The New York Police Department, Councilmember Chaim M. Deutsch, and Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito announced the launch of a new portal that allows drivers involved in collisions in New York City to obtain copies of their collision reports electronically and with no fee. Until now, the fastest way for involved parties or their representatives to obtain a copy of their report was to appear in person at the police precinct where the collision occurred, an inconvenient task that could take hours or days from the time of the collision to complete.
Councilmember Deutsch earlier this year introduced legislation that similarly sought to simplify the process of obtaining copies of collision reports. With the NYPD’s work on the Collision Report Retrieval Portal underway, Councilmember Deutsch worked with the Department to accomplish the goal of simplifying this process.
“In recent years, the Department has taken huge strides in the way we handle the basic report taking for collisions,” said NYPD Commissioner James P. O’Neill. “Instead of taking a paper form at the scene and then data entering the information at the command using an outdated computer program, officers can now take these reports electronically at the scene. The information becomes available and shareable much faster, which allows us to analyze it for public safety purposes and get copies to the affected parties faster and easier. I want to thank Councilmember Deutsch, a member of the Public Safety Committee, for partnering with the Department to bring about this change.”
“I commend Council Member Deutsch and the NYPD for their efforts to streamline the processing and distribution of traffic collision reports,” said Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “Making these reports accessible to motorists online will greatly reduce wait time and will ensure the NYPD can focus on the pressing work of keeping New Yorkers safe. I thank Council Member Deutsch for his leadership and look forward to the Council’s continued collaboration with the NYPD as we work to make the City more responsive to all New Yorkers.”
“I introduced Intro 1280 in the New York City Council to mandate the New York City Police Department to provide individuals involved in a vehicle collision with online access to the report, immediately upon its preparation,” said Councilmember Deutsch. “I am proud to have worked closely with the NYPD to make this goal a reality through this new technological initiative. The existing method to obtain a physical copy of a collision report requires involved parties to coordinate a pickup with an officer and then wait on a sometimes lengthy line upon arrival at the precinct. Oftentimes, the process causes more aggravation than the collision itself! Additionally, significant attention from NYPD personnel assigned to the stationhouse is diverted to handling collision reports. Our new initiative will remedy these flaws by providing senior-friendly, easily navigable online access to reports, freeing up NYPD officers to focus on important quality of life and criminal matters. I commend NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill and Deputy Commissioner of Information Technology Jessica Tisch for their leadership in tackling this matter, and I look forward to the passage of Intro 1280 to codify this initiative into law.”
Collision reports taken by the NYPD after September 30, 2016 have been entered into the Collision Report Retrieval Portal, which is available online at collisionreport.
The NYPD announced in late November TrafficStat, which provides unprecedented and timely access to NYPD collision statistics. It is available at TrafficStat.
(YWN Desk – NYC)
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