How To Remove Your Information From Patch

Patch publishes reports of local police activity, including arrests. If you were the subject of a police report and were found not guilty or charges were dropped, you may request to have your name removed from Patch.

Here’s what to do:

Send an email to [email protected] with:

• A clickable link to the article(s) with the name you want us to consider editing (or deleting if you’re the only subject of the article)
• Your 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• Documentation proving the charges are no longer valid (a photo or scan of the physical document attached to the email)

To show charges are no longer valid, you can obtain documentation from the court, the arresting police department or your attorney (with a signature and letterhead).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 your photo is included in the article and there are more than one in the gallery, download or screen shot yours and include it in the email as an attachment. If we remove your name, we’ll remove your photo, too.

We also send a request to Google to remove your name from search results. This way, a search for your 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. You would need to contact those webmasters directly and request removal.

If your court processes aren’t complete, then we won’t remove the information. Please ensure the matter is complete before emailing us.

After receiving your request, our legal/content removal team will process your request and get back to you within two weeks.