Washington Police Report: How to Get a Crash Report from WRECR, an Incident Report, or Body Camera Video

Washington runs its collision reports through a dedicated online purchase system, WRECR, operated by the Washington State Patrol. General incident reports fall under the state's broader Public Records Act, and Washington's body camera statute sits inside that same Public Records Act rather than as a separate law, making it one of the most detailed bodycam-access frameworks in the country.

Because the general law-enforcement exemption and the bodycam rules share the same statute number, RCW 42.56.240, it matters which subsection is actually doing the work in any given request.

Information last verified on 2026-08-10. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Getting a Copy of a Washington Collision Report

Washington collision reports are purchased through WRECR, the Washington Requests for Electronic Collision Records system, at wrecr.wsp.wa.gov. The fee is $10.50 per report. That amount is set administratively by the Washington State Patrol rather than by statute: RCW 46.52.085 says only that the information "may be furnished in written form for a fee sufficient to meet, but not exceed, the costs incurred," so the figure can change without any amendment to the statute. The system works by searching for the involved party's name and the date of the collision, then completing the transaction online.

Timelines depend on the investigating officer's workload: officers generally have two to four weeks to complete a report and get supervisor approval, though the Washington State Patrol notes reports are typically available sooner. Who gets what version of the report depends on the requester's status. An "entitled party" receives a non-redacted copy. That phrase is the State Patrol's own administrative label, not a defined term in chapter 46.52 RCW. The statutory concept it tracks is RCW 46.52.080's "proper interest," which the statute describes through the people it names: the drivers involved, a driver's legal guardian, a minor driver's parent, anyone injured in the collision, owners of damaged vehicles or property, and the authorized representatives, attorneys, and insurers of those parties. Everyone else receives a redacted copy, governed by Washington's Public Records Act, RCW 42.56.

The underlying confidentiality rule, RCW 46.52.080, keeps required accident reports "for the confidential use of the county prosecuting attorney and chief of police or county sheriff," with a specific carve-out: the statute requires those officials to disclose the names and addresses of the people reported as involved in the collision. The same statute limits use of the reports as evidence in related litigation.

Getting a Copy of a Washington Police Incident Report

A general incident report is requested from the records unit of the department or sheriff's office that responded, under the state Public Records Act. The core investigative exemption is RCW 42.56.240(1), which protects "specific intelligence information and specific investigative records compiled by investigative, law enforcement, and penology agencies" where nondisclosure is "essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person's right to privacy." As with most law-enforcement exemptions, this is applied case by case rather than as a blanket rule, and a closed case is generally more accessible than an open investigation.

Washington Body Camera Footage

Washington's body camera access rules live in the same statute as the general law-enforcement exemption, but in a different subsection: RCW 42.56.240(14). It is one of the most detailed bodycam frameworks nationally, and it is worth understanding in pieces.

First, a presumption. Disclosure of a body worn camera recording is "presumed to be highly offensive to a reasonable person" to the extent the footage depicts any of seven categories the statute lists: areas of a medical facility, counseling, or therapeutic program office where patients are treated or health care information is shared, or information meeting the definition of protected health information; the interior of a place of residence where a person has a reasonable expectation of privacy; an intimate image; a minor; the body of a deceased person; the identity of or communications from a victim or witness of an incident involving domestic violence, sexual assault, or the disclosure of intimate images; and the identifiable location information of a community-based domestic violence program or emergency shelter. Footage matching those categories is generally withheld or redacted rather than released outright.

Second, specificity. A requester has to identify the incident with enough particularity for the agency to actually search for it, using a case number, date, time, location, or names, rather than submitting an open-ended request for all footage an agency holds.

Third, cost, and this is where the statute is more favorable to an ordinary requester than it first appears. Washington's Public Records Act generally does not let an agency charge for the labor of redacting a record, and bodycam footage is a deliberate exception to that rule, but the exception does not reach everyone. Under RCW 42.56.240(14)(e), an agency may not require payment of any redaction costs from the requesters that subsection lists, including a person directly involved in the recorded incident, an attorney representing such a person, a person or that person's attorney requesting footage relevant to a criminal case involving them, and the executive director of the state commission on African American affairs, Asian Pacific American affairs, or Hispanic affairs. Only "any requester not listed in (e)" can be charged, and then only "the reasonable costs" of redaction "to the extent necessary to comply with the exemptions in this chapter or any applicable law," using redaction technology that provides the least costly commercially available method to the extent possible and reasonable. Finally, the statute sets a 60-day minimum retention period for body worn camera recordings, so footage should not be destroyed immediately after an incident even absent a specific request.

Because 42.56.240 covers both the general exemption and the bodycam rules, distinguish the subsection when researching a specific request rather than citing the statute number alone. For a broader comparison across states, see How to Request Body Cam Footage and Washington Body Camera Laws.

Related Resources

Police Reports by State covers the full 50-state picture. See also How to File a Police Report, How to Read a Police Report, Are Police Reports Public?, Washington Body Camera Laws, Washington Car Accident Laws, Washington Public Records Laws, and Washington Court Records.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about how to request police collision reports, incident reports, and body camera video in Washington. It is not legal advice. Fees, portals, and statutes change; confirm current details with the Washington State Patrol, the responding agency, or a Washington attorney before relying on anything here for a specific situation.

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Last updated: 2026-08-10. Fees and portals reflect their published status as of August 2026.