How to get police and traffic camera video of a crash in Connecticut

The public records law that gets you the video

Connecticut Freedom of Information Act, C.G.S. 1-200 and following

Prompt; denial in 4 business days

Except as otherwise provided by any federal law or state statute, all records maintained or kept on file by any public agency are public records, and every person has the right to inspect them promptly during regular office or business hours and to receive a copy (C.G.S. 1-210(a)). “Public records” include recorded data or information relating to the conduct of the public’s business whether handwritten, typed, tape-recorded, videotaped, printed, photostated, photographed or recorded by any other method (C.G.S. 1-200(5)), so police and agency video is covered. Deadline: any denial must be made in writing by the official with custody of the record within four business days of the request (ten business days for certain personnel and similar files), and failure to comply within the applicable number of business days is deemed a denial (C.G.S. 1-206(a)). The Freedom of Information Commission says agencies must provide “prompt” access, judged by factors such as how busy the agency is, how time-consuming the request is and the urgency of your need. How to ask: there is no universal form; ask the agency that holds the records, as specifically as possible; an agency may require a written request only if you want copies (FOIC, How Do I). Fees: paper copies are capped at fifty cents per page from a municipal agency and twenty-five cents per page from a state agency (C.G.S. 1-212(a)); for copies of computer-stored records such as video files, the fee may not exceed the agency’s cost and may include only the hourly salary of employees formatting or programming the copy (not search or retrieval), an outside copying service if necessary, the actual cost of the storage media, and certain computer time charges (C.G.S. 1-211(a), 1-212(b)). An agency may require prepayment if the fee is estimated at ten dollars or more, and must waive fees for an indigent individual or when, in its judgment, compliance benefits the general welfare (1-212(c), (d)). A 2026 bill that would have let agencies charge a redaction fee for body and dashboard camera records (Senate Bill 225) was tabled for the Senate calendar on March 26, 2026 and did not become a public act. Example, Connecticut State Police only: the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection’s FOI Request Center routes CSP incident and crash reports to its Reports and Records Unit and all other departmental records, “including audio and video recordings”, to its Legal Affairs Unit, which also takes requests by email at despp.legal@ct.gov; Legal Affairs (860) 685-8150. Example, CTDOT only: its FOI page says requests go through its GovQA system, that electronic records in most cases carry no fee, and that hard copies are $.25 per side of page.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Public under FOIA, with privacy limits

Use: each police officer must use body-worn recording equipment while interacting with the public in a law enforcement capacity, except where recording is prohibited, or, for a municipal police department, in accordance with the department’s policy based on the statewide guidelines; and each law enforcement unit must require a dashboard camera in each police patrol vehicle under its policy (C.G.S. 29-6d(c)(1), (4)). A “police patrol vehicle” is any state or local police vehicle, but not an administrative vehicle whose occupant wears a body camera, a bicycle, a motor scooter, an all-terrain vehicle, an electric personal assistive mobility device or an animal control vehicle (29-6d(a)(6), as reworded by P.A. 26-45 effective October 1, 2026). No one employed by a law enforcement unit may edit, erase, copy, share or otherwise alter or distribute a recording except as required by state or federal law (29-6d(d)). Release: the statute does not require a court order; recordings are public records under the Freedom of Information Act, subject to its exemptions. The POST Council’s statewide model policy says body and dashboard camera files “are generally considered public records and are subject to disclosure” under the Act and its exemptions, and that FOI requests for them are processed through the office of the chief of police or a designee. Confidential by statute: no body or dashboard camera record of (A) the situations officers may not intentionally record, such as a person undergoing a medical or psychological evaluation, procedure or treatment, or anyone other than a suspect in a hospital or other medical facility, (B) the scene of an incident involving a victim of domestic or sexual abuse, a victim of homicide or suicide, or a deceased victim of an accident, if disclosure could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy, or (C) a minor, is subject to disclosure under the Act; a record of a minor must be disclosed if the minor and the minor’s parent or guardian consent, or for an officer’s defense to the minor’s misconduct allegation, or for a criminal defendant’s counsel where it is otherwise discoverable (29-6d(g)(2); see also 1-210(b)(27)). Use of force: when a recording captured a use of force, it must be disclosed on request not later than 48 hours after the officer reviews it or, if the officer does not, 96 hours after the request for disclosure, whichever is earlier, with a delay of no more than 144 hours after the event in limited medical or stress circumstances, and always subject to the confidentiality rules above (29-6d(f), (g)). P.A. 25-100, effective October 1, 2025, made the 96-hour clock run from the request for public disclosure (it had run from the initiation of a disciplinary investigation) and limited (f)(1) to a recorded use of force. Retention: the statewide guidelines may not require a unit to keep the data longer than one year unless the unit knows it is pertinent to an ongoing civil, criminal or administrative matter (29-6d(j)). The POST model policy (revised May 14, 2026) says files not reproduced for evidence or otherwise preserved shall be kept for a minimum of ninety (90) days; that files shall be preserved while a case is open and under investigation, or for a minimum of four years while criminal or civil proceedings are ongoing or reasonably anticipated, or under the applicable retention schedule, whichever is greater; and that files shall be preserved in response to oral, electronic or written preservation requests from any member of the public where the request indicates that litigation may be reasonably anticipated. So send a preservation request at once, saying that a claim or lawsuit may follow. Example, Connecticut State Police only: send video requests to DESPP’s Legal Affairs Unit through the FOI Request Center or despp.legal@ct.gov.

When police can hold video back

Crime-records exemption, 8 categories

The Act does not require disclosure of records of law enforcement agencies, not otherwise available to the public, that were compiled in connection with the detection or investigation of crime, if disclosure would not be in the public interest because it would result in the disclosure of one of eight listed things: (A) the identity of informants or mandated reporters not otherwise known, or of witnesses not otherwise known whose safety would be endangered or who would be subject to threat or intimidation; (B) the identity of minor witnesses; (C) signed or sworn statements of witnesses; (D) information to be used in a prospective law enforcement action if prejudicial to such action; (E) investigatory techniques not otherwise known to the general public; (F) arrest records of a juvenile; (G) the name and address of certain sexual assault, voyeurism, risk of injury or family violence victims; or (H) uncorroborated allegations subject to destruction (C.G.S. 1-210(b)(3)). The exemption is limited to records compiled in connection with the detection or investigation of crime. Pending prosecutions: when someone is arrested (for example for impaired driving or evading responsibility), the record of the arrest is a public record from the time of arrest, and for a warrantless arrest that includes the official arrest, incident or similar report, with redaction allowed only for witness identities, certain victim information, specific information the agency reasonably believes may prejudice a pending prosecution or prospective law enforcement action, and sealed material (C.G.S. 1-215(a), (b)). Any other record that documents or depicts the arrest or custody of the person while the prosecution is pending must be disclosed unless an exemption applies, and the agency must promptly notify the state’s attorney, who may intervene before the Commission (1-215(c), (d)). The Freedom of Information Commission’s primer on 1-215 names “dash camera and body camera images” as records of this kind and says the notice to the state’s attorney does not give the state’s attorney the power to prohibit or delay disclosure. When the prosecution is no longer pending, the Act’s general rules apply again (1-215(e)). Example, Bridgeport Police Department only: its Records Division page says copies of incident reports for which an arrest is made are not available from the department until all charges are adjudicated in court, and that victims may get them through the court’s victim advocate; the 1-215 rules above are the statute. Pending claims: the Act also does not require disclosure of records of strategy and negotiations about pending claims or litigation to which the agency is a party, until settled or adjudicated (1-210(b)(4)), which can matter if a public vehicle was involved.

Do traffic cameras in Connecticut record?

CTroads cameras do not record

The Connecticut Department of Transportation’s FAQ “Do any of the CTDOT cameras record?” says: “CTroads Traffic Cameras - the CTDOT’s traffic cameras are used for live monitoring of traffic and do not record. No traffic camera recordings are available for disclosure because no recordings exist.” It says traffic signal cameras, although they may look like regular cameras, do not record any information and are mainly motion detection cameras that change signal cycles. Wrong way detection cameras are the exception: the FAQ says they record only when wrong way driving occurs at one of the detection systems, the recording is relayed to police for further action, and they offer no livestream and store nothing unless an event triggers a recording. So if a wrong way driver caused your crash, ask CTDOT and the responding police agency in writing for any wrong way detection recording at once. City and town cameras are separate systems; we found no statewide statement on whether they record, so ask that municipality right away, and ask nearby businesses and drivers, through the bounty board, for their footage. CTDOT records requests go through its GovQA system, linked from its FOI request page.

Red-light and speed cameras

Local red-light/speed cams; work zones

Red-light and speed cameras: a municipality may use automated traffic enforcement safety devices in school zones, pedestrian safety zones and other places if it adopts an ordinance and the Department of Transportation approves a plan identifying the locations (C.G.S. 14-307c(a)). The devices record images of the number plate, date, time and location of a vehicle that exceeds the posted speed limit by ten or more miles per hour or fails to stop for a steady red signal (C.G.S. 14-307b(1)), must be used solely for identifying violations of the ordinance (14-307c(c)(3)), and the owner gets a written warning instead of a citation for the first thirty days at a new location (14-307c(c)(4)). An ordinance may set a fine of not more than $50 for a first violation and not more than $75 for a second or subsequent violation within one year, plus a processing fee of up to $15 (14-307c(d)). CTDOT’s approved plans page lists approved plans for Beacon Falls, Fairfield, Greenwich, Groton, Hamden, Hartford, Marlborough, Middletown, Milford, New Britain, New Haven, North Haven, Prospect, Stamford, Stratford, Washington, West Hartford, Wethersfield and Winchester. Access: no personally identifiable information may be disclosed by the municipality or vendor to anyone, including any law enforcement unit, except in connection with charging, collecting and enforcing the fines; it must be destroyed not later than thirty days after the fine is collected or a hearing is resolved, whichever is later (except a portion kept up to one year to identify repeat violations); and other information and data from the devices is subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, except that no personally identifiable information may be disclosed (C.G.S. 14-307f). Work zone speed cameras: CTDOT may operate work zone speed control systems in highway work zones on highways with a speed limit of 45 miles per hour or more, recording only vehicles exceeding the posted work zone limit by ten miles per hour or more, and the recorded images may not be used for any surveillance purpose (C.G.S. 13a-262(a), (c)). A first violation brings a written warning, a second within one year a $75 fine, and any violation at 85 miles per hour or more a $75 fine (C.G.S. 13a-263(b), (c)). Personally identifiable information may be disclosed only for enforcing those fines, under a judicial order, including a search warrant or subpoena, in a criminal proceeding, or to comply with law; it must be destroyed not later than one year after the fine is imposed or a trial is resolved unless a law, administrative summons or such an order provides otherwise; and it is not a public record under the Freedom of Information Act (C.G.S. 13a-267). School bus cameras: a municipality may use a school bus violation enforcement system by ordinance; it must, to the extent practicable, record only number plates and not occupants or other people or vehicles nearby; its recorded images may not be introduced as evidence in any other civil or criminal proceeding; and the images must be destroyed at the later of ninety days after creation or final disposition of the citation (C.G.S. 14-279c(c), (k), (l)). Coming: P.A. 26-63 (effective January 1, 2027) lets CTDOT, and municipalities operating buses in those lanes, run camera systems in dynamic part-time lanes; their images may not be used for surveillance, and personally identifiable information from them is not a public record under the Freedom of Information Act (P.A. 26-63, sections 5, 9 and 10). So a crash victim is unlikely to get identifying images from any of these cameras; if one may have caught your crash, ask the municipality or CTDOT in writing at once.

If your request is denied

FOI Commission within 30 days

Anyone denied the right to inspect or copy records may appeal to the Freedom of Information Commission by filing a notice of appeal not later than thirty days after the denial; a notice is deemed filed on the date the Commission receives it, or on its postmark date if received more than thirty days after the denial (C.G.S. 1-206(b)(1)). Because failure to comply within four business days is deemed a denial (1-206(a)), keep the date you sent your request. The Commission says no specific form is required, but the appeal must be in writing and include your name, address and telephone number, the date of the alleged violation, the agency and official, a description of the records and copies of the correspondence; it recommends its online Records Complaint Form, and appeals go by mail to Freedom of Information Commission, 165 Capitol Ave., Suite 1100, Hartford, CT 06106, or by email to foi@ct.gov (its How Do I page also lists fax (860) 566-6474). The Commission assigns an ombudsman to try to settle each appeal before a hearing, and you do not need a lawyer; staff help with procedural questions but will not represent you. By statute the Commission must hear and decide an appeal not later than one year after it is filed, may order the agency to produce the records, and, if a denial was without reasonable grounds, may impose a civil penalty of $20 to $5,000 on the custodian or official responsible after a hearing (1-206(b)(1), (2)); the Citizen’s Guide says to ask explicitly in your letter if you want a penalty imposed. A party aggrieved by the Commission’s decision may appeal to the Superior Court under C.G.S. 4-183 (1-206(d)), generally within forty-five days after the final decision is mailed (4-183(c)). Questions: (860) 566-5682 or toll-free (866) 374-3617. You may want to ask a lawyer before going to court.

What to do now

1. 1

   Request the video today

   Write to the agency that worked the crash under the Freedom of Information Act, naming the date, time, location, case number and people involved. For State Police, use DESPP’s FOI Request Center (Legal Affairs).

2. 2

   Ask them to preserve it in writing

   The model policy’s minimum is 90 days for video not otherwise preserved. Say a claim or lawsuit may follow; the policy says such public requests require preservation.

3. 3

   Skip CTroads, find other cameras

   CTDOT says its CTroads cameras do not record. Ask the town about its cameras, and post the crash on the bounty board for dashcam and business footage.

4. 4

   Track the four business days

   If the agency has not complied within four business days, the law deems it a denial. Appeal to the Freedom of Information Commission within 30 days of a denial.

Frequently asked questions