Accident reports must be fully disclosed when prepared in the regular course of business, except when prepared by a police officer for a criminal investigation or prosecution and disclosure would interfere with the investigation. This describes which exception?

• A. Prepared by a police officer for a criminal investigation or prosecution and disclosure would interfere with the investigation
• B. Prepared by a private individual for personal use
• C. Disclosed only with court order
• D. Disclosed only if a settlement is reached

Answer: (A)

Under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, there is a specific exemption for police investigative records. Accident reports are normally subject to disclosure, but if the report is prepared by a police officer in connection with a criminal investigation or prosecution and releasing it would interfere with that investigation, it can be withheld. This protects the ongoing investigation from being compromised or tipped off. The scenario described matches that exact exemption—the report is created by a police officer for a criminal investigation, and disclosure could interfere with the investigation. The other options don’t describe this police-investigative exemption: one talks about private, non-government records; another about court-order disclosure, and another about settlement-based disclosure, none of which capture the specific exemption at issue.