Traffic investigator law will help relieve understaffed police departments, supporters say
by Charles Perez
On Friday, June 23, 2023, Governor Roy Cooper signed NC House Bill 140 into law. The bill authorizes cities to employ and allow civilians to investigate traffic crashes that don’t involve injury, DWI or criminal action. For Hendersonville Police Chief Blair Myhand, who is also president of the NC Association of Police Chiefs, the bill makes sense. (Photo credit: WLOS Staff)
HENDERSONVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A change in how motorists in North Carolina experience the aftermath of a minor crash may be coming their way.
Traditionally, once a minor car crash, like a parking lot collision or a “fender-bender,” gets called in, a police officer shows up to investigate and file a report. But now, that investigator no longer needs to be a law enforcement officer.
CIVILIANS MAY SOON BE INVESTIGATING TRAFFIC CRASHES IN NORTH CAROLINA
For Hendersonville Police Chief Blair Myhand, who is also president of the NC Association of Police Chiefs, the bill makes sense.
“A motor vehicle crash, absent aggravating factors.is a civil matter between one driver and another driver of another vehicle,” Chief Myhand says. “It makes sense that we’re going to use civilians to do this and really get police officers back to doing police work.”
Buncombe County State Senator Julie Mayfield supported the bill. She says it’s a win/win for both the driving public and police departments.
“It does work for everybody,” she says. “It’ll be helpful to any city that needs it.”
Police departments, both locally and statewide, have faced challenges recruiting officers and fully staffing their agencies. Some see this change as an opportunity to relieve some of the pressure created by shortages in personnel by allowing civilians to take on these roles.
Once trained, civilian investigators will be required to spend four weeks on the job with an officer before given the power to investigate a crash on their own. Once given the power to investigate, they’ll also be able to file the appropriate paperwork and appear in court before a judge. They will not, however, be able to write a ticket, carry a weapon or make an arrest. According to Chief Myhand, when circumstances exist that go beyond what the civilian investigator is charged to do, they’ll be expected to call in for law enforcement support.
STORY COURTESY OF WLOS-TV-13
