A police report release is the version of an incident file a force gives a requester. FOIA 2000 s.40 exempts personal data where disclosure would breach the data protection principles. anonym.plus marks victim and witness data on your own device, so the source never leaves your machine.
When this applies
A requester asks for an incident write-up. It names the victim, witnesses, and a minor, plus their addresses and phone numbers.
How anonym.plus handles it
- Open the incident file in anonym.plus on your device.
- Local OCR reads scanned and faxed pages.
- The tool flags victim, witness, and officer names.
- Decide which identities the exemption protects.
- Black out each one, then check for missed PII.
- Save the cleared file on your machine.
What you need to provide
- The incident file (PDF, DOCX, or scan).
- An operator: Redact for the public copy.
- Optional rules to keep the crime reference, not PII.
PII entity types detected
| Category | anonym.plus entity type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Names | PERSON | victim name → [VICTIM] |
| Names | PERSON | witness name → [WITNESS] |
| Names | PERSON | minor's name → [MINOR] |
| Location | LOCATION | home address → [ADDRESS] |
| Contact | PHONE_NUMBER | 020 7946 0123 → [PHONE] |
| Dates | DATE_TIME | DOB → [DOB] |
Compliance achieved
- Supports a withholding under FOIA 2000 s.40 (personal data).
- Hides victim, witness, and minor PII before public release.
- Offline work keeps a sensitive file inside the force.
- Local OCR lifts text from scanned incident pages.
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Limitations & cautions
Section 40 needs a data-protection and fairness judgment, and a police disclosure may also engage the Data Protection Act 2018 law-enforcement regime. The tool flags PII; the withholding call is yours. Apply the right rule to each flag.
Frequently asked questions
Whose PII comes out of an incident file?
Usually victims, witnesses, minors, and unconvicted people, where disclosure would be unfair. anonym.plus flags each so you can apply the exemption.
Do officer names get withheld?
It depends on rank and role. The tool flags officer names so you can keep or remove them under your force's standard for police disclosure.
Can it read a faxed file?
Yes. Local OCR reads faxes and scans, so PII in image pages is flagged with the typed text.