How can I get a police report after an accident in Dallas?

Beverly Law. Updated November 2026.

Who investigates crashes in and around Dallas

Inside the city, Dallas police usually work the crash. The rule comes from Transportation Code 550.026: a driver in a crash with injury, death or a car that cannot be driven safely must notify the local police when it happens in a city, either the police or the sheriff when it is within 100 feet outside city limits, and otherwise the sheriff or the nearest state office. So a crash on a city street is reported to DPD, one in an unincorporated part of the county can go to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, and DPS Highway Patrol troopers investigate rural traffic crashes.

It matters less than you might think for the CR-3 itself. Section 550.062 requires any officer who investigates a crash with injury, death or apparent property damage of $1,000 or more to file the report electronically with TxDOT no later than the 10th day after the crash. That is why one TxDOT system sells reports from DPD, deputies and troopers alike.

Buying a Dallas crash report from TxDOT

TxDOT’s CRIS purchase guide walks through the steps:

1. Open the purchase site and search by the first and last name of a person or company involved. Add the county, city, crash date, plate, agency or the agency’s case number to narrow results.
2. To buy the full report, complete the certification that you are directly concerned in the crash or have a proper interest under Transportation Code 550.065. Only one non-redacted report can go in each transaction.
3. Pay by card or electronic check through Texas.gov. A card purchase of a full report is available right away. An electronic check carries a 10-day holding period.
4. Download the report from the receipt link. The guide says downloads stay open for 10 days after purchase, and extra copies during that window are free.

The guide also warns that payments funded from a foreign source cannot be processed. TxDOT’s crash reports page says the $8 certified copy is the version for official uses such as legal proceedings.

What a redacted Dallas report leaves out

Section 550.065 lets drivers, injured people, their representatives, owners of damaged property and insurers get the full report. A buyer outside that group gets a redacted version, and the statute lists what must be blacked out. Among the items: every person’s name, license numbers, dates of birth other than the year, addresses other than the ZIP code, phone numbers, plates, insurance companies and policy numbers, the officer’s badge number, and the dates the officer was notified and arrived.

Those are the details you need to make a claim. If someone gave you a redacted copy, buy the full one yourself or have your lawyer do it.

Dallas police records beyond the crash report

The City Secretary’s open records page says the police department has its own division for open records requests, reachable at (214) 671-3343. If you are unsure which department holds a record, the city’s Open Records Request Center will route it. Ask in one request for the 911 call, the dispatch log, body camera and dash camera video, and any photos, using the date, time, address and report number.

Expect video to take time. A February 2024 City Auditor report counted 2,365 body-worn cameras and 625 in-car cameras at DPD, with video stored on Axon’s Evidence.com. The auditors found video requests were not handled on time for lack of resources: Dallas took about four months to fill them, while other Texas cities averaged 5 to 20 business days. Responsibility for video requests moved from DPD to the City Secretary’s Office in August 2023. For TxDOT, DART and business video, see how to get traffic camera footage in Dallas.

If no officer came, or the report is wrong

Texas no longer runs a statewide driver’s report. TxDOT says it stopped keeping the CR-2, the driver’s own crash form, on September 1, 2017, under Senate Bill 312. The retention period for all CR-2s ran out January 1, 2019, and TxDOT destroys any CR-2 sent to it. Keep your own completed CR-2 or similar form for your records and your insurer. A city can still require drivers to file a local report by ordinance under section 550.067, so ask DPD whether Dallas has one. Our page on no police report after a car accident covers building your own record.

For a mistake in a CR-3, section 550.068 controls. Only the officer who wrote the report may change a material fact in it. Anyone else’s change must be a written supplement that names its author. Write to the officer through DPD with the report number, point to the exact error, and attach proof.

Will a jury see the Dallas crash report?

Texas has no blanket ban. Section 550.066 keeps out of a civil trial only a person’s answer to the form’s question about being contacted by people seeking work as professionals. The rest is a question for the judge under Texas Rule of Evidence 803(8), which admits a public office’s factual findings from a legally authorized investigation in a civil case unless the opposing side shows a lack of trustworthiness. A report with wrong facts is open to that attack.

Here is how the driver’s own report and trial use compare in the three states where the firm works:

Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou.

What this means for your case

Buy the full CR-3 yourself rather than relying on a redacted copy, and check it against your photos. Send the DPD video request early, given the delays the auditors found. Your claim generally runs against the driver who caused the crash and that driver’s insurer, as our page on whether Texas is a no-fault state explains. Our Texas injury attorneys can order the report and follow the records requests for you.

Common questions

Related pages

Injury law FAQs

Important: This page is general information, not legal or medical advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Every case is different; talk to a lawyer about yours. Texas cases are handled by the firm’s Texas-licensed attorneys, Joyce Ondich and John Efstathiou. Last reviewed: November 7, 2026.