How to Get Your Police Report in the Chicago Suburbs After an Accident

The first step is figuring out which law enforcement agency investigated your accident. This determines where you request your report and how much it costs. Check the motorist report form you received at the scene — it lists the investigating agency. If you do not have the form, think about where the accident happened.

Chicago Police Department (CPD) handles crashes within the City of Chicago limits. Illinois State Police (ISP) typically handles crashes on interstate highways and state routes — I-90, I-94, I-290, I-355, I-88, and other expressways. Suburban municipal police departments handle crashes within their town or village boundaries. The Cook County Sheriff's Office may respond to unincorporated areas of Cook County.

If you are unsure which agency responded, you can call the non-emergency dispatch number for the municipality where the accident occurred and ask which department filed the report. You can also check the LexisNexis BuyCrash portal, which covers many suburban departments and allows you to search by location and date.

CPD operates the eCrash portal at crash.chicagopolice.org for traffic crash reports from 2016 to present. You can search by RD number, which is found on the Victim Information Notice given to you at the scene. The cost is $6 per report for an online download.

If you do not have your RD number, you can search by the driver's name and crash date. Reports typically take a few business days to be finalized in the system, but CPD advises that some reports may take up to two weeks.

For in-person requests, visit the CPD Records Customer Service Section at 3510 South Michigan Avenue, 1st Floor, Room 1043, Chicago, IL 60653. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., excluding city holidays. Phone: (312) 745-5130. You can also submit requests by mail to the same address. Bring your RD number, the crash date, and a valid ID.

If your accident occurred on an interstate highway or state route and was investigated by the Illinois State Police, request your report through the ISP E-Pay system at isp.illinois.gov/CrashReports/EPay. The base cost is $5 per report. Online requests incur an additional credit card service fee (2.35% surcharge, $1 minimum).

You can also request ISP reports by mail. Send a written request with the crash details — date, location, names of drivers, and the crash report number if you have it — along with a $5 check or money order payable to 'Illinois State Police' and a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Illinois State Police Patrol Records Unit, 801 South 7th Street, Suite 600-M, Springfield, IL 62703. Phone: (217) 785-0614.

ISP reports typically take approximately 10 business days to process. During busy periods, expect up to 2 to 3 weeks. Requests accompanied by a subpoena incur an additional $20 processing fee.

Many suburban Chicago police departments participate in the LexisNexis BuyCrash system. Go to buycrash.lexisnexisrisk.com or policereports.lexisnexis.com, search by the crash location and date, and purchase the report online for approximately $10. Reports become available on BuyCrash a minimum of 24 hours after the department approves the report. Customer support: (866) 215-2771.

Not every suburban department participates in BuyCrash. Check the LexisNexis coverage page at policereports.lexisnexis.com/ui/coverage to see if your agency is listed. Confirmed participating departments include agencies in communities such as Palos Park, Batavia, and others across the suburban area.

If your department does not use BuyCrash, contact the police department directly. Most suburban departments accept FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests for crash reports. Submit a written request by mail, email, fax, or in person. Include the crash date, location, names of parties involved, and the report number if available. Fees for individual departments typically range from $5 to $20 per report. Processing time is generally 5 to 10 business days.

For the Cook County Sheriff's Office (unincorporated Cook County), submit a FOIA request to 50 West Washington Street, Chicago, IL 60602 or email foia@cookcountyil.gov.

Regardless of which agency investigated your crash, you will generally need the following information to request your report: the agency crash report number or RD number (found on the motorist report form or Victim Information Notice given at the scene), the date of the crash, the location of the crash (street address or intersection), and the names of the drivers involved.

If you do not have the crash report number, most agencies can look up your report using the combination of crash date, location, and driver name. Having the report number speeds up the process significantly.

Some agencies also ask for the county where the crash occurred and the approximate time. If you were not the driver — for example, if you were a passenger or pedestrian — you can still request the report. You may need to provide your name as it appeared on the report (if the officer took your information as a witness or involved party).

Your crash report is one of the most important documents in a personal injury claim. Insurance adjusters review the police report early in the claims process to make initial liability determinations. The report contains the responding officer's assessment of fault — including whether any driver was cited, what traffic violations contributed to the crash, and the officer's narrative description of how the accident happened.

The report also documents critical details that are difficult to reconstruct later: weather and road conditions at the time of the crash, the exact location and positions of vehicles, witness names and contact information, and preliminary assessments of injuries. If you later dispute what happened, the officer's report serves as a contemporaneous record made at or near the time of the incident.

Illinois law does not require you to have a police report to file an insurance claim, but in practice, not having one creates significant problems. Without a report, insurers may question whether the accident occurred as you describe, delay processing, or reduce the value of your claim. If police did not respond to your accident, document the scene yourself with photos and video, exchange information with the other driver, and consider filing a report with the local police department as soon as possible.

If you were injured in a crash in the Chicago suburbs and have questions about your claim, get your free Injury Claim Check. You will answer a few quick questions about your accident and injuries, and we will give you a personalized report that includes Illinois's filing deadline for your claim, what your police report means for your case, and whether connecting with a personal injury attorney makes sense for your situation.

Understanding your options should not be complicated. Our Injury Claim Check is free, confidential, and gives you the information you need to decide what comes next.