New Mexico Police Reports: How to Get a Crash Report, Incident Report, or Bodycam Video

New Mexico handles State Police and Motor Transportation Police crash reports centrally, through the Department of Public Safety's Law Enforcement Records Bureau, while a crash investigated by a municipal police department or a county sheriff is requested from that investigating agency. Separately, New Mexico's law enforcement records statute, NMSA 14-2-1.2, sets the single most practically important rule for anyone requesting police video in the state: a request for release of video or audio must specify at least one identifying reference, such as a computer-aided dispatch record number, rather than a general description of the incident. The same statute gives a requester who has none of those references a different route, an on-site viewing at the public body.

Below is how to get a New Mexico crash report, how the general public-records law applies to incident reports, and how New Mexico's bodycam mandate connects to that same specificity requirement.

Information last verified on 2026-08-11. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

This guide is part of a broader look at police reports by state. For the filing side rather than requesting a copy, see how to file a police report.

Getting a New Mexico Crash Report

New Mexico's Department of Public Safety maintains uniform crash reports for New Mexico State Police and the Motor Transportation Police Division statewide through its Law Enforcement Records Bureau. Requests go through LERB's Records Request Portal, by mail (P.O. Box 1628, Santa Fe, NM 87504), by email (lerb.accidents@dps.nm.gov), or by fax (505-827-3388). A crash investigated by a municipal police department or a county sheriff is not in LERB's holdings, so that report is requested from the investigating agency directly.

LERB's fee schedule is $1.00 for the first page, $0.25 for each additional page, and $6.75 for a disc. The page is explicit that all invoices must be paid before records are released. Any civilian, law enforcement agency or officer, or other agency may request a report, and written requests are preferred over oral ones. LERB also states that photos, dashcam footage, diagrams, and other pertinent information tied to the same crash can be requested alongside the report where available, which is a useful practical detail distinct from the separate bodycam mandate statute described below. Fatal crash reports are retained 25 years; non-fatal reports, including hit-and-run and property-damage-only crashes, are retained 10 years, under 1.21.2.927 NMAC.

New Mexico draws the same driver-filed-versus-officer-prepared line found in Nebraska and Nevada, though the statute in play here covers only one side of it. NMSA 66-7-213 makes the driver's own filed accident report confidential, stating that accident reports made by persons involved in accidents or by persons in charge of garages are for the confidential use of the state highway and transportation department, with disclosure limited to two narrow exceptions: the identity of a party who is unknown or who denies presence at the accident, and whether the vehicle owner or operator carried insurance. That statute governs the driver's own filing, not the separate officer-prepared report LERB releases to any requester. LERB's civilian-access practice for NMSP and Motor Transportation Police reports rests instead on New Mexico's general public-records law, the Inspection of Public Records Act, and on NMSA 14-2-1.2's starting position that law enforcement records are public except as otherwise provided by law, not on 66-7-213. In short, the driver's own report to the state stays confidential by statute, while the officer's report of the same crash is released as a matter of LERB policy under the general open-records framework.

A separate channel, NMDOT's own Crash Data Request Form, exists but is scoped to bulk or aggregate crash data for research, analysis, or government purposes, not individual report copies. Do not confuse that data-request channel with the LERB process described above for an individual crash report.

Getting a New Mexico Incident Report

New Mexico's general public-records law is the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA). The Department of Public Safety's Public Information page points requesters to a Records Request/IPRA portal and references an internal policy document, ADM: 21, that governs how DPS processes IPRA requests, though the page itself does not reproduce that policy's fee, timeline, or redaction specifics.

The operative access statute for law enforcement records is NMSA 14-2-1.2, which starts from the position that law enforcement records are public records except as otherwise provided by law, and is referenced by IPRA's general exceptions clause. The same statute sets the specificity requirement that matters most for video and audio requests. Under subsection B, a request for release of video or audio must specify at least one of the following: the computer-aided dispatch record number, the police report number, a date or date range with reasonable specificity paired with an officer or first responder name, the approximate time, or the approximate location, or other criteria the agency has established and published. That requirement applies whether the underlying record is a general incident video or bodycam footage.

Subsection C is the route for a requester who has none of those references. Except for confidential sources, methods, or information, a request to view video or hear audio on-site of a public body is not subject to the restrictions in subsections A and B. Any recording or copying of video or audio from that viewing or listening remains subject to the statute's restrictions, so the on-site route gets you in front of the footage rather than a copy to take away.

New Mexico Bodycam Footage

New Mexico requires certain agencies to equip officers with body-worn cameras under NMSA 29-1-18. The statute applies to law enforcement agencies whose officers routinely interact with the public and sets a minimum retention period of 120 days for recorded video. That statute governs the equipping mandate, not the access mechanics for the resulting footage.

Access instead runs through NMSA 14-2-1.2, the same law enforcement records statute covered above, including both its subsection B specificity requirement and its subsection C exception for viewing on-site at the public body. No separate bodycam-specific fee or timeline schedule distinct from that general framework was found this pass. For the underlying law in more detail, see New Mexico bodycam laws; for the general request process across states, see how to request bodycam footage.

Related Resources

Police Reports by State covers the national picture. See also How to File a Police Report, How to Read a Police Report, Are Police Reports Public?, New Mexico Bodycam Laws, New Mexico Car Accident Laws, New Mexico Public Records Laws, and New Mexico Court Records.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about how to request New Mexico crash reports, incident reports, and bodycam footage. It is not legal advice. Fees and agency procedures change; verify current details with the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, the relevant local department, or a licensed New Mexico attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.

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Last updated: 2026-08-11. Fees and portals reflect their published status as of August 2026.