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

The public records law that gets you the video

Delaware Freedom of Information Act, 29 Del. C. §§10001 to 10008

15 business days, or reason for delay

“All public records shall be open to inspection and copying during regular business hours by the custodian of the records for the appropriate public body. Reasonable access to and reasonable facilities for copying of these records shall not be denied to any citizen” (29 Del. C. §10003(a)). A public record is information of any kind “regardless of the physical form or characteristic by which such information is stored, recorded or reproduced” (§10002(o)), so video is covered unless an exemption applies. Requests must be in writing, made in person, by U.S. mail, email, fax or online; the Attorney General’s FOIA Request Form may be used but a request may not be denied only because it is not on the form (§10003(f)(1)), and you should describe the records “in sufficient detail to enable the public body to locate such records with reasonable effort” (§10003(f)(2)). Every public body must name a FOIA coordinator on its website (§10003(g)). Deadline: “The public body shall respond to a FOIA request as soon as possible, but in any event within 15 business days after the receipt thereof, either by providing access to the requested records, denying access to the records or parts of them, or by advising that additional time is needed because the request is for voluminous records, requires legal advice, or a record is in storage or archived”; if it needs more time it must cite one of those reasons and give a good-faith estimate of how much more, and a denial must give its reasons (§10003(h)). Fees (§10003(m)), unless another code sets its own: records kept electronically are charged at “the material costs involved in generating the copies (including but not limited to DVD, CD, or other electronic storage costs) and administrative costs”; administrative fees apply only to requests needing more than 1 hour of staff time, are billed per quarter hour at the pay rate of the lowest-paid employee able to do the work, may not include the cost of legal review of whether records are exempt, and require an itemized written estimate first so you can proceed, cancel or modify; standard black and white paper copies are free for the first 20 pages and then $0.10 a sheet; the agency may require payment before it does the work. The statute sets no video-specific fee. The State Police take FOIA requests on the State of Delaware’s FOIA Request Form, online or on the printable form; their FOIA page names the coordinator and the address 1441 N. DuPont Highway, Dover, DE 19901.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Body cams worn; no release statute

Police officers must wear a body-worn camera while on duty in a role likely to involve interactions with the public and must record those interactions, under regulations of the Police Officer Standards and Training Commission (11 Del. C. §8402A). The Commission must periodically review and propose updates to the regulations on the storage and dissemination of recordings and on a victim’s right to review (§8404(c)). We found no statute governing public release of the video, so the Freedom of Information Act applies, and the Attorney General has upheld withholding body camera video as an investigatory file (see the open-case section). The mandatory standards are 1 Del. Admin. Code 801 §26.0, “Mandatory Standards for Use of Body Worn Cameras”: cameras must be active “During calls for service” and where doing so “may be helpful to preserve evidence” (§26.4); “Absent exigent circumstances, recordings shall not be permitted to be reviewed by members of the public at the scene” (§26.8); access to a stored recording is permitted only for listed purposes, including an official investigation or prosecution, the State’s discovery obligations, any other legal obligation to turn it over, “principals or their family members, or vested individuals, when deemed necessary and appropriate,” or another purpose the agency head finds good and sufficient cause for under a written policy (§26.16); in that last case “Video shall not be released until DCRPT has completed any criminal investigation or subsequent prosecution, unless authorized by DCRPT” (§26.16.11.2; DCRPT is the Department of Justice’s Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust); and any release must be redacted for the Victim’s Bill of Rights and privacy (§26.17). The regulation creates no private right of action (§26.18). It sets no retention period: files are kept under any state or municipal retention law or policy “and no longer than useful for purposes of liability protection, training or for use in an investigation or prosecution” (§26.14.6). For city, town and county police, the Delaware Public Archives’ Local Government General Records Retention Schedule (2024 Edition) sets minimum periods: patrol car video, “ROUTINE: Retain at agency 30 days; re-use/destroy,” and evidentiary video 30 days after the case closes (series LGPOL-051); photos and videos kept with a crash file, 10 years (LGPOL-041). It has no separate body camera series, and we found no published schedule for State Police video. The schedule says records involved in any legal action must be kept until all appeals are exhausted. Victims: since 2025 a crime victim has the right “To review the portions of recordings derived from body-worn cameras that includes statements made by the victim” (11 Del. C. §9403(5), added by Senate Substitute 1 for SB 17, signed August 20, 2025); a victim includes the person identified as the victim in a police report, criminal complaint, warrant or other charging instrument, and the victim’s representative (§9401(9)), and the crimes covered include offenses against the person such as vehicular assault and vehicular homicide, and operating a vehicle causing death under 21 Del. C. §4176A (§9401(1)). The statute speaks of a right to review, not to a copy, and the regulation has not yet been updated to describe how agencies handle it. 911 calls are separate: “Text and audio recordings of 911 calls are confidential” and exempt from FOIA, and may be disclosed only to responders, the 911 system, criminal justice agencies, the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, or “In accordance with an order issued by a court of competent jurisdiction” (16 Del. C. §10010(c), added by 85 Del. Laws c. 331, approved June 30, 2026).

When police can hold video back

AG: crash video exempt, even if closed

The Act excludes from “public record” “Investigatory files compiled for civil or criminal law-enforcement purposes including pending investigative files” (29 Del. C. §10002(o)(3)), criminal files and records whose disclosure would invade personal privacy (“All other criminal records and files are closed to public scrutiny,” §10002(o)(4)), and “Any records pertaining to pending or potential litigation which are not records of any court” (§10002(o)(9)). In Opinion 25-IB14 (February 28, 2025), the Attorney General’s office reviewed a State Police denial of an attorney’s request for “any photos and videos including body camera and dashboard camera footage of all responding officers” from a crash, sought for a lawsuit, and found no violation: the denial under the investigatory files exemption “is proper, as these records involve a law enforcement encounter precipitating a police investigation,” and “Whether the investigation is closed is immaterial.” In that case the traffic citations were still pending in the Justice of the Peace Court; for the closed-case point the opinion cites News-Journal Co. v. Billingsley (Del. Ch. 1980), which it describes as holding that the exemption attaches as soon as an agency learns of a potential issue and survives after the investigation is completed. The same opinion upheld the criminal files exemption for records in the prosecution file and the pending litigation exemption, quoting Delaware courts that litigants may not use FOIA to get discovery not available under the court rules. The statute sets no point at which a crash investigation file becomes public, so on the Attorney General’s reading an agency may keep withholding the video after charges are resolved. The body camera regulation adds that a discretionary release waits until the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust has completed any criminal investigation or prosecution, unless it authorizes release (1 Del. Admin. Code 801 §26.16.11.2). Attorney General opinions are determinations on petitions, not court rulings, and an agency may still choose to release video under its own policy (§26.16).

Do traffic cameras in Delaware record?

No DelDOT recording statement found

DelDOT’s Transportation Management Center “is open 24/7/365 to coordinate and manage DelDOT’s response to any incident or event,” and its live traffic cameras are on the DelDOT map and app. We found no DelDOT page that says whether camera feeds are recorded or how long anything is kept: the camera map, DelDOT’s FAQ and its Integrated Transportation Management Program page are silent on recording. If a DelDOT camera may have caught your crash, ask at once under the Freedom of Information Act: DelDOT takes requests online through its FOIA page, by email to DOT.FOIA@delaware.gov, by mail to ATTN: FOIA Coordinator, DelDOT Community Relations, P.O. Box 778, Dover, DE 19901, or in person at the DelDOT Administration Center, 800 S. Bay Road, Dover. Give the road, direction, nearest crossroad or exit, and the date and time window, and ask whether any recording exists. City or county cameras belong to that government, so send it a separate request.

Red-light and speed cameras

Red-light and some speed cameras

Red-light cameras are authorized statewide: the Department of Safety and Homeland Security or a city or county may set up a program by regulation or ordinance, DelDOT or a city or county may install and operate the cameras, DelDOT must approve any it does not install, and the owner or operator faces a civil or administrative assessment of not more than $110 (plus limited late assessments and hearing costs), which is not a criminal offense and does not go on the driving record (21 Del. C. §4101(d)(1), (3)). DelDOT runs the Electronic Red Light Safety Program, which it describes as video enforcement; a noticed owner views the violation footage on the vendor’s payment site with the notice number and PIN. The summons must include 2 or more photographs or other recorded images, the images “shall be available for inspection” in any proceeding on the violation, and you may ask for a hearing in writing within 20 days (§4101(d)(5), (7), (9)). Speed cameras (electronic speed monitoring systems) are authorized in DelDOT work zones and in approved residence districts of New Castle County or a municipality; a violation requires 11 miles per hour or more over the posted limit, the State Police enforce the work zone cameras, and you may ask for a hearing in writing within 20 days of the summons (21 Del. C. §4170A(c), (e), (f)(2)). The FY2027 bond bill also lets DelDOT agree with the City of Newark (Main Street business district) and New Castle County (McKennans Church Road, Milltown Road, and Old Capitol Trail from Farrand Drive to Stanton Road) to install cameras that ticket at 6 miles per hour or more over the limit, each for 1 year unless reauthorized (85 Del. Laws c. 341, §§133, 134). Section 4170A is set to expire on June 30, 2028, and the local authorizations will end no later than that. DelDOT’s program FAQ (May 2026) says images are captured only when a vehicle exceeds the threshold, so do not count on them for crash video, and it says appeal requests must be postmarked within 30 days of the first notice, which differs from the statute’s 20 days from the summons; the statute’s 20 days is the earlier date. The Red Clay Consolidated School District may run a school bus stop arm camera pilot (14 Del. C. ch. 80). We found no statute that makes these images confidential or gives anyone other than the noticed owner a right to them, so a request from anyone else goes through the Freedom of Information Act.

If your request is denied

AG petition or suit within 60 days

For a denial by a state agency the Attorney General represents, such as the State Police, “a person denied access ... must within 60 days of denial, present a petition and all supporting documentation to the Chief Deputy” Attorney General, who must issue a written determination within 20 days of receiving it; either side may then appeal on the record to the Superior Court “within 60 days of the Attorney General’s decision” (29 Del. C. §10005(b), (e)). For a city, town or county agency, “Any citizen denied access to public records ... may bring suit within 60 days of such denial” in a court for the county or city where the public body meets or where you live (§10005(b)); you may also petition the Attorney General, who must notify the agency within 10 days and decide within 20 days, and if it finds a violation you may sue or ask the Attorney General in writing to sue for you (§10005(e)). In court, “the burden of proof shall be on the custodian of records to justify the denial,” and the court may award attorney fees and costs to a successful plaintiff (§10005(c), (d)). The Department of Justice takes petitions by email to opengovernment@delaware.gov, by fax to (302) 577-5866 or by mail to its FOIA Coordinator; a petition must include your name and contact information, how FOIA was violated, and a copy of the request and the response. Its Rules of Procedure require a petition against a state agency within 60 days of the denial and any other petition within 6 months, and say determinations issue within twenty business days (the statute says 20 days); they also say that an extension of the Department’s time “does not toll the applicable time limitations for filing suit,” and that if the parties resolve the matter themselves, “An independent resolution does not toll the applicable time limitations in the FOIA statute for filing suit”; the statute does not say that a petition stops the 60-day court deadline against a local agency, so watch that date. The Department of Justice says its authority “is limited to this determination” and does not include issuing injunctions or penalties. You may want to ask a lawyer whether a subpoena in a lawsuit is the better route for police video.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send a FOIA request today

   Write to the agency that worked the crash for all body camera, dash camera and photo records, with the date, time, place and report number. For the State Police, use the state FOIA form linked from its FOIA page.

2. 2

   Ask for preservation in the same request

   Local police need keep routine patrol car video only 30 days under the state retention schedule, and no rule sets a body camera period. Ask in writing that all footage of the crash be kept while your request and any dispute are pending.

3. 3

   If you are a crime victim, ask to review your statements

   A victim named in a police report or charge has the right to review body camera portions with the victim’s own statements (11 Del. C. §9403(5)). Ask the agency or the victim service unit.

4. 4

   Ask DelDOT and the town about their cameras now

   Email DOT.FOIA@delaware.gov with the road, direction and time window, ask the city or county about its cameras, and post the crash on the bounty board.

5. 5

   If denied, note the 60-day clock

   Petition the Attorney General within 60 days of a state agency denial, or sue a local agency within 60 days; the statute does not say a petition pauses that court deadline.

Frequently asked questions