Ibarra

William Tillman filed a complaint against several peace officers alleging that guards at the Men’s Central Jail in Los Angeles physically mistreated him while he was an inmate there. He sought the production of the guards’ official service photographs for use in witness interviews. He filed a motion for disclosure of the photographs as peace officer personnel records. The trial court ordered the photographs to be produced to plaintiff’s counsel and imposed conditions on their use.

The officers filed a petition for writ of mandate in this court challenging the order. We share the officers’ concern that the order does not adequately protect them from the dangers inherent in the disclosure of their photographs in these circumstances.

We conclude that a peace officer’s official service photograph is not a personnel record under Penal Code section 832.8 and therefore is not subject to the requirements of Penal Code section 832.7 and Evidence Code section 1043 when discovery or disclosure is sought. We also conclude that the photographs are not protected by either the right to privacy under the California Constitution (art. I, § 1) or the official information privilege (Evid.…