Investigations

[4CHP]

Hi,

I have a couple of questions.

First, when an accident occurs on a freeway, how is it determined who is responsible for investigating the cause of it? How much of a part do officers on scene play during the investigation?

Second, does the CHP conduct any other investigative tasks, besides traffic accidents?

Thanks for your input, all!

:cool:

[carcop]

Any accident that occurs on the freeway or state route is the responsibility of CHP. We also have traffic jurisdiction for county roads in just about every county. The officers that respond to the scene , aside traffic control, will be responsible for gathering all the info. That includes drivers, vehicle, insurance and any witnessess's info and statements. We get statements from both drivers and then take into account the evidence, debris, paint marks, skids, etc.... After all that, we write up the report and conclude the cause, or who is at fault!

As for other type investigations, we don't do a lot but that also depends on the area. Some areas only do traffic and some may get some more responsibility. We do have special units that investigate more things like vehicle theft, but if your talking like mureders or roberies .... usually local PD. If things like that happen on the freeway then it s our jurisdicton but generally gets turned over to PD.

[4CHP]

Any accident that occurs on the freeway or state route is the responsibility of CHP. We also have traffic jurisdiction for county roads in just about every county. The officers that respond to the scene , aside traffic control, will be responsible for gathering all the info. That includes drivers, vehicle, insurance and any witnessess's info and statements. We get statements from both drivers and then take into account the evidence, debris, paint marks, skids, etc.... After all that, we write up the report and conclude the cause, or who is at fault!

As for other type investigations, we don't do a lot but that also depends on the area. Some areas only do traffic and some may get some more responsibility. We do have special units that investigate more things like vehicle theft, but if your talking like mureders or roberies .... usually local PD. If things like that happen on the freeway then it s our jurisdicton but generally gets turned over to PD.

Thanks for your reply. I remember a friend of mine was involved in an accident, where he was minding his own business in the right lane of the 101 in SF, and a non-English speaking lady decided at the last moment not to take the off-ramp. Of course, she slammed into the front right side of my friend's car. Fortunately, the damage was relatively minor for both parties.

Due to the lack of eyewitnesses, and the differing accounts of both parties (my friend was telling it as I wrote, and the non-English party was saying that my friend just slammed into her car), the officer concluded that the party at fault could not be determined. I remember he showed me the report of several pages...I believe it took about a week for the report to be finalized.

Is that a typical turn-around for those kinds of accidents? I probably did not have all the information, couldn't the report be finalized on scene?

Please pardon my ignorance.

Thanks again, I appreciate your time.

[Mac]

Is that a typical turn-around for those kinds of accidents? I probably did not have all the information, couldn't the report be finalized on scene?
That's pretty typical turn-around. Reports aren't finalized at the scene - the officer gathers all the information and conducts his investigation, then the report has to be written and the sketch and diagram drawn, and any necessary follow-up investigation conducted (contacting witnesses not at the scene, etc.). The report is then entered into the database at the office, reviewed by a trained accident review officer and returned for corrections, if necessary. Once the report is finalized, it's then available to the involved parties.

[4CHP]

Is that a typical turn-around for those kinds of accidents? I probably did not have all the information, couldn't the report be finalized on scene?
That's pretty typical turn-around. Reports aren't finalized at the scene - the officer gathers all the information and conducts his investigation, then the report has to be written and the sketch and diagram drawn, and any necessary follow-up investigation conducted (contacting witnesses not at the scene, etc.). The report is then entered into the database at the office, reviewed by a trained accident review officer and returned for corrections, if necessary. Once the report is finalized, it's then available to the involved parties.

Thanks, Mac. Does the officer on scene return to the "precinct" immediately after the accident is cleaned up from the road, and complete as much of the investigation as possible? Or, does he/she continue the shift?

Thanks!

[dw]

Is that a typical turn-around for those kinds of accidents? I probably did not have all the information, couldn't the report be finalized on scene?
That's pretty typical turn-around. Reports aren't finalized at the scene - the officer gathers all the information and conducts his investigation, then the report has to be written and the sketch and diagram drawn, and any necessary follow-up investigation conducted (contacting witnesses not at the scene, etc.). The report is then entered into the database at the office, reviewed by a trained accident review officer and returned for corrections, if necessary. Once the report is finalized, it's then available to the involved parties.

Thanks, Mac. Does the officer on scene return to the "precinct" immediately after the accident is cleaned up from the road, and complete as much of the investigation as possible? Or, does he/she continue the shift?

Thanks!

A lot depends on the severity of the collision and the officer's personal style. Personally, I wrote almost everything in my car. When working in a busy area, you may take 2, 3, or more collisions in a day. There simply isn't time for the luxury of going to the office. I would pick a visible spot on my beat (so my presence is still known) and write in the car. At the end of shift, return to the office and print everything out.

[Darth Choke]

Hi,

Second, does the CHP conduct any other investigative tasks, besides traffic accidents?






DUI is another big investigative task for the CHP. You might say, every stop is a DUI investigation. I have more DUI arrests than T/C reports.

[Mac]

Thanks, Mac. Does the officer on scene return to the "precinct" immediately after the accident is cleaned up from the road, and complete as much of the investigation as possible? Or, does he/she continue the shift?
A lot of that depends on what Area you work in, how busy it is, how far your beat is from the office, and how your sergeants feel about you coming in to the office in the middle of your shift to write reports (all of which vary greatly). As DW said, in a busy metro area, you'll often take multiple t/c reports in a shift.....so you better take good notes so you can recall them later when you go to write them! It's not uncommon to sometimes be "down" 4 or 5 t/c investigations if it's so busy that you don't have time to stop and write them! On rain days, hang on to your hat....no telling how many you'll take.

In some of the quieter areas, officers may have time to head back to the barn and work on their paper, but in some of those places, your beat is 40 (or more!) miles from the office, so going back in puts you too far away from your beat if you get another call. A lot of officers either write them on the MDC in the car (or do it by hand if they're still writing them that way), or go to a coffee shop, fire station, etc. on their beat and work on them. If it's a real severe/complicated or high-profile incident, the sergeant might send the officer back to the office to start working on it and have his beat partners cover his beat.

As far as other investigations - again, some of that depends on where you work. In some areas, the commanders want us taking any criminal reports that don't require detectives/crime lab personnel, while in others you do mainly traffic. In any office that has state facilities (i.e. DMV, Social Services, etc.), we have investigative responsibility for any crimes that occur on those premises, and have to take paper on them. Other investigations we handle are DUIs, drug arrests, 23110 (objects thrown at vehicle) reports, etc. In LA there are some GREAT pinches made for possession/sales of counterfeit DVDs/CDs - they're all over the place, and we have officers who have received special training in identifying them and conducting the investigations. We also have officers who work various task forces and investigative details such as auto theft, commercial/cargo theft and narcotics/clandestine labs. Some of these investigations are incredibly complex and involve reams of paperwork, search warrants, etc. The MAIT (Multidisciplinary Accident Investigation Team) works major/high-profile collisions, and their reports often number hundreds of pages. They also process shooting scenes and some crime scenes, again involving a lot of investigation and writing. The OISIT (Officer-Involved Shooting Investigation Teams) respond and investigate any officer-involved shooting, and the finished investigation usually fills several binders.

etc., etc., blah blah blah.....there are a lot of "behind the scenes" positions that aren't as readily visible as the beat cop in the black-and-white. Applicant Investigators, Academy Instructors, Staff Services, Internal Affairs, Disability Fraud, Environmental Crimes, Hazardous Materials, Computer Crimes.....the list goes on and on....

[4CHP]

Thank you all for your replies. I was listening to a SoCal CHP scanner online yesterday (rainy day), and you're defnintely right when you said "on rain days, hang on to your hat!"