After another driver ran a red light and hit his car at Kalamath and Alameda on June 5, John Schroyer called 911 so police could document the crash for his insurance claim. The response left him without the report he had sought: the officer said the drivers’ exchange of insurance information meant there was nothing more to do, an explanation later found to be incorrect.
Denver Police Officer William Ladouceur arrived about 20 minutes after the collision, according to the Denver Gazette. He told Schroyer “there was nothing further he could do to investigate the crash” and left without preparing a report. Schroyer later contacted the Denver police station, where a woman also said that exchanging insurance information made the matter civil and that the other driver could not legally be cited, the Gazette reported.
That explanation conflicted with Denver police policy, which required a report for this type of crash, the Gazette reported. The paper found no Colorado law or Denver ordinance that barred an officer from writing one. It also reported that police may cite a driver for a traffic violation that caused a crash even without a written report; running a red light can qualify as a class 2 misdemeanor charge of careless driving.
A Complaint Leads to a Policy Review
Schroyer took his concern to state lawmakers and separately contacted Denver City Council representative Kevin Flynn. Flynn asked the department’s deputy chief to look into the matter, according to the Gazette’s account…