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

The public records law that gets you the video

Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act (APRA), R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 38-2

10 business days, +20 if justified

Public records include “tapes, photographs, films, sound recordings, magnetic or other tapes, electronic data processing records, computer stored data ... or other material regardless of physical form,” so video is covered (R.I. Gen. Laws §38-2-2(4)), and “every person or entity shall have the right to inspect and/or copy” public records except as §38-2-2(4) provides (§38-2-3(a)). A public body may not withhold records because of why you want them, and may not require a reason or personally identifiable information about you as a condition of fulfilling the request (§38-2-3(j)). A written request need not be on the agency’s form if it is readily identifiable as a public records request (§38-2-3(d)). Deadline: “A public body receiving a request shall permit the inspection or copying within ten (10) business days after receiving a request.” If it cannot, it must “forthwith explain in writing the need for additional time,” particularized to your request, and may then have up to an additional 20 business days if it can show the request is voluminous, many requests are pending, or the records are hard to search for, retrieve or copy (§38-2-3(e)). A denial must be in writing, give the specific reasons and say how to appeal, within 10 business days of the request; any reason not stated is waived except for good cause, and no answer within the deadline “shall be deemed to be a denial” (§38-2-7(a), (b)). Any reasonably segregable part of a record must be released after deleting the exempt part, and if an entire record is withheld the agency must say in writing that no part of it is releasable (§38-2-3(b)). You may choose any medium the agency can provide, and electronic, fax or mail delivery at your election unless unduly burdensome, paying the actual cost of delivery (§38-2-3(g), (k)). Fees (§38-2-4): no more than fifteen cents a page for copies on letter or legal paper; for electronic records, no more than the reasonable actual cost; search and retrieval at no more than $15.00 an hour, with no charge for the first hour, and multiple requests to the same body within 30 days count as one; the agency must give a cost estimate on request and an itemization on request, and a court may reduce or waive search fees in the public interest. The statute sets no video-specific fee. “All copying and search and retrieval fees shall be waived” if the agency misses its deadline, unless it was waiting for a payment properly charged (§38-2-7(b)). Example: RIDOT’s APRA regulation counts research, compiling, review and redaction as search and retrieval time and may charge the actual cost of a CD or flash drive (290-RICR-30-00-6, §6.6).

Police body camera and dashcam video

Body cam: APRA applies, per state rule

Rhode Island has a statewide body-worn camera program in statute, but the release rules are in a regulation, not the General Laws. R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 42-161 defines a body-worn camera as a video and audio recording device carried by or worn on an officer that can record the officer’s actions and interactions with the public (§42-161-2(2)), and requires the Attorney General and the Director of Public Safety to adopt a statewide policy covering, among other things, “Records retention procedures and timelines” and “Access to data by law enforcement and the public” (§42-161-4(b)). Departments that receive program grants must certify they adopted it (§42-161-4(c)); the policy “establishes a floor, not a ceiling.” That policy, 110-RICR-10-00-2, says: “A BWC Recording is subject to the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act (“APRA”), R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 38-2, and all requests for public access to a BWC Recording shall be handled in accordance with that law,” and that departments should redact before release where appropriate, for example if release could reasonably be expected to be an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy (§2.5.13(A), (B)). Officers must activate the camera when responding to or self-initiating a call for service involving a member of the public, at the start of any investigative or enforcement activity, and at the start of any pursuit or emergency driving (§2.5.8(A)); the amendment that will take effect December 30, 2026 narrows the second trigger to activity “involving a member of the public.” A separate rule requires release, no later than the substantial completion of the investigation, of body camera video from incidents within the Attorney General’s protocol on deadly force, excessive force and custodial deaths; substantial completion “is expected to occur within thirty (30) days” (§2.5.13(D)). That rule does not reach an ordinary crash. Retention: the policy says recordings are kept under “Rhode Island Records Retention Schedule LG6.3.6 Body Camera and Dash Camera Recordings” (§2.5.14). That schedule, for city and town police departments, covers body camera and police vehicle dash camera recordings and says: non-evidentiary recordings, “Retain sixty (60) days”; evidentiary recordings, retain until the investigation, court proceedings (including appeals) or administrative hearing they relate to is resolved, then under the complaint report file periods (three years for motor vehicle accidents); recordings used in internal affairs or use of force investigations, seven years (LG6.3.6, amended December 2025). The State Police schedule has the same 60-day rule for its own recordings (SP3.14). The Department of State describes retention schedules as minimum storage periods, so a department may keep video longer, but ordinary crash video that is not kept as evidence may be deleted 60 days after it is recorded. We found no Rhode Island statute that sets a release rule or retention period for police dashboard camera video, so APRA and its law enforcement exemption govern its release. Ask for preservation in writing in your first request.

When police can hold video back

Withheld if release could hurt a case

The law enforcement exemption is R.I. Gen. Laws §38-2-2(4)(D). It covers “All records maintained by law enforcement agencies for criminal law enforcement and all records relating to the detection and investigation of crime,” but those records “shall not be deemed public only to the extent that the disclosure of the records or information (a) Could reasonably be expected to interfere with investigations of criminal activity or with enforcement proceedings; (b) Would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial adjudication; (c) Could reasonably be expected to constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (d) Could reasonably be expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source ...; (e) Would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions ...; or (f) Could reasonably be expected to endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.” Records reflecting the initial arrest of an adult and the charges brought are public. Other exemptions can also apply, such as records “that would not be available by law or rule of court to an opposing party in litigation” (§38-2-2(4)(E)) and records kept confidential by other law (§38-2-2(4)(S)). The statute sets no time limit on the exemption and does not say it ends when a case closes; the test is whether release could reasonably be expected to cause one of the listed harms, so once charges are resolved you can ask again. One rule runs the other way: records initially deemed public “shall continue to be so deemed whether or not subsequent court action or investigations are held” (§38-2-13). For crash reports, the State Police say crashes still under investigation “cannot be released until the investigation is completed,” and the Department of Public Safety reviews unposted crash reports for ongoing investigations and pending charges, though involved people get the report regardless (270-RICR-40-00-1, §1.6(B)). We found no official guidance applying the exemption to crash video specifically. A denial must state the specific reasons in writing (§38-2-7(a)).

Do traffic cameras in Rhode Island record?

No RIDOT recording statement found

RIDOT publishes live traffic camera views by region on its Traveler Information pages (for example, I-95, I-195, Route 6, Route 10 and Route 146 cameras in Metropolitan Providence). We found no RIDOT page that says whether those cameras record or how long anything is kept. If a state camera may have caught your crash, ask at once: RIDOT takes public records requests through its APRA portal (dot-ri.nextrequest.com), and its regulation also lists email to apra@dot.ri.gov, fax (401) 222-4226 and phone (401) 222-6510 (290-RICR-30-00-6, §6.4); give the route, direction, exit or nearest cross street, town, date and a narrow time window, and ask whether any recording exists. Crash data: a 2026 law makes records covered by the federal highway safety data privilege (23 U.S.C. §407) public records in Rhode Island, while keeping the federal limits on their use (§38-2-17, added by P.L. 2026, ch. 218 and 221, effective June 19, 2026). Cameras owned by a city or town belong to that municipality, so send it a separate request.

Red-light and speed cameras

Red-light, school-zone speed cams legal

Red-light cameras: RIDOT and municipalities may install and operate automated traffic violation detection systems limited to traffic signal violations, approved by the RIDOT director (R.I. Gen. Laws §31-41.2-3(a), (b)). Municipalities may also use them at up to three “Don’t Block the Box” intersections; a 2026 law moved the end of that permission from January 15, 2027 to January 15, 2030 (P.L. 2026, ch. 268 and 269). Their recorded images “shall not be deemed ‘public records’” under APRA; images that show no violation must be destroyed within 90 days of recording and images that show one within one year after the citation is resolved, unless a court orders otherwise (§31-41.2-8). The same 2026 law, effective June 26, 2026, restricts use of the images or video to enforcing the traffic violation, bars using them to track people or vehicles, and says that absent a judicial warrant the images, recordings and other data “shall not be sold, shared, or transferred to any third parties, including other government agencies,” except for enforcement of the traffic violation (§31-41.2-3(f), (g)). An older section still says nothing in the chapter prohibits using camera evidence in a criminal or private civil proceeding under the ordinary rules of evidence (§31-41.2-7), but the 2026 limits on use and sharing now sit beside it, and the statutes do not say how a private party other than the person cited gets the images; apart from enforcing the violation itself, the only routes the statutes name are a judicial warrant (for sharing) and a court order (to keep images past the destruction deadlines). The summons mailed to the registered owner must include two or more of the recorded images (§31-41.2-4(c), (f)). School-zone speed cameras: RIDOT and municipalities may operate automated speed enforcement within one-quarter mile of any school (§31-41.3-3); their images are not public records under APRA and follow the same 90-day and one-year destruction rules (§31-41.3-13). School bus stop-arm cameras: school departments may run them, and new school buses must carry them from July 1, 2027 and all school buses from July 1, 2032 (§31-51-2(b), (c)); their video is not a public record, and footage showing no violation must be destroyed within 24 hours unless a court orders otherwise (§31-51-8).

If your request is denied

Agency head, AG or Superior Court

If your request is denied, you “may petition the chief administrative officer” of the agency for review, and that officer must decide within 10 business days after the petition (R.I. Gen. Laws §38-2-8(a)). If the custodian or the chief administrative officer decides the record is not public, you may file a complaint with the Attorney General, who investigates and, if the complaint has merit, may sue for injunctive or declaratory relief on your behalf in the Superior Court of the county where the record is kept; you may also hire your own lawyer and sue there directly (§38-2-8(b)). The court may review the record in private, and must award reasonable attorney fees and costs to a prevailing plaintiff, order a wrongfully withheld record provided at no cost, and fine a public body up to $2,000 for a knowing and willful violation or up to $1,000 for a reckless one (§38-2-9). Chapter 38-2 sets no deadline for filing the AG complaint or the lawsuit. Agencies spell out the same route: the Department of Public Safety (State Police) sends review petitions to its Director, who decides within 10 business days, then to the Attorney General or Superior Court (270-RICR-40-00-1, §1.6(G)), and the Providence Police say you may appeal to the Police Chief, then complain to the Attorney General or file suit in Superior Court. The Attorney General’s Open Government Unit takes complaints as a brief statement with any relevant documents, by email to opengovernment@riag.ri.gov or by mail to Attn: Open Government Unit, Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, 150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903; the Department of State’s Open Government Center also says to contact the Attorney General if you think APRA was violated. Ask the agency in writing to preserve the video while you dispute a denial.

What to do now

1. 1

   Send an APRA request today

   Ask the department that worked the crash for all body camera and dashcam video, giving the date, time, place and report number. For the State Police, email records@risp.gov.

2. 2

   Ask the agency to preserve the video

   State retention schedules let police delete body and dash camera video that is not evidence after 60 days. Ask in writing, in the same request, that all footage of the crash be kept.

3. 3

   Check other cameras now

   Ask RIDOT through its APRA portal whether a highway camera recorded the crash, ask the town about its cameras, and post the crash on the bounty board.

4. 4

   If refused, ask for review

   A denial must be written with specific reasons. Petition the agency head, then complain to the Attorney General or sue in Superior Court.

Frequently asked questions