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

The public records law that gets you the video

Maine Freedom of Access Act, 1 M.R.S. §§400 to 414

Acknowledge in 5 working days

“Except as otherwise provided by statute, a person has the right to inspect and copy any public record in accordance with this section within a reasonable time of making the request” (1 M.R.S. §408-A). A public record includes “any mechanical or electronic data compilation from which information can be obtained, directly or after translation into a form susceptible of visual or aural comprehension,” so video is covered, but records “designated confidential by statute” are not public records (§402(3), (3)(A)). You need not live in Maine, and a request “need not be made in person or in writing” (§408-A(2)(A)), although the FOAA site says most agencies ask for one in writing; you do not have to say why you want the record. Deadlines: the agency must “acknowledge receipt of a request ... within 5 working days of receiving the request,” may ask for clarification, and within a reasonable time must give a good faith, nonbinding estimate of when it will comply and what it will cost (§408-A(3)); the date of receipt is the date a sufficient description reaches the office that keeps the record. A refusal must come in a written notice within 5 working days of receipt, stating the reason or the expectation that the request will be denied in whole or part after review, and since 2025 the notice “must contain a citation to the statutory authority used as the basis for the denial” (§408-A(4), as amended by PL 2025, c. 186); missing that deadline counts as a failure to allow inspection and can be appealed. The records themselves are due “within a reasonable period of time,” not in 5 days, as the FOAA site FAQ explains. Electronic records come as a printout or in the medium in which they are stored, at your option (§408-A(7)). Fees (§408-A(8)): copying at no more than 10 cents a page for a standard black and white page and no per-page fee for electronic copies; no charge for the first 2 hours of staff time to search for, retrieve and compile (including review and redaction), then not more than $25 an hour; the actual cost to convert a record into a usable form and of a storage device the agency gives you; and actual mailing costs. If the estimate is over $50 the agency must tell you before going ahead, and over $100 it may require payment in advance (§408-A(9), (10)); it may waive fees if you are indigent or release is in the public interest (§408-A(11)). The statute sets no video-specific fee. Example: the Department of Public Safety’s fee schedule (effective 08 November 2021, which covers the State Police) charges nothing for records provided electronically, $0.25 per CD or DVD, $6.00 per USB flash drive and $25 an hour after two free hours of staff time, and nothing if the total is $2.00 or less.

Police body camera and dashcam video

No video statute; may be confidential

We found no Maine statute governing the release or retention of police body camera or dashboard camera video; the Revisor’s full-text search of the statutes found body-worn cameras mentioned only in the no-knock warrant law (15 M.R.S. §57), which says officers follow their agency’s policy. So the Freedom of Access Act applies together with the Intelligence and Investigative Record Information Act (16 M.R.S. chapter 9), which governs any record that “is or contains intelligence and investigative record information” kept by a Maine criminal justice agency (16 M.R.S. §802). Such a record “is confidential and may not be disseminated ... if there is a reasonable possibility that public release or inspection of the record would,” among other things, interfere with law enforcement proceedings relating to crimes, disseminate prejudicial information that would interfere with impaneling an impartial jury, “Constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” disclose a confidential source, or endanger anyone’s life or safety (§804). Exceptions that matter after a crash: the agency may disclose it to “A crime victim or that victim’s agent or attorney,” subject to reasonable limitations to protect against those harms, and may not charge a fee for that copy (§806(2)); an “agent” there means a licensed professional investigator, an insurer, or an immediate family member, foster parent or guardian, if due to death, age or physical or mental disease, disorder or defect the victim cannot realistically act on the victim’s own behalf; a person accused of a crime may get it for trial when the prosecutor or a court authorizes it (§805-A(1)(C)). The subject of the information has no right to inspect it for accuracy (§808). The State Police say “police investigative and intelligence records are not generally considered public records under Maine law”; requests go to the State Police Investigative Records unit ((207) 624-7277), and if you are entitled to graphic multimedia files you may have to sign an additional release. The State Police equip patrol troopers, among others, with body worn and/or cruiser mounted recording equipment, release recordings under their public records policy (General Order M-8), and keep recordings of a fatal crash scene for at least seven years (General Order E-74, effective 02.06.2026); other recordings follow the applicable retention schedule. M-8 sends discovery requests for cruiser camera video in a pending Traffic Court case to the State Police Staff Attorney. 911 calls are separate: the audio is confidential and may be released only in listed cases, such as a court order on a finding of good cause, while the nonconfidential content is public in transcript form (25 M.R.S. §2929(4)); the State Police send transcript requests to the Bureau of Emergency Communications, and the Department of Public Safety charges $25 for the cover page and first transcribed page plus $10 per additional page. For city and county police, the State Archives’ local law enforcement schedule (the 2018 version, pending revision) has no series named for body or cruiser camera video; it says its series cover records in any format, so a recording may be kept under the series for the file it belongs to, such as accident records or investigative case records, and the schedules say that default retention is permanent for records not listed and that an expired record cannot be destroyed while a public information request, claim or litigation involving it is initiated or reasonably anticipated.

When police can hold video back

Confidential if harm reasonably possible

The open-case rule is 16 M.R.S. §804(1): an intelligence and investigative record is confidential if there is “a reasonable possibility” that its release would “Interfere with law enforcement proceedings relating to crimes,” and §804(2) adds prejudicial information that would interfere with a court’s ability to impanel an impartial jury. The test is a reasonable possibility of one of the listed harms, not a fixed period: the statute sets no time limit and does not say when confidentiality ends. The record is confidential “Except as provided in sections 805-A and 806,” and the exceptions are permissive (“does not preclude dissemination”), so an agency may share investigative material with a crime victim or the victim’s agent or attorney, free of charge, subject to reasonable limitations (§806(2)), but the statute gives no one a right to it. The State Police request form warns that they “may be prohibited by law from releasing to you the report you have requested from our agency, or components of requested reports may be redacted or excluded.” In a pending criminal case, the State Police route discovery requests through the District Attorney’s office or the Attorney General (General Order M-8). For a crash under criminal investigation, such as a suspected OUI or a leaving-the-scene case, the agency may cite §804(1) or (2); if it withholds video, the written denial must cite the statute (1 M.R.S. §408-A(4)), and you can ask again once the case is resolved. We found no official guidance applying §804 to crash video specifically. Separate rule for one kind of video: the Attorney General may publicly release the portion of a video in its custody that depicts the use of deadly force by police when the public interest outweighs the §804 harms, and must decide within 30 days of a request (§806-A).

Do traffic cameras in Maine record?

No MaineDOT recording statement found

MaineDOT’s Traffic Cameras page links to New England 511, the Maine Turnpike Authority’s web cams and a list of all MaineDOT traffic cameras, and its Wiscasset camera page says “Images are updated approximately every 10-15 minutes.” We found no MaineDOT or New England 511 page that says whether camera images or video are recorded or how long anything is kept. If a state camera may have caught your crash, ask at once: MaineDOT takes Freedom of Access Act requests by email to its FOAA contact, Anne Paré, or by letter to Maine Department of Transportation, Office of Legal Services, State House Station 16, Augusta, ME 04333; it asks you to be as specific as possible, so give the route, direction, nearest exit or mile marker, town, and the date and time window. The Maine Turnpike Authority’s Traffic Management and Communications Center monitors the Turnpike through twelve closed circuit television cameras and four portable trailer-mounted cameras ((207) 871-7701); we found no Authority statement on recording. By statute, toll photo-monitoring images are “confidential and ... not available to the public,” though the Authority must make them available to a law enforcement officer on request (23 M.R.S. §1980(2-B)(B)), and the Authority “may release accident and other incident reports to affected parties” (23 M.R.S. §1982). Cameras owned by a city or town belong to that municipality, so send it a separate request.

Red-light and speed cameras

Red-light and speed cameras barred

Maine bars them. “Except as provided in subsections 1 and 2, the State or a municipality may not use a traffic surveillance camera to prove or enforce a violation of this Title,” and a traffic surveillance camera is a device that works with a traffic signal, a lane direction control device or a speed measurement device to automatically produce photographs, video or other recorded images of a vehicle being operated in violation of state law (29-A M.R.S. §2117). The two exceptions: school bus stop-arm cameras, whose images are confidential, may be released only to a law enforcement officer for an investigation or to an officer, prosecutor, defendant or court for a prosecution, and may not be kept more than 30 days unless released that way (§2117(1)); and Maine Turnpike toll photo-monitoring (§2117(2)), whose images are confidential under 23 M.R.S. §1980(2-B)(B). A 2025 to 2026 resolve for a Turnpike pilot of automated speed cameras in highway work zones (LD 1457) failed in both chambers on April 9, 2026 and is dead, per the Legislature’s status page. Automated license plate readers are separate: most uses are banned, and the data that the Department of Transportation, the State Police and police agencies may collect are confidential, available only to law enforcement or the collecting agency for its purpose and any related civil or criminal proceeding, and, unless they are investigative record information, may not be kept more than 21 days (29-A M.R.S. §2117-A).

If your request is denied

Superior Court within 30 calendar days

“Any person aggrieved by a refusal or denial to inspect or copy a record or the failure to allow the inspection or copying of a record under section 408-A may appeal the refusal, denial or failure within 30 calendar days of the receipt of the written notice of refusal, denial or failure to the Superior Court” for the county where you live or where the agency has its principal office (1 M.R.S. §409(1)). The agency must file a statement of position explaining the basis for denial within 14 calendar days of service; if the court finds the refusal “was not for just and proper cause,” it orders disclosure, and it may give the appeal priority on the docket (§409(1)). The court may award reasonable attorney’s fees and litigation expenses to a substantially prevailing requester only if the refusal was in bad faith (§409(4)). A willful violation by an officer or employee is a civil violation for which the agency may be fined up to $500, with higher fines for repeat violations within 4 years (§410). The Act has no administrative appeal, but the Public Access Ombudsman in the Attorney General’s office responds to and “work[s] to resolve complaints” and gives advisory opinions, and may review records an agency believes are confidential, though its recommendation “is not binding” (5 M.R.S. §200-I): phone 207-626-8577, Office of the Attorney General, Public Access Ombudsman, 6 State House Station, Augusta, Maine 04333. Section 409 does not say the 30 days stop running while the Ombudsman looks at a complaint, so watch that deadline. Because we found no retention rule for police video, ask the agency in writing to preserve the footage while you dispute a denial.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send a FOAA request today

   Email the agency that worked the crash for every body camera and cruiser camera recording, giving the date, time, place and report number. For the State Police, use foaa.dps@maine.gov.

2. 2

   Ask the agency to preserve the video

   No Maine statute sets how long police keep crash video. Ask in writing, in the same request, that all footage of the crash be kept.

3. 3

   Check other cameras now

   Ask MaineDOT and, for Turnpike crashes, the Turnpike Authority whether a camera recorded it, ask the town about its cameras, and post the crash on the bounty board.

4. 4

   If refused, note the 30-day clock

   A denial must be written, give the reason and cite the statute. You have 30 calendar days from receiving it to appeal to the Superior Court.

Frequently asked questions