Police reports: confidential personal information.

(1) Existing law prohibits any law enforcement officer or employee of a law enforcement agency from disclosing to any arrested person, or to any person who may be a defendant in a criminal action, the address or telephone number of any person who is a victim or witness of the alleged offense. This bill would authorize a board of supervisors or a city council to authorize the sheriff, in the case of a county, or the chief of police, in the case of a city, to establish a procedure to protect current address information contained in a police report, arrest report, or investigative report regarding a victim if access to that information would reveal the current address of a victim or alleged victim of a crime, and if that victim, alleged victim, or the parent or guardian of a victim or alleged victim who is a minor has requested the information to be kept confidential, subject to specified exceptions. (2) The California Public Records Act requires public records to be open to inspection by the public except as specifically exempted from disclosure. The act requires, subject to certain exceptions, state and local law enforcement agencies to provide the current address of every individual arrested by the agency and the current address of the victim of a crime, where the requester declares under penalty of perjury that the request is made for scholarly, journalistic, political, or governmental purpose, or that the request is made for investigation by a private investigator as specified. This bill would instead provide that these provisions are subject to any procedures adopted by a sheriff or chief of police to keep confidential current address information contained in certain reports relating to a victim or alleged victim of a crime.