WORKING WITH THE POLICE & GATHERING EVIDENCE

If you wish to hold the driver accountable in any way for the crash, bear in mind it can be a long and complicated process.

Sometimes a civil action must await the outcome of a criminal case; sometimes the civil action comes first. It’s even possible the police will determine there was no crime. To learn more about the court system click here.

  • The police are required to interview witnesses, locate nearby security cameras to obtain video evidence, and take photos of the crash. If there is a fatality or serious injury the police will examine the vehicle to measure the extent of the damage and check brakes, tires, and general roadworthiness.*

  • Identify the police officer or detective assigned to investigate your crash. Contact them immediately and be prepared to follow up. There may be a specialized police unit that investigates crashes resulting in a fatality or serious injury in your city or state. If so, reach out to that unit.

  • You may feel that the police aren’t doing enough. You may do investigative work yourself or with your attorney. Consider engaging your friends and family if they wish to help. Go back to the scene and try to collect evidence. Take photos of evidence you see at the scene, including skid marks, debris, damage to vehicles or nearby property:

    • Ask local businesses to let you view security camera footage - cameras may have recorded the incident. Do this quickly - businesses keep videos for as little as 24 hours. Be sure to get contact information of everyone who has retrieved or viewed the video. Your lawyer will need to show that no one would have been able to tamper with the video.

    • Try to find witnesses. Ask local business owners. Put up posters. Offer a reward. Use social media to find people who might have witnessed the crash.

    • If you have hired a lawyer, bear in mind that many law firms will hire a private investigator to assist with evidence gathering.

  • Five to ten days after the crash contact the police and request a copy of the report to review. If it’s not right, fix it. If there is evidence you believe was not collected, demand the police do more - bring your attorney in to help if you have one.

“After the death of my 3-year-old daughter, Allison, the police were horrible. It is devastating to lose a child – and then you’re left to deal with the police who often blame the victim as they did for Aly and my mom, who was also seriously injured in the crash.

We received a police report that seemed indecipherable. Our lawyer walked us through it and filed a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to get the full 90+ page police investigation, and several videos confirmed that the driver was totally at fault. 

All the news reports said my daughter had run into the street. The videos proved she was holding grandma’s hand, had the light, and they had done nothing wrong. If we had not pushed back, we would never have known the truth or been able to hold the driver accountable in any way.”

—Hsi-Pei Liao, father of Allison Hope Liao

“Immediately after my daughter Victoria was killed, we started hounding the police and did not let up. It is very important for the police investigator to know you. We got his name and called him many, many times. We found it more effective to be positive and assertive, not rude and aggressive.  We insisted on meeting with him in person. We did some of our own investigation. 

 If we hadn’t done all this, the police would have done nothing. The squeaky wheel gets the grease, and we were lucky that after our repeated hounding, the police found out the driver had previous speeding tickets, knew his car had problems he failed to fix, and more - that led to his being charged. We also did the same with the DA and they are now prosecuting the driver. We will continue to fight to make sure justice is done for Victoria. ” 

— Elsa Mauer, mother of Victoria Nicodemus

FSS NATIONAL RESOURCE GUIDE

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