Question information available to officers when running license

[dannyj]

Last year, I was involved in an altercation with another driver on the road. I reported the incident to the police and so did the other person who met me at the station (I told him I was going to the police after he assaulted me).

Unfortunately, there were no witnesses to the assault. So the officer wrote up my story and the story of the other guy, marked us both as complainants and marked the report as unfounded. It was quite disturbing to me at the time because the guy was lying right to the officers face and nothing could be done about this matter, because it was a he said/she said story.

I know that the report is a matter of public record and available to anyone who asks by going to the records section of the town where it was written up. What I am unsure of is, how far does the availability of a report with complainants only extend - specifically road side checks when running my license? What about if I get pulled over by the city police the next town over? Would they be able to see this report while running my license in their squad car on the side of the road? What about the county sheriff or the sheriff in another county running my license? Is it available to a trooper who pulls me over in another state?

Again, this was a report where I was a complainant. I am in Florida.

Thank you.

[pac201]

Typically no. Someone would have to specifically ask for the information.

[DeltaV]

When we run someone in our computer, we see all the incidents they've had their name attached to with our agency and the county sheriff's office. That's because we have interoperability with our records systems. It will vary all around the country and even within the state. The farther away from the agency where the incident was reported you get, the less of a chance anyone else will be able to pull it up. It definitely won't be viewable out of state.

Now if citations were issued or an arrest was made it would be a different story.

[dannyj]

Thank you for the replies so far.

With regard to citations mentioned above, how much information is typically available in the system? Specifically, is there such a thing as officer notes which would be available for any future officer to see during a routine traffic stop? For example, if during a traffic stop for speeding, someone told the officer off using expletives and was generally acting like a horses rear end but was only issued a citation for speeding, could an officer make a note of that person's hostile behavior and would such notes be available in the system? If there are such notes, how far reaching would they be for a citation issued under such circumstances? County wide? State wide?

[ET109]

Are you afraid you have "AH" noted somewhere on your permanent record? What'd you do?

Where I am I write notes on the back of the ticket in pen. I don't know about those with e-tickets, though.

[G35 Mass]

Depending on the records management software used by various agencies, it is very possible for one agency to see another agency's reports just by running a plate or person. We have it here and it's unbelievably useful. We can see other area agency's complete records on anything from any report the person is named in, every time they've been stopped, permits they've been issued, parking tickets, etc.. I know of one state where every police department is hooked into an information sharing system.

[flaleo]

When we run someone in our computer, we see all the incidents they've had their name attached to with our agency and the county sheriff's office. That's because we have interoperability with our records systems. It will vary all around the country and even within the state. The farther away from the agency where the incident was reported you get, the less of a chance anyone else will be able to pull it up. It definitely won't be viewable out of state.

Now if citations were issued or an arrest was made it would be a different story.

^^ This

Ours even shows when written warnings are issued and what for. This comes in real handy. If I see that another officer/agency wrote you a warning for 20+ over the limit and a month later your doing it again, well, you can guess the end result.

Every agency is going to be different where they are in the tech world. Most are using all the technology they can to further keep their officers up to date with as much info on someone as possible. The more the better. For instance, it's good to know when heading to a domestic situation that they have 5 recent calls in the last month and twice the male has been arrested for battery..etc..

As for your situation, I would see that you reported an assault and you were the reported victim.

Also, I noticed you seem a bit uneasy that nothing was done about your reporting of the assault. Could you imagine if law enforcement arrested every person where someone that reported this person assaulted them with no proof? It would be a free for all every time a boy/girlfriend/husband or wife/spouse got upset at their significant other. Trust me, it happens all the time as it is. I understand you were upset about the incident but, normally, there really are two sides to a story. You may have done something to further entice the other person who knows. My suggestion would be to pay no attention to people who get upset while driving. Ignore them, slow down and let them pass, turn off the roadway traveled, just don't fall into their trap and talk back, give the one finger salute, tailgate, brake check etc. I see many road rage incidents go really bad. People lose it even more these days with added stress of maybe being jobless, spousal issues and many more. Sometimes it may be hard to do this but be the bigger person and walk away.

[scott715us]

As you have already learned, it's totally dependent on the agencies in the area. Our report will not be viewable by any other agency in my area who runs your information. Unless you were arrested/cited, no other agency in my county is going to be aware of it. I'm in a metropolitan area (Nashville), so aside from Metro Nashville PD, there are several smaller agencies inside Davidson County (Vanderbilt PD, Airport PD, Belle Meade, etc). Metro can pull up information about people they have stopped on their system, but they can't pull up anything we've done unless it involves an arrest. An exception might be a BOLO that we have our dispatchers enter into TCIC or NCIC. As others have indicated, if there is good interoperability between agencies there could be one county where every agency can see a lot of information on any one person from a central database. I think that's the way it should be, but there are too many variables at play to have this occur in every jurisdiction.

[G35 Mass]

Are you afraid you have "AH" noted somewhere on your permanent record? What'd you do?

Aggressive & Hostile??