How To Get A Police Report For A Car Accident
After you have been in a car accident, one of the first questions your insurance provider will ask you is do you have a copy of the police report? Obtaining accident reports is a similar process to the one above, but it is generally a bit easier because in most cases, there is no criminal investigation. If you are in a car accident, you will receive a slip with an incident number on it. To obtain your police report, simply visit the police department that the report was filed from and trade the sheet for the actual report. If you do not obtain your police report, your insurance company will have to request a copy via mail, and it will take a bit longer.
There are also resources online that house accident reports, like LexisNexis and Buycrash. However, the safest and quickest option to is visit your local Police Desk as soon as possible after the accident. Accident reports can be ready to pick-up as early as 24 hours after the accident, and up to a week. Another way to get a copy of a police report is through your local Department of Motor Vehicles.
Now that you know about how to get a copy of a police report, check out How To File a Police Report.
Will My Case Be Investigated
- Due to the nature of the reports filed – they have no known suspects or information to follow up on – we won’t be able to investigate most cases.
- All cases filed through the online reporting system will be reviewed and will help us track crime trends and patterns.
- The reports filed online are also usually the quickest and easiest way to get a report for your insurance company.
Step : Make Sure Your Occurrence Can Be Reported Online
Use the information below to see if you can use this system. If your occurrence qualifies for online reporting, proceed to the next step. If your occurrence does not qualify for online reporting, it cannot be accepted by the officer managing online reporting. These occurrences require contact with a local OPP officer for investigation. Please call the OPP toll-free at 1-888-310-1122 to file a report. Links to external websites including those with video, digital images or documents that are not supported by this application cannot be managed through this online reporting service. Please include a narrative description of the occurrence if you will be filing an online report.
Don’t Miss: How Much Do You Make As A Police Officer
What Is A Police Report
People file a police report with law enforcement for a wide variety of reasons such as domestic disputes, traffic accidents, burglaries, and home invasions, fraud, theft, stalking, violence, and many other reasons. To file a report, citizens usually begin by calling 911, or their local police departments non-emergency line, to report the incident.
Once a citizen reports an incident, dispatchers assign it to local officers in the area. The police officers travel to the appropriate location via car, motorcycle, or other police vehicles. Then, the officers evaluate the situation, make observations, interview witnesses, record data, and complete forms and reports required by their local police department.
Police officers also initiate the filing of a report to record the data and gather the details associated with criminal and civil incidents such as car accidents, burglaries, assaults, and robberies, just to name a few.
Officers gather and record a great deal of information and data on a police report. This is to help ensure thorough and accurate investigations and to support criminal proceedings if they become necessary. Also, background verification services may use them in background checks. The information contained in the typical police report may vary from county to county, but most capture very similar information.
Third Parties Obtaining Reports
Sometimes third parties who were not involved in the actions mentioned in police reports might want copies of them. In these instances, most states will only allow third parties to obtain copies of police reports if the matters enclosed within the reports have already been closed. However, some states may allow third parties to obtain copies of police reports even when the cases are pending. Generally, third parties must know the case number of the reports that they want and must go to the county clerks office where the police report was filed to obtain a copy of the reports. There is usually a fee for the reports to be printed as well.
The process of obtaining copies of police reports is slightly different for different groups of people. However, they typically are not difficult to obtain, no matter who wants them.
You May Like: Can You Call Police To Unlock Your Car
What Is The Description Of These Crime Types
PART I CRIMES: The four crime types currently posted here Burglaries, Robberies, Aggravated Assaults and Homicides are among those known as Part I or Major Crimes. These terms refer to seven crimes designated by the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting System as a basis for charting crime trends across the United States. The seven crimes chosen by the FBI as Part I crimes are: homicide, rape, robbery, and aggravated assault, which comprise Violent Crimes and burglary, larceny/theft and vehicle theft, which comprise Property Crimes.
People sometimes confuse the criminal behavior involved in a burglary versus a robbery. They may also not realize there is a difference between aggravated assaults and less serious assaults. The official FBI definitions of the crime types posted here are, as follows:
BURGLARY: the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or theft.
ROBBERY: taking or attempting to take anything of value from another person by force, threat or force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
AGGRAVATED ASSAULTS: an unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault is usually accompanied by the use of a weapon or by other means likely to produce death or great bodily harm.
Police Department Request Form
If you cannot submit a police report request online or through the mail, then you will have to visit the police department in person and file a request there. Call beforehand since some departments only allow in-person requests on certain days. You can find your local police department here. Then you can find out about filling out a Police Department Request Form in person and how to get the information you need. Typically these police department request forms can be fulfilled that day.
A request will typically require you to provide your personal and contact information as well as details about the incident, including the type of incident, date, and who else was involved. Be aware that if the report pertains to an ongoing investigation then your request could be denied. If you are unclear about why your request was denied you should talk to an attorney.
Read Also: Can You Check Your Police Record Online
What Is A General Offense Report
A General Offense Report is the standard format for initial crime reports that are written up by a police officer responding to an incident. Many of these will be responses to 9-1-1 calls. Others will be on-view incidents, which is an incident an officer sees and responds to, without being called to the scene.
Requesting A Police Report By Mail
The process of requesting a copy of a police report by mail is a bit more involved. In many jurisdictions, you are required to make your Public Access Request via mail. Typically, the agency will provide a form online for you to fill out, but some places are fine with you writing a letter to ask for the police report.
1. Figure out where to send the Public Access Request form or letter.
Your local police department may have a specific address and addressee for police report requests listed on their website. If they dont, simply address it to the Records and Identification Division, and use the general address listed online for the department.
2. Fill out the form or write the letter.
After you have found the location to send your request, you should be able to easily find out if they want you to send a request form or a letter. If the information is not readily available on the site, just call and ask which method they prefer. If it is available, filling out a request form is typically the easiest method because you wont have to worry about leaving out information.
If you write a letter instead of filling out the form, be sure to include the following information:
- Case number
- Your Name, Birthdate, and Address
- The date and location of the incident
- Your role in the case
- The officers name who filed the report
- What exactly you are requesting
3. Gather additional materials and send the form/letter.
4. Pay for the police report.
Read Also: What Are The Steps To Becoming A Police Officer
How To Access Your Police
Members of the public have the right to request records containing their personal information from the Ontario Provincial Police or a municipal police service. Individuals who make these requests may have, for example, played a role in a suspected offence, been involved in a call for service or some other police-attended incident or had a relative who died in circumstances that led to the involvement of a police service.
Someone else, such as a lawyer or other person acting on your behalf, may make the request for you, or you may do so yourself. You may file a request by submitting a form and paying a fee, either by mail or in person.
Commonly requested records include:
- officers notes and
- police-related 911 calls.
Many people think that they cannot request a police officers notes, but a police notebook is generally in the custody or control of the police service and is subject to freedom of information requests.
Requesting information from a police service follows the same process as asking for records from other types of government institutions. However, the nature of police-held information means that frequently some of these records or some passages within these records are exempt from disclosure under Ontarios access to information legislation.
In all cases, if you disagree with a police services decision to deny your access request in whole or part, you may file an appeal with our office.
This post is also available in: French
Filing A Police Report Online
This system allows you to submit a report from your computer or mobile device without going to an OPP detachment. All submissions will be sent directly to the OPP and reviewed by an officer. You may be contacted to provide more information. You must have a valid e-mail address in order to submit a report.
To file a report online, please follow the simple steps below:
Don’t Miss: What Do You Need To Join The Police Academy
How Long Will It Take To Get A Copy Of A Report Once It Is Requested
- In most cases, if you attend in person to obtain a report, it will be prepared while you wait. If the report is incomplete , it will be released to you when it is completed. There may be an additional wait time for archived reports.
- Requests by mail will be responded to by mail as promptly as possible.
When And How To Make A Police Report
There are many situations in which it is important to know how to make a police report. You should always file one for any incident or disturbance that affects you or your property such as a robbery, vandalism or attack.
When it comes to vehicle property, it is your right and responsibility to inform the police if anything happens to it, especially on public property.
If someone steals any car valuables such as your license plate, registration card or tires, you are advised to file a police report as soon as possible. If you fail to do so, you may be enabling further crime.
Your can become the victim of theft if your car is stolen or broken into and burglarized. You should call your local police department immediately in regards to a stolen vehicle or any personal documents like car registration.
While there is no immediate deadline for these types incidents as there is for car accidents, to get your property back and prevent further crime, you should get a police report as soon as possible.
Don’t Miss: Can I Volunteer At A Police Station
Why Police Reports Matter
Police reports are public records and in some states they may be viewable by just about anybody. Usually there are restrictions on how those records can be used, particularly by employers, landlords, and financial institutions. As already mentioned, police reports are particularly usefuland they may even be necessarywhen filing a claim with your insurer. The contents of a police report are important, so you need to make sure that any police report pertaining to you is accurate and does not cast you in an unnecessarily bad light.
How Long Will My Report Take To Process
- Normally, you will receive a response from the CORP reviewer within five business days.
- In the meantime you will be given a temporary transaction number to document your submission. This temporary number is NOT your police report number.
- Once your report has been reviewed and approved, your report number will be issued to you by email.
If you have already filed a report and realize you need the report approved quicker than 5 days – you can do that by calling the non-emergency number 206-625-5011 and asking to file the report with the Communications Section.
Be sure to tell them you have already filed the same report through the online reporting system, and give them the temporary transaction number you were provided when you filed the report online so they may include it in the narrative of your report.
Also Check: How Can I Check My Police Report Online
I Think I Might Know Something About An Incident Listed On A Report Who Should I Contact About This
If you read an incident report and believe you have knowledge that would help an investigation, please contact the Seattle Police Non-Emergency Number at 625-5011 and provide the General Offense Number located on the top left side of the report.
If you need to remain anonymous, you may contact Crime Stoppers. Mention the General Offense Number and date and time of the incident.
Request Forms For Ca Family Code 6:
Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, Stalking, Human Trafficking, or Abuse of an Elder or Dependent Adult
California Family Code § 6228 provides that victims of the alleged crimes, listed above, may receive a copy of their incident report within five days of their request, free of charge. Due to the sensitive information included in the reports, SFPD protocol requires in-person identification verification. Victims or their designated representatives must either submit their request in-person or pick-up their incident report in person at CISU Records Management. For a list of acceptable forms of identification, please refer to Section 2 of the Request for Police Report: Family Code § 6228 form.
Don’t Miss: How To Make A Police Report Over The Phone
Police Incident Report Copy Request Forms
If you elect NOT to use the portal, requests may still be submitted using U.S. Mail and email using the Incident Report Request Form. However, those requests will be manually entered and tracked in the Incident Report Request Portal by a member of CISU. You do NOT need to complete the Incident Report Request form if you submit your request via the portal.
Our request forms are available in several languages. Select your language, download and fill out the request form in your preferred language. The completed form may be either mailed or emailed to SFPD for processing. Instructions are included on all forms.
What’s In A Police Report
At the scene of the car accident, if you pay close attention you may notice the investigating officer inspecting vehicles, talking to people, measuring distances, writing notes, and taking photographs. The officer is taking some or all of these steps in preparation for drafting the police report. In short, the police report is a summary of the police officer’s investigation of the accident. The report will often contain some or all of the following information:
- approximate date, time, and location of the collision
- identifying information for parties involved in the car accident, including names, addresses, phone numbers, and insurance information
- identifying information for witnesses
- statements from the parties and witnesses
- citations and/or violations of law, and
- opinions as to cause of the collision and/or a fault determination.
Read Also: How Do You Fix An Incorrect Police Report
Locating An Incident Or Offense Report
To locate an incident or offense report, you will need:
- Victims last name
- Your report number
- The report date
Access your report online. If you have technical issues call any time at 866-495-4206, option 5.
If you do not know your incident report number, you can email us. We will look up your information and email it back to you.
Reporting A Sexual Assault Online
York Regional Police understands that while sexual assaults often cause long-lasting trauma, survivors may have difficulty speaking about incidents with friends, family members, or police officers. To help mitigate the challenges faced by sexual assault survivors, York Regional Police now accepts reports of historical sexual assaults online, which are received directly by qualified sexual assault investigators.
Learn more about reporting a sexual assault online.
Read Also: Can Police Take Your Money
What Types Of Crime Reports Can I See
General Offense Reports in PDF format are available for almost all crimes reported to SPD. These reports are made available within 8 hours after the event is closed. For the major crimes of Burglaries, Robberies, Aggravated Assaults and Homicides, additional information is made available through a redacted full narrative. These reports are available within 5 business days after the event.