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E.P.P. 018 LONGWOOD POLICE DEPARTMENT ENFORCEMENT POLICY & PROCEDURE NUMBER: EPP – 18 SUBJECT: TRAFFIC CRASHES EFFECTIVE: JUNE 30, 2002 REVISED: MARCH 1, 2022 ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 1 of 11 I. PURPOSE: This directive is established to provide guidelines for enforcement personnel when responding to traffic crashes. II. POLICY: A. It is the policy of the Longwood Police Department to investigate all traffic crashes in the incorporated limits of the City of Longwood that meet the following criteria: 1. Where a fatality has occurred; 2. Where injuries are sustained or a complaint of injuries is voiced by the driver(s), passenger(s) or involved parties; 3. Crashes that involve hazardous materials; 4. When Police Department or any other city vehicles are involved; 5. Crashes that involve impairment due to alcohol or drugs; 6. Crashes that involve hit and run situations or other criminal traffic violations; 7. Any crash, regardless of the amount of damage, where any involved party requests a law enforcement report; and, 8. Any crash, regardless of severity, where there is a disturbance between principals, 9. Minor traffic crashes that occur in parking lots, on private property and in residential neighborhoods. ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 2 of 11 III. RESPONSE TO TRAFFIC CRASHES: A. Officers will be dispatched to the scene of any reported traffic crash within the incorporated limits of the City of Longwood that involve: 1. Death or injury; 2. Hit and run; 3. Impairment of a driver due to alcohol or drugs; 4. Damage to public or government vehicles or property; 5. Hazardous materials; 6. Disturbances between involved drivers, pedestrians or property owners; 7. Major traffic congestion as a result of the crash; and, 8. Damage to vehicles to the extent towing is required. B. This response is necessary in order to: 1. Aid in the preservation of life and the protection of property; 2. Provide assistance to stranded motorists as a result of a traffic crash; 3. Assist with the restoration of a safe and normal traffic flow; or, 4. Begin a timely investigation of the crash. C. Upon arrival at the crash scene, the officer will make a determination (in accordance with the criteria established by this directive) if the crash will be investigated by the Police Department or if a driver’s exchange or driver’s report of crash will be utilized. D. Any vehicle disabled in the roadway, which cannot be immediately removed from the roadway by other means, will be immediately removed by a police rotational wrecker. E. If a crash occurred on a private property or the crash vehicle has been pushed or driven out of the road and into private parking lot and no longer blocking the roadway, officers do not have authority to require a driver to use a police rotational wrecker. The police rotational wrecker may be used only at the driver’s request. ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 3 of 11 IV. FIRST OFFICER ON THE SCENE (DUTIES): Unless already handled by on-scene personnel of another law enforcement or public safety agency, the duties of the first officer on the scene include: A. Identifying any Injured Persons: 1. Requesting the response of emergency medical personnel through the Telecommunications Section or other sources; 2. Rendering first aid within the limits of training utilizing all available resources, such as the first aid kit, biohazard protective equipment, and resuscitation device that are readily available in all patrol vehicles; 3. Injured persons remaining in their vehicles should not be moved and should be afforded as much protection as possible from on-coming traffic or other hazardous situation. B. Hazardous Materials or Fire: 1. Officers shall be cognizant of the fact that any crash involving a cargo vehicle is a potentially hazardous incident. Officers will be observant for evidence of hazardous materials before approaching a vehicle. 2. Verify the presence of any downed power lines, chemical spill, or other hazardous situation and report same to the Telecommunications Section. 3. Personnel suspecting a hazardous material incident or fire will: a. Advise the Telecommunications Section of the type of hazard (spill, leak, fire, etc.), the vehicle description, and a description of any container placards or other pertinent information affixed to the involved vehicle. b. Request the Telecommunications Section to summon assistance from fire/rescue personnel. c. Deploy the Police Department vehicle's fire extinguisher as necessary until emergency personnel arrive. d. Responding personnel should do what they reasonably can to evacuate people, isolate the area, and protect the public, victims, and themselves from the threat of injury. ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 4 of 11 e. Call for assist units as is necessary. C. Scene Protection: 1. Position enforcement vehicles in such a manner so as to maximize visibility to oncoming traffic. Emergency lighting equipment will be used and, if necessary flares (if there is no danger of fire) and safety cones when available. 2. While directing traffic around a crash scene, officers shall utilize their reflective traffic safety vest and flashlight with the traffic wand attachment, that are provided to each officer and stored in each patrol vehicle. 3. Officers will protect the scene as much as possible. Involved vehicles or debris should not be moved from their positions unless they present a hazard or create obstruction to fire/rescue personnel. 4. If a vehicle, significant piece of debris, or person must be moved, the roadway should be marked to show the location of the vehicle, debris or person. 5. Preservation of all evidence, including short lived evidence, is essential and secondary only to the safety of the public and responding public safety personnel. D. Verify Jurisdiction and Responsibility for the Investigation: 1. Unless another law enforcement agency having jurisdiction is already on the scene, responding officers will ensure that appropriate safety precautions are taken. If the crash is to be worked by the Police Department, responsibility for all safety and investigatory tasks will be assumed by the responding officer upon arrival at the scene. 2. If the Police Department is handling the crash, unless specifically directed otherwise by supervisory personnel the officer assigned to the crash by the Telecommunications Section as the primary officer will assume responsibility for the crash investigation. E. Summon additional personnel to assist in controlling the scene, if necessary; F. Drivers, passengers, and witnesses should be asked to remain at the scene, especially if a crash involves serious injuries and/or extensive property damage. If any witnesses must leave, identification including telephone numbers should be obtained from them by the officer for the investigator. When possible, the ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 5 of 11 first arriving officer should have witnesses begin sworn written statements as soon as possible. If a driver, passenger, or involved party is transported to a medical facility due to possible injury, the officer shall obtain the transported party’s name, transporting agency, and destination. G. Protection of Driver's Property: 1. When a driver is unable to care for his/her property due to injury, unconsciousness, or because his/her vehicle is being towed from the scene by a wrecker company, officers will ensure that the property will be protected from pilferage or theft. 2. The Crash Investigator shall: a. Inventory all property in the towed vehicle; b. Document said property on a department “Tow Sheet”; c. If the property is valued at $500.00 or more or is any type of currency, excluding U.S. coins with an estimated value less than $100.00, and cannot be turned over to the owner or appropriate designee, the officer shall impound and submit the property to the Longwood Police Department’s Property Custodian for safekeeping prior to going off-duty; d. And, complete a property sheet to be submitted with the Crash Report. 3. If a driver is transported to the hospital prior to the arrival of the Crash Investigator, officers on the scene will attempt to secure and protect the driver's property until the Crash Investigator’s arrival, at which time custody of the property will be turned over to the Crash Investigator. 4. If the officer is working a crash and a driver's vehicle is to be towed from the scene, the officer should advise the driver to remove his/her valuables from the vehicle for safekeeping. 5. When officers must handle a driver's personal property (such as for identification purposes), this should be done whenever possible in the presence of witnesses. H. Restoration of the Traffic Flow: ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 6 of 11 1. If a crash does not involve injury and if the vehicles and/ or debris are moveable, they should be moved from the roadway in order to restore the normal traffic flow as expeditiously as possible. 2. If a crash involves injury and where for the safety of the injured they must be left in their vehicles, the vehicles will not be moved until fire/rescue personnel have extracted the victims. Upon removal of the victims, if the vehicles are moveable they should be marked and moved from the roadway in order to restore the normal traffic flow. 3. If the vehicles cannot be moved and if a traffic flow needs to be re- established, a safe, single lane of traffic should be created to either side of the wrecked vehicles if no dangerous condition is present. Officers should utilize any and all safety cones and flares (when fire hazards do not exist). If the enormity or severity of the crash will require road closures the officer shall request the Emergency Traffic Operations Trailer from Seminole County Traffic Engineering to respond for resources (e.g. cones, signs, and barricades) in compliance with “Traffic Direction” policy (EPP # 21). V. INVESTIGATING OFFICER’S RESPONSIBILITIES: A. Initial "On-Scene" Investigation: If the crash is to be worked by the Police Department, the following procedures are to be followed by the officer working the crash and collecting information relative to the investigation. 1. Only those report forms issued by the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles will be utilized by officers to investigate a traffic crash. 2. Photographs may be taken of the scene. Photographs assist in establishing an after-the-fact record of the location, points of crash impact, and position of final rest of the involved vehicles. If photographs are taken, they should be taken before any vehicle is moved from its crash position. Digital photographs will be submitted into evidence electronically. 3. In all crashes investigated by an officer, a sketch of the scene will be made. This sketch should include at least the following information: a. The general direction of North; b. The location of the involved parties pre-crash positions; ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 7 of 11 c. The location of the involved parties after-crash (positions of final rest) positions; d. The location and description of any traffic control device that may have played a role in the crash; e. The roadway pattern (lane indicators, shoulders, number of lanes, etc.); and, f. The location where any evidence is located or came to rest. Evidence that is to be collected by the investigating officer will be protected and marked for such collection according to the Enforcement Policy and Procedure: "Evidence Collection." 4. The investigating officer will examine the roadway in order to determine if the crash had any effects on the roadway or if the roadway itself may have contributed to the crash. Any such observations must be recorded on the crash report and will be reported to the Seminole County Traffic Engineering, Florida Department of Transportation, or the City of Longwood Department of Public Works, through the Telecommunications Section, by the officer as soon as possible; 5. If measurements are expected to be beneficial to an investigation, a "rolling" tape measure\wheel or extended tape measure may be requested from the Traffic Division or from the Criminal Investigations Division. Measurements should be as accurate as possible. When appropriate, vehicles and other evidence should be measured from various fixed locations; 6. All involved vehicles will be examined as fully as possible in order to assess damage and to check for obvious signs of mechanical failure that may have caused or contributed to the crash. Any damage or apparent failure will be notated within the crash report's narrative; 7. All witnesses including the drivers and occupants must be interviewed in order to ascertain the complete facts of the events that initiated the crash. Non-involved witnesses should be interviewed first in order to release them from the scene; 8. If the crash report is completed as a "Long Form" the investigating officer should make an effort to provide the involved driver’s/property owner’s with one of the Information Exchange forms. In the event the scene or circumstances does not allow a timely completion of the exchange forms the officer shall provide a business card containing the crash report number, to all involved parties. ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 8 of 11 B. Follow-up Investigation and Report Completion: Follow-up by the investigating officer may be necessary if all pertinent information regarding the crash cannot be assimilated or documented within the twenty-four hours mandated by state law for crash report submission. The necessity for a follow-up investigation may include the following factors: 1. The necessity of locating and interviewing witnesses who departed the scene before they could be interviewed. 2. Technical assistance may be needed from other off-scene data sources such as the Seminole County Department of Traffic Engineers, automobile mechanics, or the State Attorney's Office. 3. Contacting a private consultant in order to obtain professional assistance in matters of crash reconstruction is prohibited without the prior approval of the chief of police. C. Traffic Violation Enforcement Policy: 1. Traffic citations for civil offenses may be issued where probable cause exist that satisfies the elements of a specific violation. The use of discretion is authorized. 2. Officers shall act reasonably and within the limits of their authority. Officers will take appropriate enforcement action on all criminal violations in accordance with the Enforcement Policy and Procedure "Traffic Enforcement". 3. Whenever an officer issues a traffic citation in relation to a crash investigation, the officer must complete and submit a witness list to be sent with the original copies of the traffic citation to the Clerk of the Court or list witness or witnesses on an electronic citation. VI. CRASH REPORT FORMS: A. There are two different types of D.H.S.M.V. crash report forms that officer may need to complete: 1) Long form crash report will be completed on all crashes involving: ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 9 of 11 a. Death, injury or possible injury b. Leaving the scene of a traffic crash (Hit & Run) c. Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. d. Any criminal violation directly affecting the crash. e. Significant damage to a structure. f. Involving a commercial motor vehicle g. Involving towing services 2) A short form crash report will be completed on all other crashes that occur in the jurisdiction. B. In compliance with the statewide traffic accident classification system, the Longwood Police Department utilizes only those traffic crash report forms that are mandated by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. C. Crash report forms are designed to be self-explanatory to reporting law enforcement officers and drivers. Each report will be written according to the instructions that appear on each form, with consideration given to additional instructions as may be contained in this directive. D. If the amount of property damage is less than $500.00 per vehicle no crash report need be completed by a law enforcement officer or by the involved drivers. An officer will complete a “Short Form” if any involved person requests that one be completed. In the event the parties are in disagreement as to who is at fault, the officer should complete the crash on the Florida Traffic Crash Report Short Form. E. In all traffic crashes, regardless of the amount of damage, each driver must exchange certain information (including the owner of any non-vehicular property). Officers will issue Driver Information Exchange Form for crash reports completed electronically. Officers will provide copies to each driver or property owner of non-vehicular damaged property. F. The Traffic Supervisor may be contacted should any question arise in regard to a crash report. G. Written electronic narratives should be well constructed with correct spelling and written plainly so as to address "who, what, where, when, and why's". Reports will be completed electronically using the available software on the MCT. ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 10 of 11 H. Electronic crash reports will be submitted to DHSMV within 10 days. VII. MISCELLANEOUS TRAFFIC CRASH SITUATIONS: A. Hit and Run (Special Consideration): An Officer who arrives at the scene of a hit and run crash should obtain all available information from witnesses and have the Telecommunications Section broadcast a B.O.L.O. announcement as soon as practicable. Obtain written statements from any involved parties or witnesses. Take photographs of any damage. 1. Hit and Run Crashes will be completed on as a “Long Form”. Exception: A “Driver Report of Traffic Crash (Self Report)” may be used when the crash occurred while the involved vehicle was unattended and there are no leads available to conduct a follow-up investigation and the vehicle does not have more than $500 damage. 2. Officers shall make every attempt possible to complete and close a hit and run crash investigation before their duty day is finished. If the case is not successfully completed at the end of the investigating officer’s duty day, a copy of the original crash report shall immediately be forwarded to the Traffic Unit for a follow-up investigation. If the crash was completed electronically notification should be sent to the traffic sergeant of the pending case needing follow-up. Copies (not originals) of all statements and copies of any photographs should also be forwarded to the Traffic Unit for cases requiring follow-up. B. Impaired Driver (Special Consideration): Officers arriving at the scene of a crash and having reason to believe that a driver involved in a crash is impaired due to alcohol or a controlled substance shall: 1. Take precautions to protect the scene and prevent the driver from leaving; 2. Upon the arrival of the crash investigator, assist the crash investigator in his/her investigation until no longer needed. C. Collision with Train: 1. If a train collides with a motor vehicle, regardless if the motor vehicle is being driven or is unattended at the time of the crash, said crash will require a law enforcement crash report. ENFORCEMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURE TRAFFIC CRASHES EPP – 18 Page 11 of 11 2. If a train collides with a pedestrian, said collision will require the officer to investigate the incident utilizing an appropriate cafe incident report form and not a crash report. 3. The traffic and investigative supervisor(s) will immediately be made aware of any collision involving a train. D. Delayed Crash Report: 1. Drivers who leave the scene (without criminal intent) or delay reporting a crash until a later time may request that an officer complete a crash report. 2. Denied the opportunity to observe the crash scene firsthand severely restricts an officer from completing a thorough investigation. 3. An officer requested to complete a crash report by a driver under delayed circumstances will issue a form “Driver Report of Traffic Crash (Self Report)” for the driver to complete. The officer will explain to the driver the form's printed instructions for completion and the requirements of D.H.S.M.V. submission. The officer may also refer the driver to DHSMV website for the crash report completion.