Civilians investigating traffic crashes? How it would work in NC if this bill becomes law
A bill headed to the desk of Gov. Roy Cooper would allow civilians to investigate traffic collisions in North Carolina.
House Bill 140, which cleared the General Assembly on Wednesday with a final vote in the North Carolina House, would allow cities to hire “civilian traffic investigators” to respond to some motor vehicle collisions. Investigators would have to go through training before starting the job, the bill said.
The bill passed in a final vote in the state House on Wednesday by a margin of 100-6 after previously passing the state Senate and House by large margins. It’s now up to Cooper to either sign the bill into law or veto it.
The program would help alleviate law enforcement staffing shortages, supporters say, and is already used in some North Carolina cities.
Here’s what to know about the civilian traffic investigators proposal and what it would mean for Charlotte drivers:
How would NC civilian traffic investigations work?
Under House Bill 140, North Carolina cities will be allowed to hire civilians to serve as traffic investigators.
The bill allows cities to establish their own “minimum standards for employment” for the investigators, but anyone hired for the role would have to go through “a training program designed by the North Carolina Justice Academy.”
And after training, investigators will have to go through “not less than four weeks of field training with a law enforcement officer who has experience conducting traffic crash investigations.”
Civilian traffic investigators won’t be issued weapons and will “have no authority to arrest or issue criminal process.”
“They basically do the investigation, they file the reports, and they also have the ability to appear in court,” state Sen. Michael Lazzara told WRAL News. “If there’s an issue involving criminal activity, they just call for an officer and an officer will come and do their job.”
They will “investigate crashes involving only property damage,” the legislation says, and a law enforcement officer will still have to “investigate any crash involving personal injury or a fatality.”
Civilian investigators will be issued credentials and uniforms under the proposed law, but the uniform must be “substantially different in color and style from that of a law enforcement officer for the city.”
“Any vehicles issued to, or used by, an Investigator shall not bear markings or symbols that identify the vehicle as a police vehicle,” the bill says. “The vehicle may have emergency equipment and lights installed but shall not use blue lights in any manner or form. Red and amber lights are permissible.”
What does law enforcement think of civilian traffic investigators?
The cities of Fayetteville and Wilmington already have civilian traffic investigators, according to Lazzara.
“This is just a way that we can help cities and towns fill the gap and have availability for officers to respond to actual emergency calls, rather than take their time to be at a traffic accident that can normally take several hours to complete,” he told WRAL.
The North Carolina Association of Police Chiefs and North Carolina League of Municipalities have endorsed the bill, WRAL reported.
In an email to The Charlotte Observer, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said it is “monitoring the pending legislation” and did not have a comment on the bill as of Wednesday afternoon.
