Obtaining Police Reports Disclosure

The Prosecutor's Office, on the 5th floor of the City Court Building, is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with limited service available after 4:30 p.m. Paper disclosure requested after 4:30 p.m. will not be available until the following business day. Also, although a victim assistant may not be available to answer victims' questions after 4:30 p.m., victims who complete an information form will receive a call from a victim assistant before the end of our next business day.

Police Reports, Documents and Scannable Media

If you are a defendant or a defense attorney in a criminal matter and want to obtain police reports and other documents related to your case or your client’s case, the City Prosecutor’s Office now employs Journal Technology’s JusticeWeb service for electronic disclosure. It is entirely web based.

You can now create an account in JusticeWeb and access disclosure on the web at your convenience. To create an account, please visit https://justware.tucsonaz.gov/JusticeWebPros and click on “Account Request.” Complete the form and click on “Submit Request.” Within a few days, you will receive an email notification indicating that the account has been approved or stating that more information is required to complete your account. Once you receive notice that your account has been approved, please call 791-4104 to request disclosure and your documents will be prepared and uploaded to your web account. At that time, you will receive a follow-up email notifying you that your disclosure can be accessed after payment is made.

Each separate JusticeWeb disclosure package is $5.50. Packages are created in office upon receipt of disclosure from TPD, PCAC, etc. Mercury, our secure pay vendor, will manage your purchase of a disclosure package. Please have your credit card information ready. Once you have paid, the package can be accessed online at your convenience, as many times as you would like before the case is disposed. You may of course download paid-for packages should you wish. Packages are in PDF format.

CDs of Pictures and DVDs of Video

Payment for CDs and DVDs are also made via JusticeWeb. Charges are $25 per CD or DVD. They may be picked up from the Prosecutor’s Office on the 5th floor of the City Court Building. Please allow three (3) business days after payment for processing. Please call 791-4104 before coming to the office to make sure your item is ready.

Police Communications

With the exception of 911 calls (see below), all police communications may be obtained through the Tucson Police Department (TPD).

TPD Headquarters
270 S. Stone Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85701

Requests may be made in person, in writing, or over the internet. A written request should contain enough information concerning the event so that the incident report may be located; the case number is preferable, but a description of the date and time of the event including the officer’s names and the location should suffice.

TPD Communications Division exclusively maintains recordings of calls received within the division. Recordings originating from another agency or office must be obtained through the respective agency or office.

A record of the activities of the officer(s) involved in an arrest is contained in an incident history printout. Records personnel will require the case number to reference the requested printout. TPD policy is to save incident history information for 180 days after the incident.

TPD policy is to save radio dispatch and 911 communications recordings for 180 days after the incident.

Attempts to locate, or “ATL,” records are normally purged from the TPD Communications system 20 days after the record entry is made.

Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) information is normally preserved for a maximum of five (5) 24-hour consecutive periods. MDT recordings are normally erased and re-used after that period.

Please contact the Tucson Police Department to determine whether a communication or record of communication exists.

Notice:

Should TPD inform defendants that police communications or records of communications no longer exists because the item has been purged, attorneys or unrepresented defendants should contact the assigned prosecutor to see if the prosecutor has obtained a copy of the materials.

911 Calls

911 recordings, redacted of victim information as required by Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) and Rules of Criminal Procedure, will be made available on JusticeWeb after a request for their disclosure is received by the City Prosecutor’s Office.

Body Worn Cameras

After Wednesday, March 26, 2015, TPD deployed Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) to 70 bike, patrol, walking and motors officers. A list of those officers is hyperlinked here: BODY WORN CAMERA OFFICER LIST(PDF, 104KB) . The cameras are intended to gather video information to support TPD’s mission by providing an accurate and unbiased record of officers’ actions.

Officers wearing BWCs are mandated to record calls for service, citizen contacts in an investigative or enforcement capacity, when officers feel a video record is appropriate or necessary, when ordered by a supervisor, and during suspect and building searches. Video records are retained for 180 days, unless there is a call number associated with it, in which case the record is retained as follows: 3 years for petty offenses, 25 years for misdemeanors and 109 years for felonies.

If you are a defendant or a defense lawyer in a criminal case, you may make a public records request for BWC video records at the Tucson Police Department. Please remember that BWC video records can only exist if an officer assigned a BWC is listed on your case.

Intoxilyzer Operator Permits

Intoxilyzer permits may be obtained directly from the officer who performed breath testing by requesting an officer interview (please see procedures set forth below).

Quality Assurance Specialist Certificates (QAS)

QAS certificates may be obtained by contacting the Quality Assurance Specialist directly at the TPD Crime Lab, (520) 791-4494. The name of the operating officer would be included in the police reports. A copy of the Intoxilyzer permit of the operation officer is kept by the officer.

Specific Requests for Disclosure of HGN and Intoxilyzer Logs

Any specific technical information regarding individual machines, if it exists, may be obtained by interviewing the Tucson Police Department Crime Laboratory technicians responsible for these instruments. They may be reached at (520) 791- 4494.

Additionally, the complete text of an instruction or operator's manual along with any supplements is available for inspection at the City Prosecutor's Office.

These materials are available only for viewing. They are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced.

In addition, the defendant or counsel may contact the manufacturer or distributor regarding the possibility of purchasing a copy of the stated materials. The corporate name and address of the manufacturer is CMI-MPH, Incorporated, 316 East Ninth, Owensboro, Kentucky 42303.

Information indicating whether an instrument in a specific case was acquired new or used, and the date of its first certification, may be obtained from the Tucson Police Department Crime Laboratory at (520) 791-4494.

The defendant or counsel is free to go in and examine and/or reproduce this information by following procedure as detailed above.

TPD Crime Lab Technicians may be called by the State as an expert witness with regard to the Intoxilyzer breath test results. They may be reached at (520) 791-4494.

The names of any other expert witness(es) either are contained in the police reports or will be disclosed in the pretrial statement or twenty days prior to actual trial.

The State submits that it is outside the scope of Rule 15.1 for the State, or the expert, to be required to produce a list of any and all publications, treatises, and other written materials relied on by the expert(s) in forming their testimony. The State notes that the defendant or counsel certainly has a right to interview the State’s expert(s) to ascertain what their testimony will be and the basis for it.

TPD Employee/Officer Interviews

Please note that police officers and civilian employees have been instructed, pursuant to Tucson Police Department General Orders, that:

  1. An interview between a Tucson Police Department member and a representative of the defense shall take place at the police facility out of which the officer or employee works, or any other appropriate office setting agreed upon by both the TPD member and the interviewer
  2. The interview will be scheduled to take place during the member’s on duty hours and between the time period of 0800 and 1800 hours (8am–6pm), Monday through Friday. If this is not possible (e.g., the member works from 2200 to 0600 hours), the interview will be scheduled to take place as closely as possible to the member’s tour
  3. Interviews will not be scheduled on the member’s day off
  4. Unless specifically agreed upon by both the member and interviewer, pretrial interviews shall not continue past 2100 hours.

Officer/Employee Interviews

Officer Interviews can be arranged by completing the online form, Attorney Interview Request, available at: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/police/attorney-interview-request. Complete the form and click Submit.

Tucson Police Department Officers’ Daily Log

As of March 13, 1994, Tucson Police Department officers do not keep daily activity logs.

Tucson Police Department Officers’ Training Materials (DUI/Field Sobriety Tests)

A guide to Field Sobriety Tests can be found in the Tucson Police Department General Orders manual located in the Governmental Reference Section of the Main Library. A copy of the DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing - Student Manual can also be found at the Main Library. Information about training materials within the Tucson Police Department officers' possession can be obtained through interviews of the individual officer.

Specific Evidence, Defendant Motor Vehicle Records, and Prior Convictions

Other than the information contained in police reports, the State is typically unaware of any other evidence obtained by observation of police witnesses that will be used by the State in specific cases. The State will immediately disclose any additional evidence or information should it become available following the initial disclosure.

The State often performs Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) and criminal background checks on defendants at the onset of cases. Any information obtained as a result of these checks will be disclosed upon request and in the initial disclosure.

Duty to Disclose

The State will disclose all of the discoverable materials currently in possession of the City Prosecutor's Office pursuant to Rule 15.1 and Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963). Any discoverable materials received following initial disclosure will be made available upon receipt. Normal fees will apply.

Paper Copies

Our office is going virtually paperless, and we have adopted JusticeWeb web-based disclosure system as a way of saving money and helping the environment. We encourage you to join us by using modern technology to streamline the disclosure process and stop using paper whenever possible. If you nevertheless want paper copies of police reports, etc., we will copy them for pick-up only at the City Prosecutor's Office on the 5th floor of the City Court Building. Please call ahead so that we may prepare for your request. Fees are as follows:

For 1-15 pages copied                           $11.00

For each additional 15 pages               +$11.00

For example:

Disclosure of 1 to 15 pages          $11.00

Disclosure of 16 to 30 pages        $22.00

Disclosure of 31 to 45 pages        $33.00

Labor Charges after 1 hour (per hour) = $15.

For additional information please contact the City Prosecutor's Office at 520-791-4104

Contact Us

Contact Information

City Prosecutor's Office
103 East Alameda, Suite 501
Tucson, Arizona 85701

(520) 791-4104
Victim Assistance: (520) 791-5483
prosecutor@tucsonaz.gov
Defense Motions: CPLegal-Motions@tucsonaz.gov
8:00am - 5:00pm