# Tell Me About Police Blotters **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 14, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752 "2019-10-14T15:33:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/1 "2019-10-14T15:33:29Z")
So in Fort Worth a policeman killed a lady. The Department has not given out the name of the officer. How hard could this be? The desk blotter is a public record. Just grab that and see who was on duty on Monday and who was not on duty on Tuesday. This gets you down to four or five names. Work from there. On the other hand, it occurs to me I do not know what is on the blotter. Want to wise me up? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/2 "2019-10-14T15:45:28Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > The Department has not given out the name of the officer. How hard could this be? I’d assume the officer’s name is absolutely known within the department, but is being willfully withheld in the short term. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/3 "2019-10-14T18:29:44Z")
You can rest assured that the very second the name is released, the news will report it. In fact, I’d wager that every news station in the area has already made a FOIA request for the name. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/4 "2019-10-14T19:36:14Z")
Aaron Dean : [Fort Worth Officer Charged With Murder After Shooting That Killed Atatiana Jefferson – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Fort-Worth-Officer-Resigns-After-Fatal-Shooting-That-Killed-Atatiana-Jefferson-563075211.html%3famp=y) ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/5 "2019-10-14T20:16:08Z")
Regarding police blotters. Many areas have a 911 log or press log that shows the calls to 911 and the police agencies who respond. In my area there is a police dispatch press log that shows all the 911 calls and responses. I searched around the Fort Worth police site and it seems that you need the case number and have to register. Where I am at I just check out the press log and can see all the calls, the city or county agency that responded, and the last name of the officer reporting, time of event, etc. Names of persons arrested used to be shown but are no longer reported, probably for liability reasons. You have to poke around your local county or city web site until you find it, but the information or at least some of it, may be freely available. I can also look at the local jail roster and see admissions and the reason. Most people do not look for these things. Here is what I am talking about. Press log for Astoria Oregon from yesterday. > **[Monday-Press-Log1.pdf](https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/response-jtti/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2019/10/14035724/Monday-Press-Log1.pdf)** > > 136.32 KB ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2019, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/6 "2019-10-14T22:36:49Z")
I was visiting the North Ridgeville OH police station once and could read the jail cell blackboard: Cell #1: small brown dog. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/7 "2019-10-15T00:39:33Z")
I bet a newspaperman, a real newshawk, would just put on his snap brim with a press card in the hatband, go down to the stationhouse, find the information and call the city room to stop the presses on the bulldog. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/8 "2019-10-15T04:13:31Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > I bet a newspaperman, a real newshawk, would just put on his snap brim with a press card in the hatband, go down to the stationhouse, find the information and call the city room to stop the presses on the bulldog. No, the police department would feed the reporter the details on every encounter the victim had with law enforcement, what unsavoury items were found in the house, and what the neighbourhood was like - to prove this was no innocent victim, while withholding the name of the officer. That seems to be how officer-involved shootings play out - smear the victim. But seriously - maybe the blotter on the sergeant’s desk had the orders of the day, shift schedules, and details of all the calls responded to in the 1960’s; I suspect nowadays all that is computerized and access is strictly limited for privacy and other reasons. I’m sure all the other police in the area know whodunnit but for solidarity have no motivation to leak the details to the press. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/9 "2019-10-15T13:31:28Z")
In Maryland, the police blotter is a public record. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/10 "2019-10-15T14:03:10Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > In Maryland, the police blotter is a public record. Odd. Does it contain full names of who is on shift, etc.? I would think that this sort of information should be private. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/11 "2019-10-15T15:12:31Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > Odd. Does it contain full names of who is on shift, etc.? I would think that this sort of information should be private. I do not know. That is why I am asking. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/12 "2019-10-15T16:31:17Z")
Yes the police blotter is on the Sergeants desk. Right there next to the coffee and the ashtray with a smoldering cigarette butt. This is me responding from 1973. \* Of course for most departments there is no blotter. There is one form of CAD (computer aided dispatch) or another that has the bare minimum of information on a call. Sometimes that’s all that is needed. If more is needed then reports are written. As to what is public, that depends on your state’s laws on public records. In NJ we have OPRA. No not that one. The Open Public Records Act. Just about anything is subject to OPRA. Does that mean anyone can walk in and look at the dispatcher’s computer screen? Of course not. Put in a request for the information and by law you have to receive it within a time limit. Does that mean that everyone will get everything all the time? Of course not. It is perfectly legal and logical to not release all information on ongoing investigations. There are also privacy concerns so all PID will not be released. - I’m sure there are some Mayberry RFD departments that do things decades out of date but for the most part departments have been dragged into at least the late 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/13 "2019-10-15T17:11:47Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Regarding police blotters. Many areas have a 911 log or press log that shows the calls to 911 and the police agencies who respond. In my area there is a police dispatch press log that shows all the 911 calls and responses. I searched around the Fort Worth police site and it seems that you need the case number and have to register. I believe the requested welfare check that led to the whole mess was made to a non-emergency number - i.e. not 911. [Cite](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-police-officer-shoots-woman-death-inside-her-home-n1065451). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/14 "2019-10-15T23:29:25Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > … > > Of course for most departments there is no blotter. There is one form of CAD (computer aided dispatch) or another that has the bare minimum of information on a call. Sometimes that’s all that is needed. If more is needed then reports are written. > … FWIW, the screen of the CAD system in our 9-1-1 centre would identify _Units_ assigned to a call. A \*Unit \*was typically a car number (which would correspond the the radio call sign), and at least in our agencies a particular officer was not necessarily in the same Unit every day. And each \*Unit \*might have more than one officer assigned. That CAD system might only show abbreviations that seem like gibberish to those uninitiated in the nuances of the system. **T4** , **Z3** , and \*\*M1 \*\* might be listed as Units responding to a particular \*\*DISDO \*\*call for service. Takes a bit to translate that to Officer Watson, Officers Smith and Jones, and Officer Thompson with Sgt Williams as the officers responding to a Domestic Disturbance call. And the police blotter for that call might read: 21:17 T4, Z3, M1 - 158 Spring Street - DISDO It is not so simple to see which officer was working one night and not the next. Officers have varying days off, vacation days, sick days, etc… The media would be very negligent to report Officer Smith was involved in an officer involved shooting just because he was working Tuesday night when the incident happened but not Wednesday night. If the media jump to a report on such a feeble basis, the next thing there are misguided protesters at the officer’s doorstep when he is trying to enjoy a night off with his spouse for their anniversary. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2019, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-police-blotters/841752/15 "2019-10-16T12:37:39Z")
**[Moderating]** > [@md2000](#): > > No, the police department would feed the reporter the details on every encounter the victim had with law enforcement, what unsavoury items were found in the house, and what the neighbourhood was like - to prove this was no innocent victim, while withholding the name of the officer. That seems to be how officer-involved shootings play out - smear the victim. This sort of political commentary is not appropriate in General Questions. Do not do this again.