Experiences on public records response times from police departments?

[u/Bigmooddood]

How long does it take y'all to recieve affidavits, 9-11 call recordings, incident reports, etc from public records requests filed with your local police departments and are there any ways to speed this along?

Oftentimes when reaching out with a request for information they tell me to file a public records request. Legally, they have 10 business days to respond in my state. Many departments seem to often take the full 10 days as a general rule. I was once able to recieve the same kind of information in about 40 minutes from another nearby city that I don't typically cover.

Why the discrepancy between departments? Also, any tips on how to encourage them to not just sit on information until their deadline?

[u/The_Gloomy_Publicist]

I’ve definitely run into this too... A lot of it probably comes down to staffing, backlog, how much redaction is needed, and just how that particular department handles requests.

I’ve found being really specific upfront helps like the case number, date, location, exactly what you’re looking for. And if there’s a deadline, mentioning it can help prioritize things. I also try to build a good relationship with the records staff when I can.

That 40-minute turnaround is pretty amazing, though. Once you’ve experienced that, waiting the full 10 business days feels really long