How to Correct or Amend a Police Report in New York in 2024

Author, Attorney Philip L. Franckel, Esq.

Police reports frequently have mistakes, even though a police supervisor reviews every report before being filed.

This article will give you all the information you need about how to amend a police report for a car accident in New York to change or correct mistakes in the police report.

Note: We cannot help you amend your police report unless you were injured in an accident in New York and you want us to represent you for your injury.

You probably already have the police report for your car accident, but if not, see how to get a copy of a police report in New York City or how to get a copy of a police report in Nassau or Suffolk.

Table of Contents

Are Police Officers Allowed to Correct or Amend a Police Report?

Yes, but police officers rarely amend a police report (see on this page, Are Police Officers Required to Correct or Amend a Police Report?)

When Will a Police Officer Amend or Correct a Police Accident Report?

On rare occasions, you may be able to get the police officer to change or amend the police report if the incorrect information is significant and obviously or easily proved to be wrong.

If the incorrect information is obvious, the police officer who wrote the police accident report may be willing to correct it if you contact the police officer immediately.

For instance, if the day and date don’t match, this is an obvious mistake easily verified by the police officer and should be amended to show the correct information.

If the police officer wrote the wrong plate number and the correct plate number can be verified, the police officer should amend the accident report to show the correct information.

How to Ask a Police Officer to Amend or Correct a Police Accident Report

Go to the police precinct, ask to speak to the police officer, and ask if the police report can be corrected or amended.

If you have difficulty reaching the police officer who wrote the report, ask for the supervisor who supervises police accident reports.

How Do You Know if a Police Accident Report Was Amended?

If you are successful in getting the police officer to amend the police report, the box marked AMENDED REPORT, seen in this image, will be checked.

amended police report showing where it is marked amended

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When Should You Try to Correct Errors in a Police Report?

If you were not injured in a car or motorcycle accident and are trying to get the other car’s insurance company to pay for your damage, you can continue reading this article to learn what you can do to correct a police report.

If you were injured in a car accident, motorcycle accident, or pedestrian accident and the police report has errors you want to correct, call us before you try to get the police report corrected, and do not fill out an MV-104 without speaking with us. We will do it for you to make sure it can’t hurt your personal injury case.

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Is It a Problem if a Police Report Is False, Wrong, Incorrect, or Has Errors?

Your Insurance and Insurance Premium

If the police report is wrong, it can affect your insurance and premiums. For instance, if a mistake on a police report concerns who is at fault for the car accident, it can result in your insurance being canceled or an insurance premium increase.

Getting the Other Car’s Insurance to Pay For Your Collison Damage

If you were not injured and you are trying to get the other car’s insurance company to pay for your damage, it will be a problem for you if the mistake concerns who is at fault for the car accident.

Your Personal Injury Case

If you were injured, a mistake on a police report could delay the settlement of your personal injury case because insurance company claim reps base their investigation completely on the police report.

However, a mistake on a police report usually will not affect the outcome of the settlement of your personal injury case. That’s because, during litigation, we will have the opportunity to prove the police report is wrong.

We have several opportunities to prove the police report is wrong:

  • We will force the other driver to file an MV-104, and often, the other driver inadvertently admits fault in the MV-104.
  • We can question the other driver at a deposition.
  • We can cross-examine the police officer at a hearing or trial.
  • We can hire an accident reconstruction expert.

A police report is hearsay evidence and may or may not result in that information being used at trial.

We have frequently proved the police report was wrong by questioning the other driver at a deposition. When the other driver testifies at a deposition to something that admits 100% fault, we no longer care about the police report.

For instance, if the other driver testifies that he or she didn’t see your car or motorcycle prior to the collision, the other driver just admitted 100% fault.

We have also proved the police officer was wrong by cross-examining the police officer.

In one case, a Suffolk County police officer wrote on his police report and testified at a hearing that our client told him she lost control of her motorcycle on sand and gravel and was not hit by a car. After cross-examining the police officer, at the hearing, the Suffolk County Supreme Court Judge gave the police officer a stern warning and ruled that the police officer’s testimony wasn’t credible; he lied! We won the case.

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Types of Police Reports

Police Accident Report

When people refer to a police report, they usually mean a police accident report for a motor vehicle accident. In New York State, a police accident report is Form MV-104A.

Driver’s Accident Report

In New York State, the driver’s accident report is an MV-104.

Aided Report

A police report issued when the police respond to someone who was injured but not in a car accident is called a Police Aided Report.

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What is the Difference Between an Amended or Corrected Police Report?

There are subtle differences. Technically, the word amended would be used for a minor change, but the words corrected and amended are commonly used interchangeably.

If a police report is changed, it will be marked as an amended police report.

2 Types of Mistakes in Police Reports

The two types of mistakes in police reports are factual and disputed facts. Disputed facts are so-called facts, such as how the car accident happened. That type of disputed fact is really just opinion. Some information may appear to be factual, but it is really an opinion because the police officer didn’t witness the car accident.

An example is the direction of travel of the cars. This is not factual unless the police officer witnessed the car accident and actually saw which direction the cars were traveling in. The police officer has to enter his opinion based on an investigation of the facts.

  1.  Examples of factual information that can be amended:
    1. Date or time of the accident
    2. Misspellings of names
    3. Incorrect address or license plate
    4. Place where the accident happened
  2. Opinion information that is unlikely to be amended:
    1. How the accident happened
    2. Who caused the accident
    3. Direction of travel

Factual information is the easiest to correct on a police report. Opinion information is very unlikely to be changed.

Incorrect Insurance Information on a Police Report

Some incorrect information on a police report doesn’t really matter, such as insurance information.

If old insurance information is listed on the police report and you got a ticket, you can get a letter from your insurance company stating that you had insurance coverage on the date of the accident and submit that letter to the court.

Note: The letter must be on insurance company letterhead and must state that you have insurance coverage on the date of the accident. You cannot use a letter from your insurance broker.

If you want to update DMV, you can do that on an MV-104 (see below).

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Reasons Why Police Reports Have Mistakes

Police reports have mistakes more often than people know. We see it all the time.

Police officers make mistakes just like everyone else. The police report is supposed to be reviewed by a police supervisor at the precinct before being filed, but many police reports still have errors.

Many errors on a police report can be difficult, if not impossible, for a supervisor to spot. Missing information is the easiest to spot, but it may not be possible for a supervisor to detect incorrect information.

We have seen police reports with glaring errors, such as mixing up the cars and drivers, an incorrect direction of travel, and a road diagram that was not even similar to the road where the car accident happened.

A horrible frequent error is police officers who let drivers go without including their information in the police report when the car did not make physical contact with the car on the police report. This happens when a car cuts off another car or motorcycle.

There are many reasons a police report may have a mistake. Following are a few of the reasons why mistakes occur in police reports:

The Police Officer Did Not See the Accident Happen

Because the police officer likely did not see the accident happen, the police officer has to do an investigation consisting of the following:

  • Look at the accident scene
  • Look at  the location and positioning of the cars involved in the accident
  • Look at the damage to the cars involved in the accident
  • Look at the demeanor of the drivers and witnesses, and
  • Speak to the drivers and witnesses and possibly get statements.

The Police Officer Didn’t Understand the Accident Scene

The police officer may make many different mistakes, from thinking the accident scene is different than it actually is or incorrectly writing down what was said to the police officer.

The Cars Were Moved From the Accident Scene

The cars may have been moved to the side of the road, making it harder for the police officer to determine what happened.

Police Officer Bias

When there is conflicting information and little physical evidence to rely on, other factors, such as bias, may influence a police officer.

A police officer may believe or not believe a driver or witness because of bias or misinterpreting the demeanor of a driver or witness. Always be on your best behavior and be polite when you speak with the police officer.

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Example of a New York Police Report That Was Incorrect

Interestingly, most police reports with errors that we have seen are from New York State Police. I don’t know why, but I can’t remember seeing a police report written by a New York State Trooper who did not make a mistake.

A police report that was filed by a New York State Trooper on the Sagtikos Parkway in Suffolk County on Long Island, NY, showed a merge lane to the parkway that does not exist.

accident diagram on a police report shows a major error, a traffic lane that does not exist

The New York State Trooper claimed our client’s motorcycle improperly merged onto the parkway and struck a car on the parkway. However, our client’s motorcycle did not merge onto the parkway.

Our client’s motorcycle entered the parkway, where the parkway went from two lanes to three lanes. Our client’s entrance lane was not a merge lane because the entrance lane became the third lane on the parkway.

Our client’s motorcycle was traveling straight in the right lane when a car in the middle lane improperly changed lanes and struck our client’s motorcycle in the right lane, causing his motorcycle accident and his injury.

How Did a New York State Trooper Make a Glaring Mistake on the Police Report?

Probably because the Trooper mistakenly pulled up a diagram map from the police computer, which showed a normal merge lane, and the Trooper never noticed that the accident scene didn’t look anything like the diagram.

The Trooper then proceeded to complete the report while looking at the diagram rather than the roadway.

What Problems Did the Mistake on the Police Report Cause?

The claims representative from the insurance company for the car unbelievably argued that the police report said the accident was our client’s fault, even though I provided photos of the accident scene proving the police report was obviously wrong.

We were able to convince the insurance company we were right, so unbelievably, they changed their driver’s story! They then claimed the accident was a 1/4 mile further down the highway.

We had to file a personal injury lawsuit and ask the other driver questions at his deposition. After his deposition, we were able to force the insurance company for the car to pay their entire insurance policy.

So what did the mistake on the police report cause? It delayed the settlement of the motorcycle accident case by almost two years.

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How to Correct a Police Report After a Car or Motorcycle Accident

Sometimes, if a police report contains a glaring factual error, a police officer might correct it. However, most of the time, police officers in New York will refuse to amend a police report and tell you to file an MV-104.

If a police report contains a factual error, go to the police precinct and provide any documentation proving the error should be corrected.

For instance, if the damage to the car was incorrectly reported as on the right front of the car but was actually on the left, provide a photo showing the damage on the left and a photo showing no damage on the left. If the make, model, or year of your car is incorrect, you can show your registration to the police officer.

If you were injured in a car or motorcycle accident, but the police report shows you didn’t have any injuries and you were not taken to the hospital by ambulance from the car accident scene, don’t even bother to try to get the police report corrected.

The police officer won’t correct the police report for injuries because, right or wrong, it was his opinion that you were not injured.

If you were injured and were taken to the hospital by ambulance from the car accident scene, but the police report shows you had no injuries, then provide a copy of the ambulance report.

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What to Do if the Police Officer Will Not Correct or Amend The
Police Report

When you think a New York Police report is wrong and the police officer refuses to change the police report, you can file a driver’s accident report, called an MV-104 Driver’s Accident Report, with New York State DMV.

Your written statement can include your personal account of the accident, including a diagram. We don’t recommend that you do that if you are injured.

Your insurance company and the insurance company for the other driver probably sent you an MV-104 accident report, but you can also download an MV-104 accident report.

See our complete guide on how to fill out an MV-104 accident report in New York which also shows you where to download the MV-104 form.

New York State law requires the operator of a motor vehicle to complete and file an MV-104 with NYS DMV within 10 days of your accident in New York if there was a fatality, personal injury, or damage over $1,000 to the property of any person.

If you were injured in a car or motorcycle accident and the police report has errors, and you want to amend it, call us before you try to get the police report corrected. We’ll file the MV-104 for you.

Are Police Officers Required to Correct or Amend a Police Report?

No. Police Departments in New York do not have a duty to a motorist to file a police report or correct a police report.

Commonly unknown, even by lawyers, is that in New York State, police accident reports are not made for insurance companies or for the drivers, passengers, or pedestrians involved in a car accident.

Although drivers and insurance companies rely on police reports to investigate accidents and resolve insurance claims, and certified police reports can be used as evidence in court, police reports in New York are not filled out and filed for motorists or insurance companies.

Police reports in New York are filled out and filed as a service to the Department of Motor Vehicles, which uses police reports for statistical and safety purposes.

Because police reports are required to be made for the New York DMV, there is no legal requirement in New York that police officers file a police report for motorists or insurance companies. Likewise, there is no legal requirement to include correct information or to amend a police report.

The New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, held in 2015 that NYPD was not liable for failing to properly investigate the accident unless there existed a special duty to the plaintiff, in contrast to a general duty owed to the public, see Bouet v. City of New York.

In the case of Bouet v. City of New York, 125 A.D.3d 539 (2015), 5 N.Y.S.3d 18, 2015 N.Y. Slip Op. 01567, the defendant was a New York City Police Officer who responded to a pedestrian accident. In his NYPD police report, the police officer failed to record the identity of the owner and/or operator of the vehicle that struck the plaintiff, who was trying to cross a street in Manhattan.

The pedestrian sued New York City and the NYPD police officers, alleging they were negligent in failing to include in the police report the identity of the individuals who owned and operated the car that struck her.

Without the identity of the owner and/or operator of the vehicle, the injured pedestrian could not file a lawsuit against the owner and/or operator of the vehicle.

Because she didn’t own a car herself, the only claim the injured pedestrian could have had was against MVAIC for a hit-and-run accident, but MVAIC only provides a maximum of $25,000. The owner and/or operator of the vehicle may have had a lot more insurance coverage than MVAIC. That’s why the injured pedestrian’s lawyer filed a lawsuit against New York City.

Note: If that case had been a motorcycle accident instead of a pedestrian accident, the motorcyclist would have been able to file an uninsured claim which may have had as much as $1,000,000 insurance coverage for a hit-and-run motorcycle accident.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, New York, ruled that sections 603, 603–b, and 604 of the Vehicle and Traffic Law only require the Police Department to report the accident to the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles and that the failure to report to DMV doesn’t give a person the right to sue the police department for negligently failing to record or preserve information required by the DMV.

The court wrote, “…the City of New York is not liable for failing to properly investigate the incident unless there existed a special duty to plaintiff, in contrast to a general duty owed to the public.”

Can You Hire a Lawyer to Correct or Amend a Police Report?

You won’t be able to hire a lawyer just to amend a police report because it would be too expensive.

If you were injured and we represent you for your injury, we may be able to prove the police report was wrong and provide the proof to your insurance company. During a deposition of the other driver, we are often able to prove that the other driver was at fault for causing the accident.

Can You File a Motion to Correct or Amend a Police Report?

We were contacted by someone who wrote in a chat, “I want to file a motion to amend a police report.”

Unfortunately, a motion cannot be filed in court to correct or amend a police report because NYS law requires police reports to be made for the New York DMV, not drivers.

For more information about why you can’t file a motion, see the section just above, “Are Police Officers Required to Correct or Amend a Police Report?”

If you were injured and we represent you for your injury, we may be able to prove the police report was wrong and provide the proof to your insurance company. During a deposition of the other driver, we are often able to prove that the other driver was at fault for causing the accident.

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Phil Franckel is a well-known personal injury lawyer in New York since 1989. He is a Founding Partner of 1-800-HURT-911, LLP®, the Personal Injury Dream Team™, and a former Member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association. He has an Avvo Top 10  Rating, Avvo Client’s Choice Award with all 5-star reviews, Avvo Top Contributor Award, Multi-Million Dollar Trial Lawyers Award, and others. See Mr. Franckel’s bio for areas of expertise.

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Philip L. Franckel, Esq. is one of the HURT911® Dream Team™ Founding Partners at 1-800-HURT-911® New York; He has a 10 Avvo rating; Avvo Client’s Choice with all 5-star reviews; Avvo Top Contributor; and a former Member of the Board of Directors of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association.

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