How to Get a Police Report in Colorado (2026): Crash & Incident Reports

Colorado splits crash-report requests by jurisdiction, much like Arizona and California: the Colorado State Patrol (CSP) handles state-highway crashes, while a local department handles crashes on city or county roads. Incident reports for non-crash matters are criminal justice records, so they run under the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA) rather than the Colorado Open Records Act.

Colorado also has one of the more detailed bodycam statutes in the country. Since 2023, every local agency and CSP must equip officers with body-worn cameras, and a specific, request-triggered release process governs misconduct-complaint footage.

Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How to Get a Colorado Crash Report

State highways (Colorado State Patrol): Order online through CSP's Online Accident Report Request form, by email to cdps_csprecords@state.co.us, or by mail or fax to CSP Central Records Unit, 700 Kipling Street, Lakewood, CO 80215. The Colorado Department of Transportation also distributes electronic copies of CSP reports.

Local roads: Contact the police department for the city or county where the crash happened. Denver, as an exemplar, accepts Colorado Open Records Act requests online, by email, in person, or by mail through its own police records unit.

Fee and timeline: This page does not state CSP's current fee or processing time; contact CSP Central Records directly, or the local department for a local-road crash, to confirm the current fee schedule and turnaround time before submitting a request.

Confidentiality: Colorado Revised Statutes 42-4-1610, confirmed directly against the statute's text, makes a driver's or owner's own accident report confidential for the department's use, while stating plainly that this rule 'shall not be construed to mean that reports of investigation or other reports made by sheriffs, police officers, coroners, or other peace officers shall be confidential,' since those are public records subject to Colorado Revised Statutes 42-1-206.

How to Get a Colorado Police Incident Report

An incident report for an arrest, theft, or other non-crash offense is a criminal justice record, so it is governed by the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA) and not by the Colorado Open Records Act (CORA). Colorado Revised Statutes 24-72-202(6)(b)(I) says so directly: CORA's definition of 'public records' 'does not include ... criminal justice records that are subject to the provisions of part 3 of this article,' and part 3 is the CCJRA. The distinction is not cosmetic. CORA carries a presumptive right of inspection with a defined response window and a daily penalty for an improper denial, while CCJRA release of investigatory records is discretionary with the custodian under Colorado Revised Statutes 24-72-305(1) and (5). In practice many Colorado agencies still label their records portals 'CORA,' so submit whatever request form the investigating agency publishes.

Colorado Revised Statutes 24-72-305, confirmed directly against the statute's text, lets a records custodian deny access to 'records of investigations conducted by or of intelligence information or security procedures of any sheriff, district attorney, or police department or any criminal justice investigatory files' on the ground that disclosure would be contrary to the public interest. If a custodian denies a request, the requester can ask for a written statement of the grounds, which the custodian must provide to the applicant within 72 hours, and can apply to district court for an order compelling disclosure, with the court able to award costs and attorney fees if it finds the denial was arbitrary or capricious.

Denver Police Department, as a large-city exemplar, accepts CORA and CCJRA requests through multiple channels; confirm Denver's current fee schedule and response-time commitment directly with its records unit, since specific figures were not independently confirmed on the department's own page during this research pass.

Colorado Police Bodycam Footage

Colorado Revised Statutes 24-31-902, enacted by SB20-217 and confirmed directly against the statute's text, required that 'by July 1, 2023, all local law enforcement agencies in the state and the Colorado state patrol shall provide body-worn cameras for each peace officer of the law enforcement agency who interacts with members of the public.' Officers must generally activate the camera when responding to a call, entering a premises to enforce the law, or during most public interactions initiated to enforce the law, subject to specific exceptions such as undercover work or purely personal breaks.

The release process differs depending on whether the footage relates to a misconduct complaint and, since an amendment effective June 3, 2026, on whether the incident resulted in a death. For a complaint of peace officer misconduct that does not result in a decedent's death, the agency must release all unedited video and audio, on the request of any person, to the person who made the request within 21 days after the request. A misconduct complaint is a prerequisite for this specific track, not a general 'anyone can request any bodycam footage' rule.

Where a peace officer's use of force results in a death, the agency must make reasonable efforts to identify the decedent's immediate family and provide the recordings depicting the death to each identified family member and a person the family designates within 21 days after the incident, unless that person declines. Those recipients must be told of their right to receive and review the recording at least 72 hours before any public disclosure. Release to a requester in a death case follows the expiration of that 21-day period.

Video that 'would substantially interfere with or jeopardize an active or ongoing investigation' may be withheld from the public, but the statute requires that it 'be released no later than forty-five days from the date of the allegation of misconduct.' The clock runs from when the allegation was made, not from the date of the underlying incident. A prosecuting attorney must prepare a written explanation justifying the delay and release that explanation to the public when the video comes out. Video that raises substantial privacy concerns, nudity, sexual assault, a mental-health crisis, a medical emergency, must be blurred rather than withheld outright. If blurring is insufficient to protect the privacy interest, the agency must instead release the video on request to the victim or, if the victim is deceased or incapacitated, to the victim's spouse, parent, legal guardian, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, significant other, or other lawful representative within 20 days after receipt of the misconduct complaint.

See Colorado Police Bodycam Laws and our guide to requesting body camera footage for the full redaction and timing framework.

Corrections and Practical Notes

No Colorado-specific statutory process for correcting a factual error on a crash or incident report was found; contact the investigating agency directly.

A peace officer who intentionally fails to activate a body-worn camera when required, or who tampers with the footage, faces a rebuttable presumption against admitting unrecorded statements in a related prosecution, and the officer's own employer must impose discipline up to termination if a court or internal investigation confirms the violation, per Colorado Revised Statutes 24-31-902(1)(a)(III)-(IV).

For the aftermath of a crash beyond the report itself, see Colorado Car Accident Laws. For the broader public-records framework, see Colorado Public Records Laws and Colorado Court Records. For the general process of filing or reading a report, see How to File a Police Report and How to Read a Police Report.

Disclaimer

This article provides general legal information about how to obtain a police crash report, incident report, or body camera footage in Colorado as verified on 2026-08-11. It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Readers with a specific records dispute, or who need advice about a specific incident, should consult a lawyer licensed in Colorado.

Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and portals reflect their published status as of August 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get a copy of my Colorado crash report?

For a state-highway crash, use Colorado State Patrol's online request form, email cdps_csprecords@state.co.us, or mail CSP Central Records Unit in Lakewood. For a local-road crash, contact the city or county police department that responded.

Are Colorado police investigation reports confidential?

No, not by default. Colorado Revised Statutes 42-4-1610 makes only a driver's own accident report confidential for the department's use. Officer investigation reports are public records subject to Colorado Revised Statutes 42-1-206.

How do I get a Colorado police incident report?

Submit a records request to the investigating agency. Legally it runs under the Colorado Criminal Justice Records Act (CCJRA), not CORA: Colorado Revised Statutes 24-72-202(6)(b)(I) excludes criminal justice records from CORA's definition of public records. Many agencies still label their request portals CORA, so use whatever form the agency publishes. Under the CCJRA the custodian may deny access to investigatory files on public-interest grounds, appealable to district court.

How fast must Colorado release bodycam footage of a misconduct complaint?

Where the complaint does not involve a death, Colorado Revised Statutes 24-31-902(2)(a)(I) requires the agency to release the unedited video and audio to the person who made the request within 21 days after the request. Footage may be withheld while release would substantially interfere with an active investigation, but no later than 45 days from the date of the allegation of misconduct, and a prosecutor must justify the delay in writing. Where use of force caused a death, the agency must first provide the recordings to the decedent's immediate family within 21 days after the incident, and release to a requester follows that period.

Does every Colorado police department have to use body cameras?

Yes. By July 1, 2023, Colorado Revised Statutes 24-31-902 required every local law enforcement agency and the Colorado State Patrol to equip each peace officer who interacts with the public with a body-worn camera.