Downey Police contracts with LexisNexis

DOWNEY - Traffic collision reports will soon be available online after the city council on Tuesday agreed to contract with LexisNexis to manage its reports.Records personnel inside the Downey Police Department currently have to manually scan traffic collision reports written by police officers, in addition to filing the original report. Personnel also respond to requests for traffic collision reports. Last year, the police department handled 1,058 requests for collision reports, about 90 percent of which came from insurance companies, city officials said. The police department charges $15 for a report copy. LexisNexis will now allow police officers to upload reports directly to an electronic database. When an insurance company or member of the public requests a collision report online, it will be handled by LexisNexis, which will collect Downey's $15 fee. LexisNexis adds a $7 convenience fee, which it retains. Residents can still walk into the police station for a collision report and pay $15. Police Chief Carl Charles said the LexisNexis software will free up records personnel staff and make the department more efficient in managing the reports. He also touted the convenience of requesting a collision report online. "The LexisNexis eCrash Application will allow our officers to complete their traffic collisions on software that is similar to what they are currently using," Charles wrote in a report. "However, the eCrash software allows the report to be submitted, reviewed and uploaded into our Records Management System electronically, eliminating the need to print out a report or manually scanning it."

********** Published: March 14, 2013 - Volume 11 - Issue 48