Most news organizations approach public records requests the way most people approach a dentist — reactively, and only when something hurts. An incident makes headlines. A department holds a press conference. A lawyer files a lawsuit. Only then does the records request get drafted and submitted, usually too late to shape the story that has already been written.
Statewide Safety was built on a different premise entirely. We file public records requests proactively, systematically, and at scale — before the story breaks, or often in pursuit of stories that would never break if we waited for someone else to notice them.
The Scope of What We Do
To date, Statewide Safety has filed public records requests with more than 100 law enforcement agencies spanning over 30 states and multiple federal jurisdictions. Those agencies range from small rural sheriff's offices to some of the largest metropolitan police departments in the country. We have requested footage from SWAT operations, routine traffic stops, airport incidents, use-of-force encounters, and multi-agency task force operations involving the FBI and DEA.
The states where we have filed requests include:
We have even filed a request with Manchester Airport Police in the United Kingdom — a reminder that accountability journalism does not stop at the border when footage of significant public interest exists.
"We file requests proactively. We are not waiting for departments to decide what the public should know. We go and get it ourselves."
Why the Proactive Approach Matters
The reactive model of records reporting has a structural flaw: it depends on incidents being newsworthy enough to attract attention before a request is ever filed. That means the incidents that go unreported — the encounters that are not caught on a bystander's phone, the operations that never generate a press release — never get scrutinized.
Statewide Safety's approach flips that dynamic. By filing requests across many jurisdictions simultaneously, we create a much broader net. Some of the most compelling footage we have published came from agencies nobody was watching — departments that complied with the law precisely because they were not expecting anyone to ask.
The result is a body of published work that gives viewers an unfiltered look at American law enforcement that no single department's communications office would ever curate on their behalf. Over 110 million views and 100,000 subscribers later, the public appetite for this kind of reporting is undeniable.
How Each Request Works
Every request Statewide Safety files identifies us as a digital news organization and asserts our media requester status under the applicable state statute or federal FOIA. We request fee waivers on the basis that disclosure serves the public interest and that we have a documented, verifiable ability to disseminate the records to a substantial public audience.
When agencies comply — as the vast majority do — we review the footage before publishing. We comply with all lawful redaction requirements and do not publish records that are lawfully exempt. What we receive, the public receives. Every upload to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/@Police-Boss represents a completed records cycle: request filed, records produced, footage published.
Agencies, records custodians, and public information officers with questions about any request we have filed are welcome to contact our Records Division directly at [email protected]. We respond to all agency correspondence promptly.