Removing an Arrest Report

Patch publishes reports of local police activity, including arrests. Readers who were the subject of a police report and were found not guilty, or his or her charges were dropped, may request to have their name removed from Patch.

To have an arrest removed

A reader must send an email to arrestreports@patch.com with:

• A clickable link to the article(s)

• A name as it appears in the article

• Documentation proving the charges are no longer valid (a photo or scan of the physical document attached to the email)

To show charges are no longer valid, one can obtain documentation from the court, the arresting police department or an attorney (with a signature and letterhead). We do not accept screenshots of online court record searches with the exception of non-violent misdemeanor or drug possession charges.

The documentation needs to clearly show one of the following has happened:

• The charges were dropped

• The case was nolle prossed (not prosecuted)

• The case was dismissed

• The record was expunged or sealed

• There is a verdict of not guilty

This documentation is never shared and is used solely for the purpose of deciding whether to edit or remove an article.

If a mugshot is included in the article and there is a gallery with more than one photo, the reader must download or screenshot theirs and include it in the email as an attachment. If we remove someone's name, we'll remove their photo, too.

We also send a request to Google to remove a name from search results. This way, a search for that name no longer results in a link to the article.

What we cannot do is remove information from any non-Patch website. Patch is not responsible for other news outlets or websites that aggregate our content.

If your court processes aren't complete, then we won't remove the information.