Having a copy of the police report for your accident can help you find information and evidence, especially if you had to go straight to the ER and didn’t get a chance to collect evidence. However, you usually don’t need to get a copy yourself.
Your lawyer can help you get a copy of your police report as part of the research into your case. However, if you want to get a copy yourself, you can do so at a third-party website called CrashDocs.org (part of Carfax). This is the site the Kearny PD partners with. Reports from the NJ State Police can be found on the State Police website, and many of the surrounding local PDs use CrashDocs, too.
For help with your case, call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C.’s Kearny personal injury lawyers at (201) 777-1111 today.
How to Get a Crash Report in Kearny?
If the Kearny Police Department responded to your crash, then they will be the department to write up the report. The Kearny PD website specifically refers you to CrashDocs.org to get a report online, but you can also call the PD to get a report in person.
Online
CrashDocs is part of Carfax, the company that sells accident history reports for cars. The Kearny PD uses them to host their police reports, as do many other local police departments in NJ.
To get a report, you simply go to the website, select NJ as the state, and select Kearny Police Department as the agency. You then need three pieces of information:
- The report or reference number (usually given to you by the responding officer)
- Your last name
- The date of the crash.
From there, you can easily order your report online for a reasonable fee.
In Person
You can also call the Kearny PD Records Bureau at (201) 955-5372 or visit the police department in person to request a copy of the report.
How Do I Get a Crash Report from the NJ State Police?
If the NJ State Police responded to your crash, it will be available through a different portal. They also collect reports from across the state, so your report might be available here a few weeks after the local PD completes the report, no matter which local PD prepared the report.
Regular Accidents
There is an online portal to order a report from the State Police for toll roads and non-toll roads across the state, including the Garden State Parkway and NJ Turnpike.
Reports cost $13.00 for non-toll roads and $5.00 for toll roads, with additional costs for photos and prints.
Serious and Fatal Crashes
Investigations are more in-depth for serious injury crashes or fatal crashes, so these reports are requested through separate records requests. You can get the full crash report through this link or photos only through this link. However, you need to upload a copy of the subpoena from the court to get access, so this is typically something your Kearny car accident lawyer would do for you.
Serious and fatal accident reports cost $20. Photo prints are $5 each for up to 10 prints and $3 each beyond that.
Do I Need a Copy of the Police Report?
Typically, you do not need to get a copy of the report yourself, and having a copy only has limited uses.
Can My Lawyer/Insurance Get a Copy?
Your lawyer or your insurance company can get a copy on their own, and your lawyer can obtain a copy for you. As your agents, they are authorized to retrieve a copy of the report.
Your lawyer can also go over the report with you.
Do I Need to Get a Copy?
In most cases, having a copy of the police report will be helpful. It contains a lot of helpful information, like who was involved, when the accident took place, diagrams, and potentially even photos of the accident scene.
However, its uses are limited. It typically cannot be introduced as evidence of what happened, given that the officer probably wrote it from secondhand information, having not personally witnessed the crash.
Even so, it may be used for other limited purposes, like having witnesses review it to refresh their recollection on the stand.
FAQs for Police Reports from Crashes in Kearny, NJ
Can I Get a Report Online?
The Kearny PD and the State Police seem to expect you to get a report online instead of in person, and they both have online portals you can use to order a copy of the report.
Can I Get a Report in Person?
The Kearny PD does allow copies to be requested and picked up in person. Call the Records Bureau or go to the police department to make your request.
How Much Do Copies Cost?
Using CrashDocs has its own fee, which is typically under $20. Reports through the State Police cost $5 to $20, depending on the type of report, plus more for photos.
In-person copies do not have the price listed, but they usually include a reasonable search fee plus minimal fees for the actual paper copies.
What’s in a Police Report?
The police report usually contains a few parts:
- The officer’s observations upon arriving at the scene of the accident
- A narrative of what happened, usually based on secondhand information
- Lists of who was involved, what cars were involved, where the accident happened, etc.
- A diagram of the accident
- Other important details (e.g., whether tickets were issued).
Can I Use a Police Report as Evidence in My Case?
Most of the time, police reports are hearsay. There may be exceptions to allow the report to be entered, but it usually cannot be used for the ultimate conclusion of who was at fault, given that the officer is probably not certified as an expert. It is also based on secondhand info, so it may not be reliable.
Reports can, however, be used for two purposes:
- If it contains prior statements from the witness, and they testify to something different than what the report says, you can use it to show they made inconsistent statements.
- If a witness forgets facts, they can read the report to refresh their recollection.
Do I Need to Get a Copy Myself?
Our lawyers can obtain a copy of your police report for you as part of our work on your case. You typically do not need to get a copy yourself.
Call Our Kearny Car Accident Lawyers Today
For a free case evaluation, call Agrapidis & Maroules, P.C.’s Kearny car accident lawyers at (201) 777-1111.