Frequently Asked Questions

All media inquiries are handled by the Public Information Officer (PIO), including inquiries, interviews, and requests for follow-up information; however, please note that public information requests for police records and arrest reports cannot be issued by the PIO and should be directed to the Department's RMS Supervisor, Kari Breault by calling 785-537-2112, ext. 2430.

It is the policy of the Riley County Police Department to cooperate fully and impartially with authorized news media representatives in their efforts to gather factual public information pertaining to activities of the Department, as long as these activities do not interfere with individual's rights or violate the law.

The Daily News section of RileyCountyPolice.org is a summary of calls for service/reports filed by the Riley County Police Department and is only a portion of those received by police (as summarized in the first portion of this weekday report). Some names, addresses, and case details are withheld to follow local, state, and federal law as well as in an attempt to protect community members from being victimized further. Those arrested are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. For more information on the entries that are open to public as well as what has been withheld, consult with the Kansas Open Records Act. Some of this information is left to the agency releasing information to decide whether or not it should be open or closed.

The Riley County Police Department withholds information that could likely cause a victim to become further victimized as well as withholds mugshots of those arrested. RCPD also complies with mandatorily protected information as outlined by the Kansas Open Records Act. Information is only posted to our website for approximately 48 hours in order to comply with the Kansas Criminal Justice Information Systems (KCJIS) guidelines for releasing and publishing information. After this period of time, some information becomes criminal history which is not released by this agency.

Information for this report is gathered daily at 6 am and is only published weekdays at approximately 10 am. This is done to help reduce the risk of publishing inaccurate information and is overseen by our Public Information Officer. Some arrested and still confined information is only up-to-date on the day following the law enforcement action at 6 am. For a more up-to-date list of those arrested and still confined, please contact the Riley County Jail. All media inquiries are required to go through the Public Information Officer.

Reports published to this section on Mondays will include information from the previous Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Reports posted to RileyCountyPolice.org on Tuesday through Friday will only include information from the previous 6 am to 6 am time period. Holidays and days when the Administrative Offices at RCPD are closed will change this procedure. For more information on the entries listed in this section, please contact the Public Information Officer.

Each Daily News post should contain on a regular basis a summary (in paragraph form) of certain calls for service or incidents from the previously mentioned time frame. There will also often be a total number of arrests made as well as a link to contact the Manhattan Riley County Crimes Stoppers. The Daily News section will also include a list of reports.

The Riley County Police Department reserves the right to make changes to these posts when appropriate without notification. RCPD has a high standard of accuracy however realizes that during case investigations information has the ability to change. Because of this fact, if you have concerns about information that has been posted, please contact the Public Information Officer.

Calls for service likely to be published to this section in summary form are as follows but are not limited to:

• Traffic collisions that resulted in injury and involved a transport to a medical care facility by Riley County Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
• Traffic collisions that involved a greater need for public explanation.
• Crimes listed as sex-related crimes (posted in a fashion to comply with Kansas Open Records Act and protect the victim and case information).
• Theft in an amount larger than $500.
• Criminal Damage to Property in an amount larger than $500.
• Aggravated crimes such as battery and assault.
• Crimes and incidents of great concern to the public to include robbery and burglary.
• Crimes or incidents that require the public's assistance.
• Crimes or Incidents which have created public information requests in an above-average fashion.
• Crimes or incidents left to the discretion of the Public Information Officer.

Information that is likely to be published because of requests from local media citing the Kansas Open Records Act but not limited to:

• Addresses of call location when not otherwise withheld for a reason listed in the Kansas Open Records Act or as listed below.
• The address of those arrested by the Riley County Police Department or booked into the Riley County Jail.
• Times, dates, locations, and other information found on the front page of the Kansas Standard Offense Report. This information is subject to be withheld if the criteria is met.
• Crimes, incidents, or information that will be limited or withheld as per local, state, and federal law and the Kansas Open Records Act specifically are as follows:
• Addresses of victims, where the address is not the location of the call and where the suspect could likely gain leverage or the ability to further victimize as per the Kansas Open Records Act. When this information may pose a risk to a person or property and is not a legitimate concern to the public these addresses will be only listed as the city and state of the victim.
• Sexually related crimes and incidents such as rape, sexual battery, and etc. will be given a general location and the victim information will not be released.
• Domestic Violence related crimes and incidents will be given a general location and the victim information will not be released.
• Juvenile crimes will be left to the discretion of the Public Information Officer unless the juvenile is under the age of 14. If a juvenile has contact with police and is under the age of 14 the juvenile will be referred to by gender and age. Other specific information may also be withheld on a case by case basis in accordance with the Kansas Open Records Act.
• Crimes or Incidents that are ongoing in nature. The Riley County Police Department reserves the right to withhold information that could harm an ongoing investigation.
• Listed suspects of a crime who have not been arrested will be withheld entirely. Any mention of a suspect will be extremely vague in nature.
• Dates of birth, social security numbers, home phone numbers and etc. will be withheld as this information could likely cause victimization.

Abbreviations

When documenting the published information, this agency is required to utilize abbreviations. Some of these abbreviations:

• ACCIDENT-INJURY/FATALITY - Injury traffic collision or fatality traffic collision
• ATT - Attempted
• CDP - Criminal Damage to Property
• CDP-NON AUTO - Criminal Damage to Property other than to a vehicle
• CPCA - Probable Cause Arrest
• CWAR - Warrant Arrest
• INFO-UNATTENDED DEATH - Death of a subject outside of medical care with nothing suspicious
• INFORMATION - Information report not filed as a criminal investigation
• INJURY-TRF ACC-PEDESTRIA - Traffic collision involving a pedestrian
• JUVENILE CINC-OTHER - Juvenile Child in Need of Care report
• OJ - WARRANTS - Warrant from another jurisdiction
• TRAFFIC-SUS/CANC/REV-DL - Driving with a suspended, cancelled, or revoked driver's license
• UNLAWFUL-POSS/CONSUMP-MINORS - Minor in possession of alcohol
• UNLAWFUL-POSS/CONSUMP-MINORS - Unlawful possession or consumption of alcohol by a minor
• UNLAWFUL-POSS/CONS-OTHER - Unlawful possession or consumption of alcohol
• UNLAWFUL-TRANSPORTATION - Unlawful transporting of alcohol
• WRNT - Warrant

If you have an abbreviation that needs to be added to this list, contact the Public Information Officer.

If you have questions about the Daily News section of RileyCountyPolice.org please contact the Public Information Officer for the Riley County Police Department. Questions regarding the Kansas Open Records Act can also be forwarded to the Kansas Attorney General's website. As a matter of procedure RCPD's Public Information Officer does not generally post specific addresses to our website unless it is the address of someone who has been arrested. Releasing some information is required by law upon official request in some cases. If this information is published elsewhere, complaints should be directed toward the agency who is responsible for the publication. Likewise, concerns about information that is published to the police department website should be directed to the Public Information Officer, unless an official complaint made to the Internal Affairs Officer would be more appropriate.

Request a copy of a police or accident report, make an official Kansas Open Records Act request, or request crime or police statistics information please contact Records at the Riley County Police Department.

Follow the Riley County Police Department on Twitter today! @RileyCountyPD uses Twitter to help citizens stay in touch with public safety issues that matter most as well as give the community an inside look at the department.

Like the Riley County Police Department on Facebook! RileyCountyPD also uses Facebook to help citizens better interact with the officers and department that serve them on a daily basis.

We are also on Snapchat, Instagram, and Nextdoor.

The Riley County Police Department regularly participates in speaking engagements throughout the year. To schedule an officer to come speak at an event, training, convention, or other gatherings you can do that here. The form will be password protected, simply choose the "read only" option and save the document to your computer, you will then be able to edit the document. You can save it electronically and email it to the contact listed below or print it and turn it at the Riley County Police Department. We request at least 21 days advance notice, but no more than 60 days' notice of any event.

Please email the completed form to Corporal Joseph Ehrlich at jehrlich@rileycountypolice.org or return in person to the address listed on the form.

Records may be obtained at the Riley County Police Department Monday through Friday 7 am to 5 pm (except on holidays). Requests for Police Records may be submitted in person to our Records personnel, mailed, faxed to 785-565-6550 or emailed to Records. For more information on Police Records at the Riley County Police Department contact the Records Section at (785) 537-2112 ext. 0. 

What Records Are Available?

The Kansas Open Records Act governs most records maintained by the Riley County Police Department. Use the following guide to help assist you in your records request. Some records maintained by the Department are open for inspection. Copies are available for a fee. We accept most forms of payment including cash, check, money order, and credit/debit cards. Commonly requested records include:

• Police Incident Reports: Incident reports may be obtained by visiting the Riley County Police Department Records section in person or by mailing a request to the Department. Requests for reports in this manner must be accompanied by a $5 fee per report.
• Accident Reports: To provide more accessible service to our community, the Riley County Police Department has contracted with CARFAX to implement an online program for obtaining copies of traffic accident reports. This will allow both citizens and insurance companies the flexibility of getting the reports online at their leisure. You can request reports 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
  • Motor Vehicle Accidents occurring after January 1, 2018, are available online (except fatalities) at Crashdocs. To search for a report enter the:
    • Report (Case) Number
    • Date of Accident
    • Driver's last name
  • Copies of traffic accident reports generated prior to January 1, 2018, may still be obtained by visiting the Riley County Police Department in person or by mailing a request accompanied by a $5 fee per report.
• Arrest Summaries: Contemporaneous to the event to which the information relates.
• Minutes: Minutes from the Riley County Law Enforcement Agency meetings.

Forms

• Application for Concealed Carry Handgun Application
• Request for Copy of Records (PDF)
• Request for Statistics (PDF)

Our informational brochure (PDF) contains additional information on the following topics:

• How to request a record
• Associated fees
• What records are the exception
• Why would my request be denied
• How to obtain Criminal History information
• How to obtain a Driver's License check
• How to obtain a copy of the Kansas Open Records Act