DAYTON — The Dayton Police Department is changing the way it handles crashes.
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Officers will still respond to them, but things will change starting Monday.
They will complete a crash report if there is a death or injury with the crash, if there is a hit-and-run or an OVI, or if a vehicle is so badly damaged it needs to be towed.
News Center 7′s Brandon Lewis spoke with people Friday night about what they think about the policy change.
Dayton Police says they are doing it so they can spend more time handling violent crime and other high-priority calls.
It depends on who you speak with to find out if this is a good idea or not.
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Crashes happen all the time across the Miami Valley but what’s changing is how officers in Dayton will deal with them.
Lewis says Dayton Police officers went to more than 3,200 non-injury crashes last year. On average, they were on scene for about an hour and a half.
Dayton Police thinks the new crash response procedure could save officers 12 hours a day to focus on high-priority calls.
Marcel Coaston lives in Downtown Dayton and she supports the change.
“I think that will be great,” she told Lewis on Friday. “Because a little fender bender does not need hours and hours. That’s not an emergency.”
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A police spokesperson told Lewis the purpose of this step is to provide a better service to the community.
“This should not have much impact,” said the spokesperson. “Even now, you are not required to call the police for a non-injury crash. The parties involved are only obligated to exchange information in the event of a crash.”
“If I deem it necessary to call the police to come out, they should come out and make a report,” said Marjorie Townes of Trotwood. “Because how much my car is damaged, or how little it’s damaged, if I want to contact my insurance company, the first thing they’re going to ask me for is a police report.”
“Just fill out the force, this happened, and then go on to the next thing,” said Roxanne Taylor of Dayton.
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Lewis reports Dayton Police officers will still go out to non-injury crashes to help drivers exchange information. But the department said the wait time could be long for those types of crashes.
“Violent crimes, because that’s a dire, dire emergency,” said Coaston. “So, that should be the first priority.”
One thing people wanted to know is if they get into a minor crash and want a crash report, how do they get one?
News Center 7 reached out to Dayton Police for an answer and is waiting to hear back.
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