A board of department members shall be appointed by the chief of police to review reportable traffic crashes involving vehicles department-owned, leased, or operated by an employee within the scope of their duty. This board shall be known as the Accident Review Board (ARB) and will meet monthly. The senior commander of citywide services shall be the chairperson. Reportable crashes are those which occur while the vehicle is in the custody of an employee of the department on public or private property. The amount of the damage or cost of repair shall not be a determining factor in reporting of crashes; except, the ordinary wear and tear damage that occurs in police parking facilities need not be considered by the ARB. All members of the department (sworn and civilian), regardless of rank or position, are subject to such review.

Exceptions to the Accident Review Board Review:

All traffic crashes are subject to review by the ARB except for the following incidents:

  • Traffic crashes that are part of an investigation by the internal affairs unit as determined by the Chief of police;
  • Traffic crashes deemed to be a critical incident by the chief of police, or their designee, will be investigated by the homicide/ robbery unit using established protocols;
  • Traffic crashes resulting in a criminal review;
  • Properly parked police vehicles that are damaged by another vehicle. (A properly parked vehicle is one which occupies a designated parking space with the brakes properly set, and doors closed.); and
  • A deliberate emergency exposure, i.e., using squad as emergency road barricade, occupied or not, that results in damage to a police vehicle. (A pursuit is not considered a deliberate emergency exposure and, therefore, vehicles damaged in a pursuit shall be subject to review by the ARB.)

Accident Review Board Members:

  • Citywide services senior commander or designee (chair)
  • District senior commanders or designee
  • FSVU major crimes commander or designee
  • Traffic and accident investigator
  • Fleet sergeant
  • Training unit commander or designee
  • Federation representative

Accident Review Board Duties and Guidelines:

The ARB will render a written recommendation for each crash in one of the following categories:

  • Non-preventable- a crash in which the employee did everything reasonable to prevent the crash. Legal intervention when the ARB determines it was a proper course of action for the employee will be deemed non-preventable.
  • Preventable- a crash in which the employee failed to do everything reasonable to prevent the crash. For example, did the employee see the other vehicle, person or object prior to the crash? If not, why not? Did the employee take any or all of the following defensive actions: change of direction, change of speed, communications -- lights, eye contact, horn, etc.

The ARB shall have access to all original, supplemental, and state accident reports describing the crash. The department may require an employee to submit information and reports which the ARB deems necessary to conduct a thorough review. The ARB member / designee will review the original crash report, supplementary reports, diagrams, photographs / in car camera video, and the written conclusion of the investigating supervisor prior to the scheduled meeting. Photographs / in car camera video will be available for further review at the meeting if necessary utilizing the back end client and media vault applications.

The ARB cannot require the attendance of the employee(s) involved, but employee(s) may voluntarily attend the meeting to provide to the ARB a verbal description of the crash. Employee(s) will be notified by department email of the date the crash is to be reviewed by the ARB should the employee wish to attend. Notification will be made approximately 14 days prior to the review to allow for schedule adjustments. Employee(s) who intend to appear must respond to the notification no later than two (2) days prior to the scheduled review.

The investigating supervisor may be required to attend the ARB meeting by the ARB chairperson. In most incidents, the reports written by the supervisor investigating the crash are sufficient for the ARB to review.

The ARB shall discuss and provide any recommendations on employee discipline to the Chief of Police or designee. The ARB may recommend changes in equipment or procedures intended to prevent future injuries or unnecessary damage to department vehicles.

The ARB chairperson is responsible for completing the ARB recommendation report which is electronically distributed to the board members/designee for review. The recommendation report is then forwarded to the assistant chief of patrol operations. The assistant chief of patrol operations and or the chief of police may send any recommendation report back to the ARB for further review if additional information evidence or testimony is needed. The ARB shall provide an additional recommendation report after further review to the assistant chief of patrol operations.

Final Determinations:

The chief of police will make the final determination as to whether the incident was preventable or non-preventable.

The chief of police will make any and / all determinations for any disciplinary action that may result from the crash. The chief of police will be the final authority on the matter subject to any grievances procedures available to the employee.

Revised January 14, 2016