Sometimes when people call our law office and they’re being charged with a crime, one of the most common questions that we get asked is, how do I get a copy of my police report?
The short answer is you will get a copy of your police report on your very first court date and on your very first court date, your attorney has a duty to redact any witness information on that report before handing it over to you. Commonly, your criminal defense attorney will go over the police report with you but not actually hand it over to you until they’ve done their duty by redacting that witness information.
Sometimes people will say, “Well, can I go to the police station and get a copy of my report?” It really depends on that local agency and whether or not they have internal policies to hand that information over. Also, whether or not the report is even complete. In very specific situations like a driving under the influence case, the Department of Motor Vehicles may also give you a copy of the report if you request a DMV hearing. Generally, this is given to you at least 10 days before your DMV hearing.
Finally, the other narrow position is if you are involved in an auto collision, generally, your insurance company or potentially the Department of Motor Vehicles or the local agency will provide you with this collision report as well.
If you have any questions about your report or if you need help going through your report, we are happy to help. Lamano Law Office offers a 150 point inspection of every police report to ensure that we go through your case with a fine-tooth comb.
