How do I get a copy of a 911 call I made?

Question

I recently was involved in an incident & witnessed someone I know get severely beaten by 4 guys that we do not know. The police report is not accurate & because it happened on one of the guys property none of them were charged with any crime. The police report states that his injuries were superficial but after a trip to ER it is documented that he has a fractured leg, fractured facial bones, teeth knocked out & several other minor scrapes & bruises. I saw him get completely knocked unconscience at the first blow & then they all jumped in & continuously beat, kicked & stomped him. No other person was injured & none of them were physically touched in any way. I don't even see how this is possible that they didn't get arrested. My only hope to have evidence to support my side of the story is the 911 call but I was first told there was no record of it, then that I couldn't have it, then when they finally gave me a print out it was only of the time the call was dispatched, length of call, etc. & it had no conversation on it at all. Does anyone know how to get a copy of a 911 tape that has my conversation with the dispatcher? I could really use the help.

Answer 1

Have an attorney or the court subpoena it.

Answer 2

If this is really what happened, then perhaps you should go to the local County/District/State Attorneys office and file a complaint.

Secondly, file a complaint with the police department on the grounds that they failed to properly due their duties.

Third, have your friend contact an attorney and see if there might be possible civil avenues available to them for dereliction of duty on the police officers part. His attorney could subpoena the tapes as material evidence.  

You may even consider going to the local news media about this as well. Perhaps there is an ongoing issue with the police department not presenting cases to the County/District/State Attorneys office for prosecution.

An average citizen does not have the right to request a copy/transcript of the tape.

Now, your FRIEND, may have that right.  

Answer 3

Most states require that it be provided to you upon request, although they can charge you a reasonable fee for the research and copying.  Worst case scenario is that you'd have to request it through the court by having a subpoena duces tecum issued requiring the police to provide the recording.  To do this, however, there would have to be some sort of case pending in court.  I find it extremely hard to believe that the recording does not exist since most states require these recordings to be maintained for a reasonable period of time.  Research the public records laws for your state.  Some states are more restrictive than others, but some like Florida have laws that require the police to provide any and all records unless they are part of an ongoing criminal investigation (with certain details redacted).

There is also a possibility that the police agency that responded receives calls from a central dispatch center that would maintain the tapes, such as a county call center or EOC center.  If that is the case, the agency would not have the tapes.

Also, your friend needs to contact the local prosecutor's office and discuss the case with them since they are the one's who officially end up making the actual charges in court.  Take the medical records and the police report.  If there is enough proof to support what you are saying, charges can be filed at this point.  This has to be on the part of your friend.  You don't have the ability to file charges on his behalf.

If nothing else works, go to your local media outlets.  They usually have a way of getting the wheels rolling.

Answer 4

You can't get anything until all investigation and prosecution is finished, if they don't want to give it up. Under most states' laws, you can get it, if it exists, later by asking, but the agency can hold it up asking for an open records ruling. Won't do you nearly as much good as the medical records.