Guide for police records units
Replacing FOI tracking spreadsheets in a police records unit.
Ontario's 39 municipal police services received 25,992 access requests in 2025 and completed 24,677, 81% of them within 30 days (IPC 2025 statistical report). Many units still track that volume in a spreadsheet next to a shared drive.
Book a demo1. InventoryList every column and who fills it in.
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List every column and who fills it in.
Export the spreadsheet and list each column: request number, date received, requester and requester type, request type, the records asked for, analyst, stage, due date, extension, fee estimate and deposit, third-party notices, decision, date closed and appeal. Note the columns kept in someone's head or in email, such as why a clock was paused or who approved a release.
2. MapMap each column to a request field.
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Map each column to a request field.
Each column becomes a field on the request in CommonWatch: reference, received date, requester, request type, stage, analyst, due date and fees. Free-text notes become entries in the request's history. Decide the reference format, for example keeping your existing numbers so letters and appeals still match.
3. Decide what movesOpen requests with their files, closed requests for retention.
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Open requests with their files, closed requests for retention.
- Open requests. Every open request moves with its records, letters and notes, so the analyst works from one file.
- Closed requests. Closed requests still inside your retention period move with their decision and close date, so retention and disposal run from them.
- Appeals. Requests under appeal move with the appeal and its dates.
4. Load and checkLoad the requests, then check every clock.
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Load the requests, then check every clock.
Two Rivers Digital loads your open and closed requests during setup, from the spreadsheet or from AccessPro. After the load, each open request's due date is checked against the legal clock: 45 business days for requests received from July 1, 2026, 30 days before, with Ontario holidays skipped, extensions under s. 20 and a fee estimate stopping the clock under s. 45(3.2). A due date that doesn't match is corrected with a recorded reason before go-live.
5. Cut overOne date, one system.
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One date, one system.
Pick a cut-over date. From that day, every new request is entered in CommonWatch, from the portal, email, mail or the counter. The spreadsheet becomes read-only and is kept under your records retention by-law.
After the spreadsheetWhat the request file does that a spreadsheet can't.
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What the request file does that a spreadsheet can't.
- The legal clock counts itself, and the deadlines view shows every open request on one timeline.
- A second person approves every release, enforced on the server.
- Every change and every view is in the audit trail.
- The year's figures for the IPC annual statistical report come from the case files.
To compare your volume with other services, see Ontario police FOI response rates for 2025.
Common questions
How should a police service replace spreadsheets for tracking freedom of information requests?
List every spreadsheet column, map each one to a request field, move open requests with their files and closed requests still under retention, check each open request's due date against the legal clock, then pick one cut-over date after which every new request goes into the FOI system and the spreadsheet is kept read-only.
Who moves our existing requests into CommonWatch?
Two Rivers Digital loads your open and closed requests during setup, from spreadsheets or from AccessPro. Implementation, including migration, is quoted to the service.
What happens to the old spreadsheet?
It becomes read-only on the cut-over date and is kept under your records retention by-law.
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