A police report is an official document prepared by the officer who responds after your crash. If your accident was caused by someone else's negligence, you should always call the police — the report is essential to your injury claim. Once you've done that, call a Marietta car accident attorney about your best next steps.
Why the Police Report Is Essential
The report lists the details the officer observed at the scene, any citations issued, a description of what happened, and their opinion on who was at fault. That information helps your attorney understand exactly what occurred so they can strategize your case. In Georgia, this is sometimes called a "crash report" or "incident report," and getting a copy is usually straightforward:
- Let your car accident lawyer get it for you;
- Order it online; or
- Pick it up in person from the police department that responded.
To pick it up yourself, go in person to the appropriate department, pay a small fee (typically $5 or less), and collect the paperwork from their Records Unit. Call the station's general number to find the Records Unit's location and hours.
Tips If You Get It Yourself
- It often takes a few days for a report to be ready. If you call the same day — or even a few days later — it may not be available yet.
- Check the specific department's website for the Records Unit phone number, and call ahead. In the greater Atlanta area you may have to submit an online records request — that's also how you'd request the 911 call, body/dash-cam footage, and other materials needed to prove your case.
- If your accident happened in a different city or county than where you live, you'll need to go to whichever police department, sheriff's office, or Georgia State Patrol post actually handled it.
- Not sure which agency responded? It'll be the police, sheriff, or Highway Patrol for the location of the crash. Look up each one's contact info online and ask whether they have your report — they're usually quite helpful.
If you hire an attorney, you can simply ask them to get the report for you. Our legal assistants request police reports all the time and know how to get them quickly — while also sending out critical spoliation letters and open-records requests.
Buying Your Report Online
Getting to a police station is hard when your only vehicle was just demolished, or when you're injured and can't get around. Many people prefer to get the report online at buycrash.com, a private service where you can look up and purchase your crash report. You'll need the date of the accident, where it happened, and the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) of the vehicle involved.
If Buycrash doesn't have your report yet, it's usually one of two reasons: the police haven't finished uploading it (wait 2–10 days), or that county doesn't use Buycrash — in which case, contact the Open Records department for the county that made the report (a quick search like "Cobb County Police Department Open Records Request" will get you there).