As stated by Section 708(b)(18)(i) of the Right-to-Know Law, “Records or parts of records, except time response logs, pertaining to audio recordings, telephone or radio transmissions received by emergency dispatch personnel, including 911 recordings” are exempt from disclosure under a request for access to public information.
Additionally, 35 Pa.C.S. § 5399(a) requires that, notwithstanding any requirements of the Right-to-Know Law, “a PSAP [public safety answering point – commonly a ‘911 Center’] may not release individual identifying information of an individual calling a 911 center, victim, or witness.” Section 5399(c) defines identifying information as including a 911 caller’s, victim’s, or witness’ “name, telephone number, and home address.” Finally, the statute does not preclude the release of the street block identifier, cross street, or mile marker of the location of the incident.
In concert with the above-referenced laws, and in the interest of promoting open government, the County of Berks Department of Emergency Services (Department) publishes the prior month’s list of incident time response logs to this location on our departmental website. This publication gives the public significantly greater access to public records by allowing 24/7access to time response logs and provides it in a commonly used and easy to manipulate/analyze format (Microsoft Excel).
The data made available here is all of the time response log data the County has available, and represents every incident record since the County began using its current Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) software on July 10, 2012. Please note that data prior to July 10, 2012 does not exist in the County’s possession, custody or control.
It is important to understand that the County can only provide time response log data for calls dispatched by the Department. As the City of Reading and Pennsylvania State Police dispatch their own incidents, any requests for data associated to responses by these agencies must be directed to the Open Records Officers of those agencies.