How to request a Burbank accident report and traffic video

Check which agency made the report

Read the agency name on the officer's card, incident receipt, or towing paperwork before paying for a search. The location of a crash does not necessarily identify the agency holding its records. If another department investigated, use that department's instructions.

Make a short record of the collision date, approximate time, intersection or street address, involved vehicles, and report number. If you do not have a number, ask the records office which details will help locate the incident.

Use Burbank's official online or counter option

The Burbank Police report-request page links to LexisNexis for online copies. The department says to allow at least four days after the collision for review and approval before trying online. That is a minimum waiting period, not a guaranteed completion date.

You can also request a copy at the Records Bureau counter. The department directory lists Records at (818) 238-3140 and the department at 200 North Third Street, Burbank. Call before visiting to confirm report availability, identification requirements, counter service, and accepted payment.

Burbank's official pages currently display different report fees. Confirm the current charge with Records or the authorized checkout before paying. The online option also adds a convenience fee.

Be ready to explain your connection to the collision

California Vehicle Code section 20012 provides report access to people with a proper interest, including involved drivers, named injured people, owners of damaged property, and certain representatives. It is not an unrestricted public download.

Use your own accurate information. If requesting for someone else, ask Records what authorization it requires and how to submit it securely. Keep the request confirmation and payment receipt with your other collision documents.

Request city traffic video separately

Burbank's Public Works Traffic page provides a separate public-records request route for traffic video. It lists the applicable video fee and explains that the city contacts the requester before requesting payment.

Identify the intersection, date, time window, travel direction, and any useful vehicle description. Ask promptly whether footage exists and can be preserved. Do not assume every camera records, that every view covers the collision, or that recordings remain available indefinitely.

The city specifically cautions that license plates generally cannot be read in its traffic video. Footage might still help establish vehicle movements or signal context. Privately owned dashcam, business, or residential recordings require separate requests to their owners.

If the report is missing or still pending

Ask Records whether the report is awaiting approval, requires a different release process, or was never created. An empty online result does not answer those questions.

Burbank's collision guidance says private-property crashes are not ordinarily documented unless they involve injury or death, hit-and-run, or a clear traffic-law violation. This can matter after a parking-lot collision.

Continue organizing your own photographs, correspondence, and witness details while the request is pending. When the report arrives, preserve the complete original and note any factual concerns separately for the investigating agency.