Lubbock Police have issued a new handbook for the department that includes changes to the way officers respond to accidents.
Chief Greg Stevens implemented the new policy partially in an effort to shorten accident response times.
“The Chief made a lot of changes,” said Lieutenant Ray Mendoza. “We are scarce on resources.”
As part of the new policy, officers would not respond to accidents if nobody was injured and the vehicles involved were able to be moved out of traffic.
“Lots of wrecks can be handled by themselves,” Mendoza explained. He added that drivers have the opportunity to submit a police report by downloading a form from Lubbock Police’s website.
The changes to LPD’s policy may have some drivers worried about insurance coverage in an accident. The downloadable form would show proof of the accident for possible questions from insurance companies in the event of a crash.
Mendoza said in a case where no one was hurt and the vehicles were able to be driven, such as a fender bender, an officer, before the policy change, would typically take down driver and car information and compile the report, which is something citizens could do themselves.
Mendoza said between 30 and 50 accidents happen on average each day, with varying numbers based on weather, days of the week, and other factors.
He assured that in any case where a person has been injured, damage to a vehicle warrants extra assistance, or criminal activity is suspected, drivers should call police and an officer would respond.
He said dispatchers were trained on the new policy to send proper assistance to crash scenes.
