Prince William County Police Department

FOIA laws vary by state. The Federal Government is also governed by their own FOIA laws. As a local police agency in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Prince William County Police Department is governed by Virginia state FOIA laws. 

Pursuant to Virginia FOIA, FOIA requests will be accepted from any resident of the Commonwealth of Virginia or by any representative of the news media with a print publication in the state or a television/radio broadcast from or into the state.

The Police Department is committed to responding to your request as soon as possible. Under the Code of Virginia, the Department has five business days to respond to your request with one of the following:

• The records/documents as requested in their entirety. 
• A denial of your request if FOIA is not applicable, the record does not exist or the police department is not the custodian of the record, or your request meets one of the exemptions or is otherwise prohibited to disclose under state law.
• Partial records/documents, while denying others as explained above.
• A notice of extension of seven business days to complete the request, meaning 12 business days in total.

For requests of very large number of records/documents, the Police Department may petition the court for additional time to respond. This will only occur if the Department feels the 12-day period is insufficient to complete the request without disrupting organizational responsibilities. 

Day one of the request is considered the next business day after your request is submitted. A business day is any working day and does not include weekends or County-recognized holidays or closures.

*NOTE: Your request may include redactions which is permitted if the information restricted meets an exemption or is otherwise prohibited under state law.

The Police Department provides various links for residents to obtain information on crime, community policing, crashes, and arrests.

Here are few resources to retrieve this information

• Adult Arrest Report
• Community Policing Data
• County Crime Map
• DMV Crash Data
• FBI Crime Data
• Sex Offender Registry
• Virginia Crime Data

The Code of Virginia allows any public body to withhold certain records from public disclosure.

The Police Department commonly withholds records subject to the following exemptions:

• Records of criminal investigations that have not yet been adjudicated in court (§2.2-3706(A)(2)(a))
• Unwarranted Invasion of Personal Property (§2.2-3706.1(C)(3))
• Juvenile Records (§16.1-301) 
• Records of criminal investigations (§2.2-3706(A)(2)(a))
• Personnel records (§2.2-3706(B)(9)) 
• Tests or examinations used, administered, or prepared for purposes of evaluation of any employee or employment seeker’s qualifications or aptitude for employment, retention, or promotion, or qualifications for any license or certificate (§2.2-3705.1 (4))
• Requests by persons incarcerated in a state, local, or federal correctional facility (§2.2-3703(C))
• Plans and information to prevent or respond to terrorist activity, the disclosure of which would jeopardize the safety of any person (§2.2-3705.2 (14))

In addition to the commonly used exemptions, our Department is prohibited from releasing:

• A juvenile offender’s information
• The identity of any individual providing information about a crime or criminal activity under a promise of anonymity shall not be disclosed
• Social Security numbers, financial records, other sensitive account information, and certain motor vehicle records

If you believe your FOIA rights were violated, you may file a petition in district or circuit court. Alternatively, you may contact the FOIA Council for a nonbinding advisory opinion.

You may have to pay for the records you are requesting. Our Department charges an administrative fee of $29.81, per hour, for research, redaction, quality review, and production of records.  The hourly rate is based on the lowest ranking Police Officer’s annual salary of $62,000. 

The Code of Virginia states:

• A public body may make reasonable charges not to exceed its actual cost incurred in accessing, duplicating, supplying, or searching for the requested records. 
• No public body shall impose any extraneous, intermediary, or surplus fees or expenses to recoup the general costs associated with creating or maintaining records or transacting the general business of the public body. 
• Any duplicating fee charged by a public body shall not exceed the actual cost of duplication. 
• All charges for the supplying of requested records shall be estimated in advance at the request of the citizen as set forth in subsection F of § 2.2-3704 of the Code of Virginia and in accordance with the Prince William County FOIA Policy.
• You may request an estimate in advance for charges associated with supplying the records that you have requested. This will provide you with an approximate cost upfront and will allow you the opportunity to modify your request in an attempt to lower the estimated costs.

If a previous FOIA request remains unpaid for more than 30 days, the Police Department may require payment prior to processing any additional FOIA requests.