How we check every fact
Every fee, wait and link on this site is read on the website of the agency it describes, saved with the date, and shown with that date on the page.
The rule we work to
A person who has just been in a crash should be able to act on what they read here without checking it somewhere else first. That only works if every fact on the page is the agency's own. So the rule is simple. If we did not read it on an official page, it is not on the site.
What counts as an official source
| Kind of fact | Where we read it |
|---|---|
| Where to request a report | The police agency's own website, or the state department that holds its reports |
| Fees and payment methods | The agency's fee page, its request form, or the portal's notice to customers |
| Waiting times | The agency's own statement. If it gives none, we give none |
| Who may have a report | The state's published statute, or the agency's page quoting it |
| Addresses, hours and phone numbers | The agency's contact or records page |
| How a search form works | The form itself, or the agency's own user guide |
Law firm websites, news articles, forums and other directories are never a source, even when they are easier to find than the official page and even when they are right.
How a page is checked, step by step
- We find the agency's own pageNot a page about the agency. The page the agency publishes for people who want a report.
- We save a copy with the dateThe page or the PDF is stored as it was on the day we read it.
- We copy out the exact wordsEach fact is recorded with the sentence it came from and the address of the page.
- We write our page from those wordsIn plain language, with the number and its unit, and the name of the office as the agency writes it.
- The page is tested before it is publishedOur own build stops if a number appears in the text with no source behind it, or if a link to an outside site is not one of the pages we read.
- The date goes on the pageLast checked is the day the facts were confirmed.
What the labels mean
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| Last checked | The day we last read the official page and confirmed the facts shown. It is not the day the agency last changed its fee |
| Not published | We read the agency's page and it does not say. We do not fill the gap from another site, and we do not estimate |
| Still being checked | We have not been able to read the official page yet. Only a link to the state's own site is shown until we have |
| Not a government website | A reminder on every page that this is a private guide to official sources, not one of them |
When an official website will not load
Some government websites cannot be read from every network, and some turn away automated readers. We do not work around a block. A person opens the page in an ordinary browser, saves it, and the saved copy is checked in the same way as any other. Until that happens the entry stays marked Still being checked.
When two official pages disagree
It happens. A department's main page gives one date for a fee change and its question page gives another, or a form still shows last year's price. We use the page that is more specific and more recent, and where the difference matters we say that the agency's pages differ. We never average two figures or pick the one we like better.
How often pages are checked again
Every time a page is edited, the facts in its tables are read again on the official page first, and the date moves only when they have been. When a reader tells us something has changed, we check that page.
Corrections
Write to info@getaccidentreport.org and name the page. Tell us what you saw on the official site, with a link if you have one. We read the official page again. If you are right, we correct our page and move its date. If the official page still says what we wrote, we leave it and tell you where we read it.
What you will not find here
No ratings of police agencies. No reviews. No counts of how many people used a page. No guesses about what a report might cost where the agency does not say. No list of sources at the foot of a page, because each source is named in the sentence or in the note under the table where its fact appears.