​Define your objective: Threat model your agency

Start by writing down the single thing you must prove, not just what you’re curious to read. Then ask yourself, if you were the county attorney or the prosecutor and you knew what was in these records, how hard would you try to keep them out of the public's view, and then proceed as if that is how hard it will be. Half the battle is expectations. If you expect to just be handed a gold mine just because the law says so, well, that's how it should be, but that's not always how it is. Ask for the most damaging things first when they don't know you, don't care about you, and don't know how well you've been prepped.  the risk you’re walking into: how much exposure the records create (civil liability, reputational damage, personnel discipline), whether the matter is open or closed, which stakeholders are implicated (police, prosecutors, city attorney, vendors, unions), the complexity of systems and volume, the agency’s history of non-compliance, and any privacy flags that will drive redactions. Average those scores into a simple “fight index.” If it lands high, plan as if the request will be slow-rolled and lawyered at every step.

Map the evidence tree

Sketch the incident from center to edge. Core records usually include 911 audio and CAD logs, radio traffic, body-worn and dash video, arrest and incident reports with supplemental narratives, photographs, chain-of-custody, booking and sally-port footage, and the policies that were in force that day (use of force, de-escalation, recording, pursuit). Around that, trace the upstream and downstream paths: prosecutor intake notes, discovery logs, vendor portals and export logs, city risk management communications, legal holds, and any audit trails. You’re identifying systems, custodians, and time windows—not just documents.

Phase the scope 

Ask for the easy, foundational material first, stuff they can't and won't deny you, get them used to complying with your requests, THEN. ask for the more difficult stuff. Start with: indexes, policies in effect on the date, retention schedule entries, custodian lists, the systems used, and a statement of search methodology. Once that scaffolding is in place, move to high-value content in stages—reports and audio before video; video before large email and chat pulls—requesting text-searchable PDFs or native formats with metadata sidecars where possible. Leave the most sensitive or contested material (internal affairs files in closed matters, prosecutor work product) until last, when the record you’ve already built makes blanket withholding harder to sustain.