request these calls as public records for their story.

All in all, this was a rewarding experience as we were able to understand what a reporter’s jurisdiction is when it comes to obtaining records for a story.