Durham · Durham Police Department
Durham Police, Duke Campus and NCDMV Crash Report Copies
For a Durham police crash report, call the department's Records unit at 919-560-4423 or search Police to Citizen, where public versions of reports come up by incident report number. For a traffic accident on Duke's campus, Duke University Police releases copies to involved parties. The NCDMV supplies copies of officer crash reports as well.
The Durham Police Department's report page points to Police to Citizen and the city's public records portal, and its directory lists a Records unit; none of those pages names a fee for a crash report. What follows comes from the department's own collision investigation order, its records and directory pages, Duke's records page, NCDMV and NCDPS pages, and North Carolina statutes.
Courthouses and venue for a Durham case are on the Durham crash page. This page covers, in order, which Durham crashes get a state form, Records and Police to Citizen, Duke campus reports, the traffic officers who take fatal crashes, and the state routes with a timing table.
01
Which Durham crashes get a DMV-349 from city officers
A Durham police officer must complete North Carolina DMV Form 349 for every crash at Level II or above under General Order 4013, the department's collision investigation order, last revised in December 2013. The lowest level is the one place the form is optional.
| Level in General Order 4013 | What the order says it covers | DMV-349 |
|---|---|---|
| Level I | Property loss under $1,000, no personal injury, no citation, and not a hit and run | Optional, and required if any party asks |
| Level II | Moderate property damage ($1,000 or more) and/or minor personal injury | Required |
| Level III | Moderate injuries or extensive property damage | Required |
| Level IV | Serious injuries or deaths | Required, with a Supplemental Investigation Form |
Exception. At Level I the DMV-349 is optional for the Durham officer and becomes required once a driver or another party to the collision requests one. Level I covers only crashes with no personal injury, so a crash that hurt someone sits at Level II or higher.
The state definition tracks the order's $1,000 line. G.S. 20-4.01(33b) sets three triggers for a reportable crash involving a motor vehicle: someone dies or is hurt, total property damage hits $1,000, or a vehicle held under a G.S. 20-28.3 seizure takes any damage.
02
Reaching Durham Police Records and the Police to Citizen search
The Durham Police Department sends people looking for an existing report to Police to Citizen, its online system, where public versions of reports are found by incident report number. The department's page says the same system lets a person print an existing report.
Have the incident report number ready
Police to Citizen finds public versions of Durham reports by that number, so keep it in front of you when you search.
Call Durham Police Records
The department's directory lists its Records unit at 919-560-4423.
Use the city's public records portal
The City of Durham takes public records requests through an online portal and says staff respond within 14 days. The city says most records are free and that a requester hears about any charge in advance.
The Durham police pages that describe Police to Citizen and Records list no fee for a crash report. Ask Records before you pay anyone for a Durham copy.
Durham Police Headquarters is at 602 E. Main St., where the Desk Unit staffs the desk reception area 24 hours a day; the desk officer's number is 919-560-4427.
03
A crash on Duke's campus or at the Duke Medical Center
Involved parties in a traffic accident on Duke's campus, the Medical Center included, can get a copy from the Duke University Police Department. Requests go to its Records Division at dupd-records@duke.edu or 919-684-4602.
Without a report number, Duke asks for as much detail as you have, such as the date, the location and the names of the people who reported it. The department sits at 502 Oregon Street, and its non-emergency line is 919-684-2444. For a report Durham city officers handled, Duke's page sends people to the Durham Police Department.
Exception. An insurance company is pointed elsewhere. Duke's records page directs insurers handling a traffic accident claim to the NC Department of Motor Vehicles for a copy of a traffic accident at Duke.
04
Fatal Durham crashes and city vehicle crashes go to traffic officers
Durham's Traffic Services officers, whom General Order 4013 labels TACT, investigate all fatal or near fatal collisions the department handles. The same order gives TACT the collisions involving any City of Durham vehicle when its officers are on duty or otherwise readily available.
A Level IV report, the order's level for serious injuries and deaths, carries a Supplemental Investigation Form along with the DMV-349. The department's directory separately lists a Traffic Services unit at 919-560-4935.
When TACT is not available, the same order lets a supervisor from the driver's own unit or district investigate a crash involving a Durham Police Department vehicle that falls below Level III. In each of those cases, the officer writing the report works for the same city that owns the vehicle. That is worth knowing before you read the report.
In each of those cases, the officer writing the report works for the same city that owns the vehicle.
05
Outside Durham city limits, and the NCDMV copy of a Durham report
Past Durham's city limits, G.S. 20-166.1(a) sends notice of a crash to the State Highway Patrol, the county sheriff, or another rural police agency qualified to serve that county. The NCDPS Collision Information search covers Highway Patrol crash investigations from May 16, 2013 on, and it takes a county, a name or a report number.
Reports reach the NCDMV as well. G.S. 20-166.1(e) gives the local agency 10 days from receipt to pass an officer's report along to the Division, and G.S. 20-166.1(i) makes reports by officers public records. A walk-in customer asking for five records or less gets them immediately at Raleigh Central Services or at the Huntersville License Plate Agency.
| Route | Who it serves | Timing, as the agency states it | Cost, as the agency states it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Durham Police Records or Police to Citizen | Anyone with the incident report number, for the public version | Not stated | Not stated |
| City of Durham public records portal | Any requester | Staff respond within 14 days | Most records free, charges announced in advance |
| Duke University Police Records Division | People involved in a campus traffic accident | Not stated | Not stated |
| NCDMV, form TR-67A | Individuals receive a redacted copy | Same day in person for five or fewer, 10 business days by mail | $6.50 under G.S. 20-42(b) |
Online ordering at the NCDMV is closed to individuals. Only businesses and organizations with a North Carolina base or a license to operate in the state can order that way.
06
The redacted NCDMV copy and what a Durham report leaves out
When an individual orders from the NCDMV, the copy that comes back is redacted: personal details like names and addresses are withheld, while the key facts of the crash remain. A business or organization gets the unredacted report only when its purpose qualifies under federal privacy law as a permissible use and it proves its profession or agency status with identification.
A crash report records what one officer found and wrote down within the 24 hours G.S. 20-166.1(e) allows after the crash. In my view, no form holds everything the people in the crash saw.
The Durham crash statistics page shows how many reports like yours the state counted in 2024. To talk about your own report, the contact page lists the ways to reach me.
Questions
Common questions
Can the other driver's insurer see my Durham police report?
Yes. Under G.S. 20-166.1(i), officers' crash reports are public records open to anyone at all reasonable times, and anyone who asks the Division for a copy and pays the G.S. 20-42 fee gets one. Duke's page sends insurers to the NCDMV for campus accidents.
How soon after a Durham crash is the police report written?
Durham officers file the DMV-349 before the workday ends under General Order 4013, with a next-day allowance for a crash late in a shift, and G.S. 20-166.1(e) allows 24 hours. The department's pages do not say when Records releases it, so call 919-560-4423.
Who can get the unredacted NCDMV copy of a Durham crash report?
The NCDMV releases the full version to businesses and organizations whose reason for asking fits a federal privacy law permissible use, once they verify their professional or agency standing. An individual who orders a copy gets the redacted version, which withholds names and addresses.
About the attorney
Julian Doby, attorney since 1998
Julian Doby has been admitted to practice in North Carolina since 1998, North Carolina State Bar No. 25407, and he represents injured people across the state. His one office is at 110 W. Elm Street in Graham. He meets clients across the state after a first conversation by phone or video.
More about JulianSources and verification (12)
- Durham Police Department General Order 4013 R-5, Traffic Collision Investigation, revised December 17, 2013, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-4.01(33b), reportable crash, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- City of Durham, Durham Police Data, Statistics, and Reports (Police to Citizen), verified October 18, 2026.
- City of Durham, Police Department directory (Records; Traffic Services), verified October 18, 2026.
- City of Durham, Request Public Records, verified October 18, 2026.
- City of Durham, Durham Police Desk Unit, verified October 18, 2026.
- Duke University Police Department, Request Report Copies, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-166.1(a), (e) and (i), ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDPS, State Highway Patrol Collision Information, verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Crash Reports (page timestamp March 11, 2026), verified October 18, 2026.
- NCDMV, Form TR-67A, Request for Motor Vehicle Information (Crash Reports), revised July 1, 2024, verified October 18, 2026.
- N.C. Gen. Stat. 20-42(b), fee for an accident report, ncleg.gov, verified October 18, 2026.
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