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

The public records law that gets you the video

Indiana Access to Public Records Act, Ind. Code § 5-14-3

24 hours or 7 days to respond

The Act says all persons are entitled to full and complete information about government, is to be liberally construed, and puts the burden of proof for nondisclosure on the agency (Ind. Code § 5-14-3-1); “public record” includes photographs, tape recordings and electronically stored data (§ 5-14-3-2(t)). Any person may inspect and copy an agency’s public records; a request must identify the record with reasonable particularity, may be required to be in writing on the agency’s form, and may not be denied because you will not state its purpose (§ 5-14-3-3(a)). Response deadline: for a request made in person or by phone, a denial occurs when the person in charge of records release refuses or 24 hours after any employee refuses; for a request by mail, fax or an agency’s electronic portal, a denial does not occur until 7 days after the agency receives it (§ 5-14-3-9(b), (c)). The statute does not list email, but the Public Access Counselor’s Handbook and its Formal Complaint Guide both treat an emailed request like a mailed one, with 7 days to respond. The Counselor says this deadline is for a response or acknowledgment, not production; records must then be produced within a reasonable time (§ 5-14-3-3(b)). An oral request may be denied orally, but a denial of a written, faxed or renewed-in-writing request must be in writing and state the specific exemption and the name and title of the person responsible (§ 5-14-3-9(d)). Fees: no charge to inspect a record or to search for and review it, and none for emailing an electronic copy unless another provision authorizes it (§ 5-14-3-8(b)); local agencies may charge no more than the greater of ten cents a page (twenty-five cents for color) or actual cost (§ 5-14-3-8(d)); and for a copy of a law enforcement recording, the fee may not exceed the agency’s direct cost and “may not exceed one hundred fifty dollars ($150)” (§ 5-14-3-8(g)(1)). Direct cost is 105% of the cost of any initial program development, retrieving the data, obscuring nondisclosable information and reviewing that it was obscured, plus the medium (§ 5-14-3-2(e)). An agency may require payment in advance (§ 5-14-3-8(e)). Changes effective July 1, 2026 (HEA 1360, P.L.97-2026): agencies may run request portals that verify you are a person and check your address and Indiana residency (§ 5-14-3-3.3(a)); may give priority to Indiana residents and to civic, journalistic, academic or personal requests, and delay out-of-state or automated requests as necessary to prevent disruption of core agency functions (§ 5-14-3-8.1); may add a supplemental fee, reasonably related to the cost and no more than $0.25 a page and $25 an hour of staff time, for requests from non-Indiana residents, out-of-state entities or automated systems, waivable in the public interest (§ 5-14-3-8(n), (o); § 5-14-3-8.1(b)); and may deny a request from a party to pending litigation that duplicates a discovery request (§ 5-14-3-4(e)). The Counselor’s overview says that to receive priority, the requester must clearly state the purpose.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Public unless harm found; $150 copy cap

Indiana has specific rules for a “law enforcement recording”: an audio, visual or audiovisual recording of a law enforcement activity captured by a camera or device provided to or used by an officer and designed to be worn by the officer or attached to the officer’s vehicle (Ind. Code § 5-14-3-2(l)), which covers body cameras and dashcams. A law enforcement activity includes a traffic stop, an arrest, an investigation, a pursuit, traffic control, and any other instance in which an officer is enforcing the law, but not paperwork (§ 5-14-3-2(k)); the definition does not name crash response separately, so a crash scene recording qualifies when the officer is investigating, directing traffic or otherwise enforcing the law. Request: it must be in writing and, to be reasonably particular, must give the date and approximate time of the activity, the specific location, and the name of at least one individual other than an officer who was directly involved (§ 5-14-3-3(i)). Release to anyone: an agency “shall permit any person to inspect or copy a law enforcement recording” unless it finds, after considering the facts of the case, that release creates a significant risk of substantial harm to any person or the public, is likely to interfere with a fair trial, may affect an ongoing investigation (if the recording is an investigatory record), or would not serve the public interest (§ 5-14-3-5.2(a)). Before release it must blur or obscure confidential information and depictions of a death or dead body, severe violence causing serious bodily injury, serious bodily injury, nudity, anyone it reasonably believes is under 18, personal medical information, and victims and witnesses where needed for their safety, and it may obscure undercover officers, confidential informants and any information it could withhold under the discretionary exemptions of § 5-14-3-4(b)(2) to (26) (§ 5-14-3-5.2(e)); any copy must be made by the agency (§ 5-14-3-5.2(d)). Inspection by people in the video: a “requestor” includes a person depicted, and a person who suffers a loss due to personal injury or property damage if the events recorded are relevant to that loss, along with family or the estate of a deceased person and the guardian of an incapacitated one (§ 5-14-3-5.1(a)). The agency must let a requestor who asks in writing inspect the recording at least twice, with the requestor’s attorney, after obscuring only confidential information and, if it chooses, undercover officers or informants; neither of you may copy or record it during the inspection (§ 5-14-3-5.1(b) to (d)). Retention: a local agency must keep an unaltered, unobscured recording at least 190 days, and the state or a state agency such as the State Police at least 280 days; if a requestor notifies the agency in writing within 180 days after the recording date (270 days for a state agency) that the recording is to be retained, it must be kept at least 2 years after the recording date, and the agency may not ask why; a formal or informal complaint about the activity filed in that window also triggers 2-year retention; and a recording used in a criminal, civil or administrative proceeding is kept until all appeals end (§ 5-14-3-5.3). Copy fee: direct cost, capped at $150 per copy (§ 5-14-3-8(g)(1)). Example, Vigo County Sheriff’s Office only: its body camera request page says anyone can file, lists $150 per camera, says fees may apply for reproduction, redaction or duplication as permitted by law, and says it will respond within 7 days though records may take longer.

When police can hold video back

Ongoing investigation can delay video

Investigatory records of law enforcement agencies may be withheld at the agency’s discretion (Ind. Code § 5-14-3-4(b)(1)), and an investigatory record means information compiled in the course of the investigation of a crime (§ 5-14-3-2(j)), so the exemption covers a crash only to the extent there is a criminal investigation, such as for leaving the scene or impaired driving. The statute sets no point at which that exemption ends. Two limits matter for crash evidence. First, the officer’s crash report itself is not confidential and must be available under the Act (§ 9-26-2-3). Second, the statute pulls in two directions on video. Section 5-14-3-4(b)(1) says: “For purposes of this chapter, a law enforcement recording is not an investigatory record.” Yet § 5-14-3-5.2(a)(2)(C) lets an agency withhold a recording that “may affect an ongoing investigation, if the recording is an investigatory record of a law enforcement agency as defined in section 2 of this chapter and notwithstanding its exclusion under section 4(b)(1) of this chapter.” We found no official guidance reconciling the two, so expect an agency to rely on the second. An agency may also withhold video it finds is likely to interfere with a person’s ability to receive a fair trial (§ 5-14-3-5.2(a)(2)(B)). Either finding must be made after due consideration of the facts of the particular case, and the investigation ground is worded for an investigation that is still ongoing. For an investigatory record, an agency may also refuse to confirm or deny that a record exists if saying so would impede an ongoing investigation or endanger someone, and must give you the name and title of the person responsible for the refusal (§ 5-14-3-4.4(a), (d)). Agencies must still release basic arrest information and the daily log of crimes, accidents and complaints, including the time, location and factual circumstances of an incident involving an alleged crime or infraction (§ 5-14-3-5). Example, Indiana State Police only: their public records page says some records, such as investigatory information, are excepted from disclosure under § 5-14-3-4.

Do traffic cameras in Indiana record?

No INDOT statement on recording found

INDOT shows live traffic camera views through its TrafficWise traveler site, 511in.org, but we found no official INDOT or 511in.org statement saying whether those cameras record or how long any video is kept; the 511in.org pages did not render for us, and INDOT’s records page does not address camera video. Do not assume footage exists, and ask quickly. INDOT requires all public records requests in writing, asks you to fill in every field of its online request form, says requests must be reasonably particular (the Public Access Counselor advises against “any and all” language), will provide responsive and disclosable records within a reasonable time under Ind. Code § 5-14-3-3, provides records electronically unless you ask for paper, and will contact you to confirm receipt. If INDOT holds no recording, the Act gives no right to one. Cameras run by cities and counties are separate; ask that government in writing right away. On toll roads and other toll facilities, toll cameras photograph vehicles to collect tolls (§ 9-21-3.5-2), which is a different system from traffic cameras.

Red-light and speed cameras

Only INDOT work-zone speed pilot

We found no Indiana statute that authorizes red-light cameras or general speed cameras for traffic tickets. The one camera ticketing program in the Code is INDOT’s worksite speed control pilot program, branded Indiana Safe Zones, created by HEA 1015 (2023) (Ind. Code § 8-23-32). It applies on interstate highways and U.S. routes, runs only when construction or maintenance is occurring and workers are present, and is limited to four systems and four worksites a year (§§ 8-23-32-1, 8-23-32-11). It photographs only the rear of the vehicle and plate, and it penalizes the owner only when the system shows the driver at least 11 miles per hour over the worksite limit: a written warning for a first violation, a $75 civil penalty for a second, and $150 for the third and each later violation (§§ 8-23-32-7, 8-23-32-15(a), 8-23-32-17, 8-23-32-18). The information and images are confidential under the Access to Public Records Act, are not discoverable by court order except to assess the penalty, must be destroyed within 2 years, and may not be disclosed except to the owner, the person alleged to be driving, their attorney, law enforcement, INDOT, the system administrator, or a court reviewing the penalty, unless a court orders otherwise (§§ 8-23-32-15(c) to (e), 8-23-32-16(c)). INDOT says Modaxo Traffic Management USA Inc. provides and operates the program. Indiana law also lets school corporations, charter schools and nonpublic schools with at least one employee purchase, install and operate the equipment described in 575 IAC 1-9-14, which the Indiana courts’ 2019 legislative summary describes as school bus stop arm cameras, and a school that uses it to enforce the stop arm law may petition the county council or township board for reimbursement of its cost (§ 9-21-12-21); passing a stopped school bus with its arm extended is a Class A infraction, with a rebuttable presumption that the vehicle’s owner committed it (§ 9-21-12-1). Video held by a public school corporation can be requested from it under the Act, subject to the Act’s exemptions.

If your request is denied

Counselor complaint in 30 days, or court

Public Access Counselor: a person denied access may file a formal complaint with the Office of the Public Access Counselor, or make an informal inquiry (Ind. Code § 5-14-5-6). A formal complaint must be filed within 30 days after the denial (§ 5-14-5-7(a)), on the Counselor’s form (State Form 49407), to the Office of the Public Access Counselor, Indiana Government Center South, 402 West Washington Street, Suite W470, Indianapolis, IN 46204-2745, (317) 234-0906, pac@opac.in.gov. The Counselor must issue an advisory opinion within 30 days, or within 7 days for a complaint it treats as a priority (§§ 5-14-5-9, 5-14-5-10); the opinion is advisory, and filing does not stop any lawsuit deadline (§ 5-14-5-12). The Counselor’s guide says the complaint process is free and enforces the 30-day limit strictly. Court: you may sue in the circuit or superior court of the county where the denial occurred; the court decides the matter fresh, with the burden on the agency, and must expedite the case (§ 5-14-3-9(e), (f), (l)). A court awards attorney’s fees and costs to a requester who substantially prevails, but generally only if the requester first got an informal response or advisory opinion from the Counselor (§ 5-14-3-9(i)). Police video has two special routes. If you are a “requestor” (for example, injured or with property damage in the recorded events) denied inspection, you may go to court without first going to the Counselor and still be eligible for fees (§ 5-14-3-9(k)). If an agency refuses to let anyone inspect or copy a recording under § 5-14-3-5.2, you may petition the circuit or superior court of the county where it was made; the court reviews it fresh, must grant the order unless the agency proves a listed harm by a preponderance of the evidence, must rule within 30 days of filing unless extraordinary circumstances prevent it, and awards no attorney’s fees in that proceeding (§ 5-14-3-5.2(b), (c), (f)).

What to do now

1. 1

   Send a written request for the video now

   Email, mail or use the portal of the agency that worked the crash. Give the date and approximate time, the exact location and the name of a person involved other than an officer, and ask for body camera and dashcam video.

2. 2

   Tell the agency in writing to keep it

   If you were hurt or your property was damaged, say in writing that the recording is to be retained. Sent within 180 days of the crash (270 for the State Police), that makes the agency keep it 2 years from the recording date.

3. 3

   Ask to inspect it, then ask for a copy

   As a person who suffered injury or property damage, you may inspect the video at least twice with your lawyer. A copy costs the agency’s direct cost, up to $150.

4. 4

   Ask INDOT and the city about traffic cameras

   We found no INDOT statement that its cameras record, so file INDOT’s online records request form and ask the city or county the same day.

5. 5

   Look beyond public cameras

   We found no Indiana law authorizing red-light cameras, so private video matters most: nearby businesses, buses and other drivers’ dashcams. Post the crash on the bounty board.

Frequently asked questions