How to Get a Crash Report in Arizona

The Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) keeps collision reports for crashes that State Troopers investigated on an Interstate or State Highway. It also keeps reports of minor collisions filed through its Citizen's Report of a Collision tool.¹

DPS does not keep reports from county sheriffs, city or local police departments, or town marshal's offices. That includes crashes on town, city or county roads. Requests for those reports go to the agency that investigated the crash.¹

Under A.R.S. 28-667, the agency that employs the investigating officer must immediately send a copy of the report to the Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) for its use.³

Under A.R.S. 28-667, an officer or public employee who investigates a crash with an injury, a death, property damage over $2,000 or a citation must complete a written report. For a crash with $2,000 or less in damage and no citation, injury or death, the officer must complete part of the report. The report must be completed within 24 hours after the investigation is completed.³

DPS also holds photos that State Troopers take while investigating incidents and crashes on interstate and state highways. It keeps dispatch radio and 911 recordings for one calendar year. It releases body-worn camera footage with a medium blur over the entire video.¹

Online (DPS reports): Create an account on the DPS Public Services Portal at psp.azdps.gov, then select "Request a Report or Records." You can pay for online requests through the portal. For technical help with the portal, DPS lists a support line on its Records Request page.^1,2

By mail (DPS reports): Send a written request to Arizona Department of Public Safety, Attn: Public Records, PO Box 6638 Mail Drop 3240, Phoenix, AZ 85005-6638. Pay for a mailed request by mail or in person.¹

In person (DPS reports): Go to the Arizona DPS Public Services Center at 2222 W. Encanto Blvd, Phoenix, AZ 85009. It is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday to Friday, and closed on state holidays. DPS accepts credit and debit cards only in person.¹

By phone: DPS does not take records requests over the phone.¹

For the DPS automated process, your online request must include the complete incident number: a capital "I" followed by 8 digits, with no hyphens.¹

Reports with supplements or attachments, and reports categorized as fatalities, cannot go through the automated process.¹

The agency may require you to state, under penalty of perjury, that you are not examining or copying the report for commercial solicitation.³

If you want copies of public records for a commercial purpose, you must provide a statement of that purpose.¹

You can ask DPS to provide any record with a certificate letter signed by its Custodian of Records.¹

DPS charges $9.00 for electronic delivery by email or through the Public Services Portal. Electronic delivery has a 5 MB limit.¹

DPS paper copies cost $9.00 for the first nine pages and $0.10 for each additional page.¹

DPS charges $15.00 for records on a DVD (4.7 GB limit) and $20.00 for records on a flash drive (16 GB limit).¹

For a video request, DPS charges $21.33 for the first half hour and $21.33 for each additional half hour, on top of the delivery fee.¹

Pay for online requests through the Public Services Portal. Pay for requests made any other way in person or by mail.¹

DPS accepts credit or debit cards (in person only), cashier's checks, money orders and business checks. It does not accept personal checks. Make business checks, cashier's checks and money orders payable to Arizona Department of Public Safety.¹

You can review records before you buy copies, but only after DPS has finished processing your request and issued an invoice.¹

Under A.R.S. 39-127, some crime victims have the right to one free copy of DPS offense or collision reports and video recordings. This covers a victim of a crime or delinquent act that is a Part 1 crime under the statewide uniform crime reporting program. It also covers the victim's attorney acting for the victim, or an immediate family member if the victim was killed or incapacitated.¹

DPS says its automated process for unredacted collision reports usually fills a request within 48 hours after you submit it on the Public Services Portal.¹

The DPS Public Records Unit processes requests in the order it receives them.¹

Some requests take longer. These include archived reports, reports for active investigations, and requests involving large amounts of data, video or audio.¹

Under A.R.S. 39-127, law enforcement agencies must prioritize processing and providing police reports that qualifying crime victims request under that law.⁴

For questions about a pending request, you can call the DPS Public Records Unit Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except state holidays. The number is on the DPS Records Request page.¹

Under A.R.S. 28-667, the agency must give an unredacted copy of the report, on request, to a person involved in the crash, the owner of a vehicle involved, or a representative of either.³

The agency must also provide unredacted copies to a licensed attorney or licensed private investigator who represents an involved person in a civil, administrative or arbitration proceeding.³

The agency must also provide unredacted copies to some insurers. These include an insurer licensed under title 20 if the report relates to an investigation into fraudulent claims, and an auto liability insurer that meets two further conditions in the statute. They also include an insurance support organization, as defined in section 20-2102, that provides claims investigation, antifraud, rating or underwriting services.³

If the report shows that a criminal complaint has been issued, any victim's personal identifying information must be redacted before release. This applies when the request comes from an involved person, a vehicle owner, their representative, or an attorney or licensed private investigator for an involved person.³

A law enforcement agency may refuse to release an unredacted report if it decides that release would harm a criminal investigation.³

The agency must not let anyone examine or copy a crash report if the request is for commercial solicitation.³

Under A.R.S. 28-667(G), a person who receives a crash report and is not otherwise subject to distribution restrictions may not release the report or any information in it, except to the people entitled to unredacted copies.³

If a county sheriff, city or local police department, or town marshal's office investigated your crash, request the report from that agency. DPS does not keep those reports.¹

Phoenix Police Department: Request a traffic crash report through its online Police Public Records portal. "Traffic Crash" is one of the request options.⁵

The Phoenix Police Public Records and Services Bureau is at 100 W. Washington St., Phoenix, AZ 85003. It is open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., except city holidays.⁵

Tucson Police Department: The department says its collision reports are stored electronically and are available for purchase at Crashdocs.⁶

If your crash was on private property, such as a parking lot, and police did not come to the scene, ADOT says to get a crash report from the law enforcement agency with jurisdiction there. You need a crash report from a law enforcement agency to request another vehicle's insurance information from ADOT MVD.⁷

Arizona law requires the driver in a crash that injures or kills someone to report it immediately, by the quickest means, orally or in writing. The notice goes to the local police department (if the crash is within a city or town), the county sheriff's office or the nearest highway patrol office.⁸

If you are driving and collide with another vehicle, Arizona law requires you to stop, or return to the scene immediately, and exchange information. That includes showing your driver's license and giving your name, address and vehicle license plate.²

For a minor crash, you can use the DPS Citizen's Report of a Collision online tool to submit details and get a police report number. You can use it only if the crash was on a State Highway within DPS jurisdiction, no one was injured, estimated damage was under $2,000, and no more than two vehicles were involved.²

DPS reviews each online report and may email you for more information. Once DPS approves the report, it emails you the police report number.²

A report number from the online tool replaces a collision investigation. After DPS issues the number, there is no further investigation to determine the at-fault driver, obtain insurance information or locate a vehicle that came through the scene.²

The online tool does not replace the Arizona Crash Report. That report may be required for collisions that do not meet the tool's eligibility requirements.²

For a non-emergency collision that does not meet the tool's criteria, DPS says to call its non-emergency number and request contact from a state trooper. The number is on the DPS Citizen's Report of a Collision page.²

The online form warns that anyone who files a false report may be prosecuted under A.R.S. 13-2907.01(A).⁹