How to Get Your Police Report in Orange County
First, find out who has it
The police report is held by whichever agency responded to the crash, and in Orange County that depends on where it happened:
- A city with its own police department. Santa Ana, Anaheim, Irvine, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach and Fountain Valley, among others, have their own departments, and the report is with them.
- A city that contracts with the Sheriff. Aliso Viejo, Mission Viejo and several other cities have no police department of their own. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department handles their crashes, and the report is with the Sheriff.
- A freeway or toll road. The 5, the 405, the 55, the 91, the 73 and the other freeways and toll roads are patrolled by the California Highway Patrol, even where they run through a city. The report is with the CHP.
If you are not sure, the report number the officer gave you at the scene usually tells you. If you did not get one, call the non-emergency line for the city where it happened and give them the date, time and cross streets.
Each of our Orange County city pages lists which agency covers which roads in that city.
Who can get a copy
California does not release crash reports to the public. A copy goes to people with a real interest in the crash: the drivers and passengers involved, the owners of the vehicles, the parents of a minor driver, and the attorneys representing any of them.
Bring identification, and the report number if you have it.
How to ask for it
From the CHP. You can request a CHP report through the CHP’s online crash portal, by mailing form CHP 190 (Application for Release of Information), or in person at the CHP office for the area where the crash happened.
From a city police department or the Sheriff. Contact the records unit. Most take requests online or in person. Ask whether there is a fee, what identification they need, and how long it will take.
Reports are not ready right away. The officer has to finish writing it, and a crash with serious injuries can take longer. If it has been a few weeks, call and ask where it stands.
If the report is wrong
Reports get things wrong more often than people expect: a misspelled name, the wrong insurance company, a plate number off by one digit, a statement attributed to the wrong driver.
- Factual mistakes can often be corrected. Contact the agency’s records unit or the officer, explain the error, and bring proof, such as your insurance card or registration.
- The officer’s opinion about fault is much harder to change. You can usually ask to add a supplemental statement giving your side, but the officer is not required to change their conclusion.
Keep in mind what a report is and is not. It is one officer’s account, written after the fact, often without talking to every witness. It is useful evidence, but it does not decide fault, and an insurer is not bound by it. A report that blames you is not the end of your claim.
The other report: the DMV’s SR-1
This is the one most people miss. In California, if a crash causes any injury or death, or more than $1,000 in property damage, each driver involved has to report it to the DMV on form SR-1 within 10 days. That applies whether or not you were at fault, and whether or not the police wrote a report. The police report does not count as your SR-1, and neither does telling your insurance company.
Missing it can put your driver’s license at risk. If you were in a crash in the last 10 days and have not filed one, do it now.
Talk to Boyd
If you are trying to track down a report, or the one you got has it wrong, call. Getting the report is one of the first things we do on every case. The consultation is free, and Boyd takes the call himself: (714) 656-2400.