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

The public records law that gets you the video

Right-to-Know Law, Act 3 of 2008 (65 P.S. §§67.101 to 67.3104)

5 business days, plus 30-day extension

The Right-to-Know Law covers records of Commonwealth agencies such as PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission and of local agencies such as cities, townships and boroughs, but not police audio and video recordings, which Act 22 governs instead (below). A request must be written and may be submitted in person, by mail, email or fax, or another electronic means the agency’s rules allow; it must be addressed to the agency’s open-records officer, describe the records with enough specificity to find them, and include the name and address for the response, and you need not explain why you want the records (RTKL §703). A requester must be a legal resident of the United States (§102). The agency must respond as promptly as possible and within five business days of the open-records officer’s receipt, or the request is deemed denied (§901). It may extend that once, by written notice within the five business days giving the reason, a reasonable response date and a fee estimate, for reasons such as redaction, remote storage, staffing, legal review or the size of the request; a date more than 30 days past the five business days counts as a denial unless you agree in writing (§902). A denial must be written and cite its legal basis and explain how to appeal (§903). Records are presumed public, and the agency bears the burden of proving an exemption by a preponderance of the evidence (§708(a)(1)). Fees follow the Office of Open Records’ Official RTKL Fee Schedule (adopted Dec. 30, 2024, under §1307): up to $0.25 per black and white page, no additional fee for records delivered by email, up to actual cost and not more than $1.00 per CD or DVD, actual cost for a flash drive or other media, no fee for redaction, and up to $5.00 to certify a record; the law itself bars any fee for the agency’s review of whether a record is public (§1307(g)). An agency may require prepayment if fees are expected to exceed $100 (§1307(h)). PennDOT takes requests at PENNDOT-RightToKnow@pa.gov, by fax at 717-787-8779, or by mail to PennDOT Open Records Officer, Bureau of Office Services, 400 North St., PO Box 3451, Harrisburg, PA 17105-3451, and says requests sent to other PennDOT offices may not be accepted.

Police body camera and dashcam video

Act 22 request within 60 days

Act 22 of 2017 added 42 Pa.C.S. Chapter 67A, which, and not the Right-to-Know Law, applies to any audio or video recording made by a law enforcement agency (§67A02(a)), including the State Police, municipal police departments, sheriffs and district attorneys’ offices (§67A01). That covers body camera and dashcam video. Your request must be in writing and served on the agency’s open-records officer within 60 days of the date the recording was made, by personal delivery or certified mail with proof of service; service is effective only on receipt (§67A03(1)). It must describe the incident with particularity, including the date, time and location, and include a statement of your relationship to the incident; if the incident happened inside a residence, it must also identify everyone present unless that is not known and not reasonably ascertainable (§67A03(2) to (4)). The Office of Open Records publishes a request form for police recordings. The agency must provide the recording or explain in writing why it is denied within 30 days of receiving the request, unless you agree to more time; silence for 30 days is a denial by operation of law (§67A05(a), (b)). Once it has your request, the agency must preserve the unaltered recording through the response period and any time for or pending judicial review (§67A05(c)), but Chapter 67A sets no minimum retention period before a request arrives: it requires an agency that makes the recordings §67A07(a) covers to have public written policies, including one on electronic records retention (§67A07(a)(5)). The agency may charge reasonable fees for its costs, paid at disclosure (§67A05(d)). Example, State Police only: PSP says the fee is $150 per granted recording, and requests go by certified mail or hand delivery to Pennsylvania State Police, Bureau of Records & Identification, ATTN: Agency Open Records Officer, 1800 Elmerton Avenue, Harrisburg, PA 17110 (8:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. weekdays). There is no right under either law to recordings made inside a police facility (§67A02(b)). Chapter 67A does not change the parties’ rights to exchange information under the rules of procedure in a civil or criminal case (§67A08(1)), so a party to a lawsuit can still seek the video in discovery, and an agency or prosecutor may release a recording on its own (§67A08(2)). Before Act 22, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held in Pennsylvania State Police v. Grove (decided June 20, 2017) that whether a State Police dashcam recording of a crash scene was a criminal investigative record had to be decided case by case.

When police can hold video back

Evidence video denied if not redactable

Under 42 Pa.C.S. §67A04(a), if the agency determines that a recording contains potential evidence in a criminal matter, information pertaining to an investigation or a matter in which a criminal charge has been filed, confidential information or victim information, and reasonable redaction would not safeguard it, the agency must deny the request in writing and say so. “Information pertaining to an investigation” includes depictions of criminal conduct and the related actions and statements before and after it, and information whose disclosure would reveal the progress of a criminal investigation, deprive someone of a fair trial, hinder an arrest or prosecution, or endanger anyone, as well as similar harms to a noncriminal agency investigation, including an unwarranted invasion of privacy (§67A01). A crash investigated as a crime, such as a hit-and-run or a DUI or vehicular homicide case, is likely to fall here; §67A01 lists those Vehicle Code offenses (§§3732, 3735, 3735.1, 3742 and Chapter 38) in its definition of a victim. If the prosecutor decides a recording contains that kind of information and redaction will not protect it, the police may release it only with the prosecutor’s written agreement (§67A08(3)). Chapter 67A sets no point at which this ground ends, and it does not extend the 60-day window to request the video, so ask within 60 days even if you expect a denial. For other records, the Right-to-Know Law exempts records relating to or resulting in a criminal investigation, including investigative materials, notes, correspondence, videos and reports, and records whose release would reveal the progress of an investigation or hinder a prosecution (RTKL §708(b)(16)); that exemption does not apply to information in a police blotter or in a traffic report, except as 75 Pa.C.S. §3754(b) provides for accident prevention investigations. Noncriminal investigative records are covered by §708(b)(17), and the Criminal History Record Information Act bars disseminating investigative information except to criminal justice agencies (18 Pa.C.S. §9106(c)(4)). The crash report itself has its own rule: police may refuse the complete report while criminal charges are pending against anyone involved (75 Pa.C.S. §3751(b)(5)).

Do traffic cameras in Pennsylvania record?

Turnpike cameras not recorded

The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission says on its Right-to-Know page: “PTC does not retain video from its live-feed traffic cameras along the Turnpike system. Because this video footage is not recorded, it is unavailable through the RTKL process or through any other PTC office.” For PennDOT’s own cameras, we found no official PennDOT statement on whether they record; its 511PA site describes the camera images as “live” and updated every five seconds, and says PennDOT uses its camera network to verify incidents. If a PennDOT camera covered the crash, send a written Right-to-Know request to PennDOT’s open-records officer right away naming the camera location, date and time window; the law does not require an agency to create a record that does not exist (RTKL §705), so if nothing was saved the answer will be that no record exists. City-run traffic cameras vary by city, so ask the city the same way and quickly.

Red-light and speed cameras

Limited programs; images not public

Pennsylvania authorizes camera enforcement only in specific programs, and every one of them keeps the images out of public reach. Red-light cameras: 75 Pa.C.S. §3116 lets Philadelphia (a city of the first class), by ordinance, use department-approved red-light cameras, with the Philadelphia Parking Authority as system administrator (§3116(h)(2)); §3117 extends red-light cameras, by ordinance, to a city of the second class and to certain cities, boroughs and townships with more than 20,000 people and an accredited police agency in specified counties (§3117(t)(2)). Both sections expire July 15, 2027 (§3116(q), §3117(s)). Speed cameras: §3369 allows automated speed enforcement in active work zones on federal-aid highways under PennDOT and Turnpike Commission jurisdiction; §3370 allows speed cameras on Roosevelt Boulevard (U.S. Route 1) in Philadelphia and up to five more Philadelphia corridors; and §3371 sets up a pilot in up to five Philadelphia school zones, expiring December 31, 2029. For each program, the statute reserves the recorded images and related information for running the program, says they are not public records under the Right-to-Know Law, and says they are not discoverable by court order or otherwise and may not be used as evidence in a proceeding not directly related to the violation, except that a court may order them given to law enforcement in connection with a criminal law enforcement action (for example §3116(e)(3), §3117(f)(3), §3369, §3370, §3371). The cameras may record only violations and may not be used for other surveillance (§3116(e)(2)), and the images must be destroyed within one year of final disposition (within 30 days under §3117(f)(4)), longer only if a court order covers them. The registered owner who gets a notice of violation receives a copy of the recorded image with it (§3116(h)(3); §3369). School bus stop-arm cameras are a separate program with a different rule: §3345.1 lets a school entity run side stop signal arm cameras on its buses; the information is used only to enforce that section and is not a public record under the Right-to-Know Law, but it may be discoverable by court order or otherwise and used as evidence in a proceeding directly related to a stop-arm violation or another violation in connection with a criminal law enforcement action, and the images must be destroyed within one year of final disposition (§3345.1(e)(2), (3)). In practice, a red-light or speed camera image of your crash is not available to you through a records request or a civil lawsuit; we did not confirm which municipalities currently operate cameras.

If your request is denied

OOR in 15 business days; video: court

Two different routes. For police audio or video under Act 22, file a petition for judicial review in the court of common pleas with jurisdiction (the county where the recorded event happened, the Office of Open Records says) within 30 days of the denial (42 Pa.C.S. §67A06(a)). You must pay a $125 filing fee, attach your written request and any written responses, serve the petition on the agency’s open-records officer within five days of filing by personal delivery or certified mail, and, if the event was inside a residence, certify notice to everyone present and to the owner and occupant (§67A06(b)); missing a deadline or a required item is grounds for summary dismissal (§67A06(d)). The court may order release only if you show, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the denial was not based on §67A04 or was arbitrary and capricious, and that the public interest or your interest in disclosure outweighs the interests in nondisclosure (§67A06(e)). The Office of Open Records does not hear Act 22 appeals and dismisses them for lack of jurisdiction. For other records under the Right-to-Know Law, appeal a denial or deemed denial to the Office of Open Records within 15 business days of the mailing date of the agency’s response or of the deemed denial, stating why the record is public and answering each ground the agency gave (RTKL §1101(a)); there is no fee and you do not need a lawyer. The OOR prefers its online appeal form and also accepts appeals by fax at 717-425-5343 or at Office of Open Records, 555 Walnut Street, Suite 605, Harrisburg, PA 17101-1925. An appeals officer must issue a final determination within 30 days unless you agree otherwise (§1101(b)). One exception: an appeal about criminal investigative records held by a local agency goes to an appeals officer designated by the county’s district attorney (§503(d)(2)). After a final determination, either side may file in court within 30 days: Commonwealth Court for a state agency such as PennDOT or the State Police (§1301), the county court of common pleas for a local agency (§1302). A court can award attorney fees for bad-faith or unreasonable denials (§1304) and impose a civil penalty of up to $1,500 for a bad-faith denial (§1305(a)). You may want to ask a lawyer before filing in court.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send the Act 22 request now

   Write to the open-records officer of the police agency that worked the crash with the date, time and location and your relationship to the crash, and deliver it by hand or certified mail. It must arrive within 60 days of the recording.

2. 2

   Keep proof of delivery and your copy

   The 30-day response clock starts on receipt, and any court petition must attach your request and the agency’s answers. If you are denied, the petition is due within 30 days with a $125 filing fee.

3. 3

   Ask PennDOT and the city about camera footage

   The Turnpike does not record its traffic cameras and we found no PennDOT statement either way, so send a Right-to-Know request to PennDOT or the city that runs the camera right away.

4. 4

   Look beyond public cameras

   Red-light and speed camera images are closed even to civil lawsuits, so private video matters most: nearby businesses, buses and other drivers’ dashcams. Post the crash on the bounty board.

Frequently asked questions