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Tulsa Refuses 911 Audio Records Release

James Cridland
/
Flickr Creative Commons

The city of Tulsa is refusing to release 911 recordings under the state's open records law.

The Tulsa World reports that the city denied its request last week for any emergency calls regarding a Sept. 1 police-involved fatal shooting at the Best Budget Inn. The newspaper says its request was denied even though it'd previously received 911 calls through open records requests.

Assistant City Attorney Shelton Benedict says the open records law doesn't specifically say that audio must be provided — just the radio logs.

Joey Senat, an associate professor of media law at Oklahoma State University, says 911 recordings should be considered radio logs and that they're routinely released elsewhere in the state.

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