Police Temporarily Changing Accident Policy

The Salina Police Department is temporarily changing its accident reporting policy.

According to the agency, due to the dramatic rise of amount of COVID-19 cases in Kansas in the past week they will be enacting the Emergency Accident Reporting Plan (EARP) on Wednesday of this week at 12:01 P.M. The spread of the virus is projected to worsen by the end of April to the first part of May.

Their purpose in enacting this plan is two-fold:

• Reduce potential for exposure to COVID-19 for both officers and citizens

• Allow other calls of a higher priority to be handled in a more expeditiously manner

They are anticipating this will reduce the calls for service for accidents in half. They will still respond to injury accidents and others that are of a more serious nature.

Similar plans have been put in place in several cities across Kansas.

If an accident occurs please contact the Salina Police Department at (785) 826-7210. A dispatcher will ask the following questions to see if the report accident is an “eligible accident” under the Emergency Accident Reporting plan. Does this accident involve a:

• Hit and Run

• Personal Injury

• Is Alcohol or Drugs Involved

• Is Towing Required

If the caller answers “No” to the above questions, the accidentshall be reported via an Emergency Accident Report form. An officer will not be responding to the scene and completing an accident report.

An Emergency Accident Report form may be obtained from the Salina Police Department online website at www.pd.salina.org, or at the Salina Police Department 255 N. 10th Street.

Please complete the report form as much as possible (according to the instructions on the form) and mail or deliver the completed report to the Salina Police Department within 48 hours.