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Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Ind. Gov't. - Two stories today on $12 police accident reports

Joshua Stone of the South Bend Tribune reports in a story headlined "Praise, criticism for Indiana records outsourcing: Arrangement means Hoosiers must pay $12 to get state police accident reports." The report begins:

SOUTH BEND -- An Indiana State Police records outsourcing arrangement will continue to force Hoosiers to pay more for some crash reports, while giving them a more convenient way to get others.

The convenience: Under the arrangement, Hoosiers since Jan. 1 have had two ways to buy crash reports from any local police agency in the state. For $12, they can buy a report from a private company by going online to www.BuyCrash.com. Or, for a lesser fee -- for instance, $5 in South Bend -- they can buy a report directly from their local police agency.

The catch: Under that same arrangement, consumers can now buy Indiana State Police reports only from the private company, for the higher cost of $12 per copy.

The privatization agreement behind the current arrangement is drawing both praise for the efficiency it's created and criticism for its impact on access to public records. * * *

Earlier this year, Gov. Mitch Daniels * * * vetoed a bill that would have reduced the price for accident reports to no more than $8 per copy.

In a statement, Daniels said the bill would "put at risk the substantial financial savings" that Indiana has gotten from the agreement, and would further "jeopardize Indiana's outstanding data and technical reporting performance."

Concerns raised

Stephen Key, general counsel for the Hoosier State Press Association, says the privatization agreement "raises questions regarding state policy when it comes to records access."

Although a $12 fee for an Indiana State Police report might not present a large financial burden for a person involved in an accident, he says, it could impair the ability of a citizens' group to gather and present data on multiple accidents that occurred along a particularly dangerous stretch of road.

In such a case, he says, fees could multiply quickly and "become the barrier to preventing them from getting the records to allow them to make a convincing argument to state or local authorities to change the situation."

The ILB agrees. And an individual might be similarly deterred by the cost from collecting data, perhaps to make a "mash-up" map of dangerous local intersections. Stowe's story concludes:
The dispute over Indiana's current records-keeping arrangement springs from differing visions of how to handle such records, representatives of both sides say.

One school of thought, which Key supports, holds that the public has paid for the creation of records, and it benefits from easy access to them.

The other school, which Hutchens supports, says that it makes sense to charge people who want such records a user fee rather than to charge all taxpayers for them.

The Indianapolis Star has a report by Michael Malik headlined "Web firm puts crash reports a click away: Police agencies say privatization deal saves cash, but others decry $12 cost to consumers." Some quotes:
The new service springs from a three-year privatization deal between the state and an Indianapolis company that does information-technology work.

In the six months since the site was launched Jan. 1, about 12,000 reports have been ordered. All reports now cost $12, including accident reports from Indiana State Police that used to cost $5.

Both houses of the state legislature voted almost unanimously this past session to cap the cost at $8, but Gov. Mitch Daniels vetoed the bill.

"This bill . . . would put at risk the substantial fiscal savings . . . which have been achieved by the state's new electronic accident reporting system, savings that have been used to put new state troopers on the road," the Republican governor said in his veto message. * * *

Vehicle accident reports generated about $100,000 each year for the State Police when it was in charge of the system. That was not enough to cover the cost, the agency said.

Now State Police reports are Holt, Sheets' largest moneymaker. The company receives 90 percent of the $12 charged for each State Police report. The share is so large because the company took over the entire crash-records system from State Police.

Before the privatization, all local agencies had to file their reports with the State Police, which maintained a database for the state. Now, all police agencies file their reports with Holt, Sheets.
Chris Sheets said he doesn't understand why more local agencies don't contract with Holt, Sheets and get a share of the money.

The money for the reports is split between the company now handling the work, Holt, Sheets & Associates, and law enforcement operations. Each deal is negotiated separately. So far, 33 of the 550 or so police agencies in the state have signed agreements with the company, said Chris Sheets, part-owner of Holt, Sheets.

Zionsville and Shelbyville are the only area police departments that have signed revenue-sharing contracts with the system, but reports from all police agencies statewide are available.

The state contract also gives Holt, Sheets the right to sell the information it collects to anyone who asks. Reports include such personal details as a driver's license number, home address, phone number and date of birth.

The public still can get accident reports in person at police stations; prices vary, with some costing more or less than the $12 online fee.

Agencies that use the system say it saves them money by freeing them from records maintenance, and it creates a centralized database that can help identify traffic problems faster.

Here is the bill the governor vetoed - HEA 1274. The ILB is unable to locate the governor's veto message - a problem which the ILB has written about a number of times.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on June 19, 2007 08:43 AM
Posted to Indiana Government | Indiana Law