How to Get a Unified Police Crash Report

Short answer: Unified Police crash reports are requested through the department's online GRAMA / Records Request form, and an approved report has to be picked up in person, with government ID, at the UPD location you choose on the form. If you want the report mailed instead, UPD's records page describes a notarized Request for Records form and lists a $10 research and processing fee per traffic report.

The Unified Police Department of Greater Salt Lake polices a group of cities, towns and unincorporated areas rather than a single city, and its records process has habits that catch people off guard: a notary requirement for mailed requests, pickup by appointment only, and phone numbers that differ from page to page. This guide sticks to what UPD publishes on its Records Request page and elsewhere on its current website. The general rules on crash reports in Utah, including who can get one, are in our crash report hub.

Where Unified Police patrols

UPD's website lists these communities:

• Town of Brighton
• Copperton
• Holladay (see Holladay car accidents)
• Emigration Canyon
• Kearns (see Kearns car accidents)
• Magna (see Magna car accidents)
• Midvale (see Midvale car accidents)
• Millcreek (see Millcreek car accidents)
• White City

The Magna Precinct's page says it oversees patrol in both Magna and Copperton. If your crash happened in a city that is not on this list, UPD probably did not take the report, so check that city's own police website. Go by the current list, not an old map or a years-old bookmark. That includes the department's former web address: updsl.org no longer loads UPD's site, and the current one is unifiedpoliceut.gov. Our pages on Holladay's dangerous intersections and Midvale's dangerous intersections look at where crashes in two of these cities cluster.

Freeways are the other common mix-up. A crash on I-15, I-215 or another freeway is usually a Utah Highway Patrol report even where the road passes through a UPD community. If you are not sure which agency responded, our post on how to get a Utah police crash report explains how to find out.

Route one: the online form, then pickup

UPD's records page says all requests for records, reports included, must be made through its GRAMA / Records Request webform or by calling (385) 468-9755. The webform asks for:

• your name, city, state, ZIP, a daytime phone where you can be reached, and an email address
• a street address, which the form says to include if anything is to be mailed out
• the case number, if known
• a specific description of the records; without a case number, the form asks for details such as the date of occurrence, the address and the names of the people involved
• check boxes for whether you want to inspect the records or receive copies, and whether you are the subject, the legal guardian of a minor subject (with a birth certificate), or someone authorized by the subject (with a notarized consent of release)
• a pickup location

The form states that approved requests must be picked up in person and require valid government identification, and the records page says pickup is by appointment only. The choices on the form are:

• Holladay Precinct, 4570 South 2300 East
• Kearns Precinct, 4250 West 5415 South
• UPD Logistics, 5190 Heath Ave, Kearns
• Magna Precinct, 2711 S Buccaneer Drive
• Midvale Precinct, 7912 S Main Street
• Millcreek Precinct, 1330 E Chambers Ave, Suite 220

Pick a location you can reach during business hours. The Kearns Precinct page, for example, lists 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:30 a.m. to noon on Friday.

Route two: a notarized request by mail

UPD also mails incident and traffic reports. The records page lists a research and processing fee of ten dollars ($10.00) for each incident or traffic report and says requests are normally processed and mailed within 10 business days. The steps it describes:

1. Download the GRAMA Request for Records form.
2. On the description line, write the type of record (a traffic report), the case number, and as much as you can of the address, date and time of the crash and the names of the people involved.
3. Print it, but do not sign or date it yet. It must be signed and dated in front of a notary public, who then notarizes it.
4. Send it with the fee. UPD warns that incomplete forms, photocopied forms and requests sent without the fee will not be processed.

Before you mail anything, call to confirm the address and how to pay. UPD's site is not consistent about where its records unit sits: one page places the Technical Services Division in the UPD Logistics Building on Heath Ave in Kearns, while another says mailed or delivered requests go to its front counter at the Kearns Precinct, 4250 West 5415 South.

Phone numbers

The records page gives (385) 468-9755 for GRAMA and records questions, while UPD's contact page lists 385.787.0710 as its Records Request line. If one number does not answer, try the other. For police help that is not an emergency, UPD lists dispatch at 801-840-4000.

What the first copy may leave out

The records page says that in most cases only the initial report is provided by mail. Its classification table lists traffic accident follow-up reports, witness statements, detailed diagrams not on the state form, and video as protected records, and says protected records normally stay protected until all criminal court activity, including appeals, is finished.

Utah law treats people involved in a crash differently from the general public. Its definition of an accident report includes accompanying data such as witness statements, photographs and video, and the agency must disclose the unredacted report to a person involved in the crash, a person who suffered loss or injury, and that person's agent, parent or legal guardian (Utah Code § 41-6a-404(1) and (3)(a)). If you were in the crash and need more than the initial report, say so in your request and list exactly what you want.

Timing

Do not ask too early. The report has to be filed first, and the law gives the officer 10 days after completing the investigation to do that (§ 41-6a-402(6)). Once your written request arrives, the agency has 10 business days to provide the report (§ 41-6a-404(3)(b)).

Corrections

If the report has a factual error, such as the wrong plate or a misspelled name, contact UPD records and ask how to have the investigating officer add a supplement. Have proof of the correct information ready. The hub covers what to do if you disagree with the officer's opinion.

Unified Police report FAQs

Why does UPD want my mailed request notarized?

That is the department's rule for the mailed Request for Records form: the records page says it must be signed and dated in front of a notary, and not before. Many banks and shipping stores offer notary service; bring your photo ID.

Can I pick up my report at the Millcreek precinct?

Yes, if you choose it on the webform. The Millcreek Precinct, inside Millcreek City Hall at 1330 East Chambers Ave, is one of the six pickup options. Call ahead, since pickup is by appointment.

Can someone else request it for me?

The webform has a box for requesters authorized by the subject of the records and asks for a notarized consent of release. UPD posts a consent for release to a third party form, and that form says a notarized release may not be dated more than 90 days before the request is made.

Hurt in a crash Unified Police handled?

If you were hurt and hire us, we request the report and its data for you and go through it with you, at no cost to you as part of your case. For a free case review, call our legal team at (801) 921-5134 or send us a message.

Free consultation. No attorney fees unless we win. Hablamos Español.