How to Get a Police Report in Evanston, Illinois

Did you call the police recently for an Evanston car accident, burglary, injury, or other property loss? Your insurance company may ask you for a copy of the police report.

The police report can verify your loss or injury and help the insurance company determine who is at fault and what should be paid. In Evanston, it can be challenging to find information about obtaining a police report online. So, in this article, we will walk you through how you can obtain an accident report, incident report, or another police report in Evanston.

In Evanston, police reports are available through the Evanston Police Department and the Evanston Records Bureau. The type of report you need will determine where you should send your request.

Accident Report

To obtain a report for your traffic accident, you can request one in person for a $10 fee at the Evanston Police Department or the Evanston Records Bureau. To request records from the Evanston Police Department, you can send a request, along with a copy of a valid photo ID, to:

Evanston Police Department
1454 Elmwood Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201

The police department is open for in-person records requests Monday to Friday from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm and 1:30 pm to 5:00 pm. You will need to bring a photo ID. You can also email your request and photo ID to policerecords@cityofevanston.org.

To request police reports from the Records Bureau, do so in person at:

Records Bureau
2100 Ridge Avenue
Evanston, IL 60201

You can reach the Records Bureau to ask about records requests at 847-866-5020. Accident reports are available at the Records Bureau for $10, Monday through Friday, from 8:30 am to 5 pm. You can also obtain a traffic report through Docview online at any time.

1. Incident Reports: Were you the victim of a crime? You can obtain a copy of the incident report through the Evanston Records Bureau at the address above. Reports are available from Monday through Friday, 8:30 am to 5pm. Arrest records are only available with a subpoena.
2. Other Police Reports: To obtain police reports other than traffic accidents or incident reports in Evanston, the process is slightly more complicated. You must submit a request under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The Illinois FOIA statute promotes government transparency and accountability to the public. With some exceptions, you can request many police reports through the statute.

To make a FOIA request for a police report, you must contact the Evanston City Clerk’s office. Requests can be submitted in person or by mail to:

Evanston City Clerk
2100 Ridge Avenue, Room 1200
Evanston, IL 60201

FOIA requests can also be emailed to FOIA@cityofevanston.org or faxed to 847-488-8189. Devon M. Reid is the designated FOIA Officer for the city of Evanston.

The city must respond to your FOIA request within five days with the requested report, a request for more time, or a denial. You will be notified by phone, email, or mail if the city needs more time to respond.

The city may charge a reasonable copy fee, but the first 50 pages are free. Other fees include:

• $.15 per page after the first 50 pages.
• The certification fee for FOIA records: $1.
• DUI Report: cost to produce the document.
• Ambulance report: cost to produce the document.
• Fire/Incident report: cost to produce the document.
• Audiotapes and videotapes: cost to produce the document.
• CDs: cost to produce the document.
• Photographs: cost to produce the document.
• Transcript from the Hearings Division: cost to produce the document.
• The charge to a requestor for copies of any abnormal-size document is the actual cost to produce that document.
• Notary Service: free for the first document, then $1.00 for each additional document.

If your request is denied in whole or in part, you can request a review by the Public Access Counselor within 60 calendar days of the denial. You should send your request for review, along with your original FOIA request to the city, and any responses from the city to:

Sarah Pratt, Public Access Counselor
Office of the Attorney General
500 S. 2nd Street
Springfield, Illinois 62706

If you’ve been injured in an accident in Evanston, Illinois, and need assistance to obtain a police report, contact us for a free consultation. The attorneys at Rosenfeld Injury Lawyers have many years of experience fighting for the rights of people in Illinois.