The Traffic Accident Reconstruction Origin -ARnews-

Re: Departmental proceedures for team call-out

Barry Walker (bwalker@westchesteroh.org)
Mon, 11 May 1998 17:09:08 -0400 (EDT)

We have just redone our procedure. We now call out a team of investigators
who have diffrent responsibilities. There is a Lt. who is the incident
commander. He provides us with the help we need from the road officers.
He also handles the press, insuring that press releases are made and
interviews are provided. He also determines where the press will stage
and what type of access they will have. He also meets with us at the
end of the incident and insures we have everything we need and plans thee
next step in the investigation. If the Lt. is not available the traffic
Sgt. steps in.

The Sgt. that responds helps with the incidentals, like traffic control,
covering the officer's back when he is in the street, etc. He is there
to assist with any liason work that needs to be done between the Recon.
Team and the Road Patrol.

The next person at the scene is the lead investigator. This is the officer
who will head up the investigation, determine fault, sign charges if needed,
etc. He directs the actual crash reconstruction.

Assisting the lead investigator are other investigators, including civiliean
police technicians, who help run the Total Station, collect evidence, hold
the light, help with traffic,run for drinks, etc.

Also assigned to the unit is the Police Chaplain. His only responsibility
is to assist in death/serious injury notification. He is usually at the
scene just long enough to obtain the addresses that he needs and to wait
for the Coroner's Rep. so they can make the run to the house. By using
him every time we can insure the notification will be handled properly
and with the greatest respect for the deceased and also take the stress
of this type of notification off of the road officer.

We have found that in a major incident we can effectively replace the
road officers at the scene and eliminate/cut down on the time that they
spend involved in the incident. This provides our department with the
ability to get the road officers back to their duties quickly and allows
us to maintain a professional level by eliminating common errors made by
officers who lack the experience that the Reconstruction Team has. Currently
all the officers assigned to the team work in the Traffic Safety Unit, but
we are training many of the road officers in basic crash investigation
techniques, including the use of the Total Station in the field.
is needed.

Barry Walker
bwalker@westchesteroh.org

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