Personal injury
How do I get my car accident report in Tampa?
The state portal is quickest, up to ten days after the crash. Tampa Police and the Hillsborough Sheriff each keep their own copy, and in the first 60 days only you, your lawyer and your insurer can get it.
The quickest route is the Florida Crash Portal, run by the state, where a report costs $10 plus a $2 fee and can take up to ten days to appear after the crash. The agency that wrote it also keeps a copy: the Tampa Police Department at its Records Section on North Franklin Street, or the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at its Records Section in Ybor City. Tampa Police lists a mailed request at $2, against $12 on the portal. For 60 days after the report is filed, Florida law limits it to the people in the crash, their lawyers and their insurers.
01 Which agency
Which agency wrote my Tampa crash report?
The agency that sent an officer to the crash wrote the report, and Hillsborough County has several. The Tampa Police Department covers the City of Tampa. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office covers the county outside the cities that run their own departments. Temple Terrace and the Tampa Airport Police Department have records offices of their own, and the Florida Highway Patrol writes the reports on crashes it investigates. The county’s 911 Office lists these agencies’ records pages together.
The statute explains why it varies by location. A driver in a qualifying crash must notify the local police department if the crash happened inside a municipality, and otherwise the county sheriff or the nearest Florida Highway Patrol office (§ 316.065(1)). A crash inside the City of Tampa goes to Tampa Police. A crash in unincorporated Hillsborough County goes to the Sheriff’s Office or the Patrol.
If you have a report number, start there. If you do not, Tampa Police says the date and location of the crash are enough to look. Do not assume the first agency you search is the right one. A report Tampa Police did not write will not be in Tampa Police’s files.
The agency that sent the officer holds the report. The state portal holds a copy of all of them.
02 The fastest way
What is the fastest way to get a crash report in Hillsborough County?
The Florida Crash Portal is the fastest, and it does not matter which agency wrote the report. Long-form and short-form reports prepared by law enforcement must be submitted to the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (§ 316.066(1)(f)), and the department sells them online. The fee is $10.00 per report plus a $2.00 convenience fee on each transaction. Once you pay, the report is available at once and must be downloaded within 48 hours, through a link emailed to you (FLHSMV). Tampa Police’s own page prices it at $12.00 on the portal.
Allow up to ten days after the crash before you decide the report is missing. The officer has ten days after finishing the investigation to submit the long form (§ 316.066(1)(a)), and the state says a report may take up to ten days to become available. For the statewide rules, including what to do when no report was written at all, see what to do when the police never came.
03 From the agency
Can I get my crash report from Tampa Police or the Sheriff’s Office?
Tampa Police takes crash report requests in person, online and by mail, and it is the cheapest way if you can wait. The Records Section is at Tampa Police Headquarters, One Police Center, 411 N. Franklin Street, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. except city holidays. Online requests go through the city’s police traffic accident report request and payment service. A mailed request goes to Tampa Police, Records Section, 411 N. Franklin Street, Tampa, FL 33602, with a copy of your driver license, the report number (or the date and location of the crash if you do not have it), a self-addressed stamped envelope and $2.00. Its page says sworn statements are required of law firms and insurance companies, and gives the Records Section’s number for fee questions as (813) 276-3250 (Tampa Police records page).
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office takes crash report requests through its Public Records Center. The online form starts by asking whether the crash happened within the past 60 days, which is the question that decides who is allowed to see the report. In person, the Records Section is at the Freddie Solomon Annex, 1900 East 9th Avenue in Ybor City, and its number is (813) 247-0960 (Sheriff’s Office records center). The pages do not state the fee for a crash report, so ask when you request it.
Going to the agency costs less money, and the portal costs less time. Tampa Police’s mailed request is $2.00 and the portal is $12.00. The agency asks you to mail, visit or wait, and the portal gives you the file the day it is available. Hours, fees and procedures here are as each agency’s page lists them in November 2026, so call before you go.
04 The first 60 days
Why can’t I get my crash report right away?
For 60 days after it is filed, a crash report that reveals personal information is confidential. The statute exempts it from public disclosure for that period (§ 316.066(2)(a)). It may be made available immediately to the parties involved, their legal representatives, their licensed insurance agents and their insurers (§ 316.066(2)(b)). That is why the Sheriff’s Office form asks about the 60 days before anything else.
Each report you request needs a sworn statement. To get a confidential report you must show a driver license or other identification, or proof that you qualify, and file a sworn statement for each report that the information will not be used to solicit accident victims (§ 316.066(2)(d)). Tampa Police’s page says sworn statements are required of law firms and insurance companies, which fits the statute.
A lawyer you hire is on the statute’s list of people who can receive the report at once. A third party acting for someone who is eligible may also receive it, but may disclose it only to that person (§ 316.066(2)(b)).
05 Other records
How do I get the 911 call and body camera footage from a Tampa crash?
Ask the agency that answered the call, not the county. The Hillsborough County 911 Office says requests for records of 911 calls go directly to the public safety agency involved in answering the call and responding to the incident, and that calls are answered according to the jurisdiction where the call originated. A crash in the City of Tampa runs through Tampa Police’s records process, and one in unincorporated Hillsborough County runs through the Sheriff’s.
Both agencies take these requests through an online public records portal. The Sheriff’s Office says a request that is voluminous or needs extensive research can require a deposit before the records are produced. The City of Tampa directs requests for audio, video and photographs to its Public Records Portal.
Neither page says how long a recording is kept. The pages that describe these requests give no retention period for 911 audio or camera footage. Do not assume it is long. The time to ask is in the first weeks, along with the crash report, and not after the claim has already begun.
06 What to check
What should I look for when I get my Tampa crash report?
Check who is on it. The statute requires every driver and passenger, the vehicle each was in, the witnesses, the investigating officer’s name, badge number and agency, and each party’s insurance company (§ 316.066(1)(b)). A passenger left off the report is the omission people notice last.
Check what it says about pain. A long form is required when anyone was hurt or showed any indication of complaints of pain or discomfort (§ 316.066(1)(a)). If it records no injury, the claim is not over. Personal Injury Protection turns on care within 14 days, and a report is not a condition of it (what the 14 days require).
What you told the officer for the report is protected at trial, within limits. A report made by a person involved, and any statement to an officer to complete it, may not be used as evidence in any trial (§ 316.066(4)). The insurer can still read it and ask you about it. The officer’s view of fault is one input into a percentage Florida assigns, not the answer (how fault percentages work).
07 An example
A crash outside the city, a request to the city
A driver is hit on a road in an unincorporated part of Hillsborough County. A deputy comes. A week later he mails Tampa Police a request with a copy of his license and $2.00, because the Tampa Police page is the one that ranks first. The envelope comes back, because Tampa Police did not write the report.
The report is on the state portal for $12.00, and the Sheriff’s Office Records Section has it as well. The first thing its online form asks is whether the crash was within the last 60 days. This is an illustration of how the pieces fit together, not a real case.
A constructed example, written to show how the rule works. It is not a case this firm handled and it is not a promised result.
08 What to do now
- Find out which agency cameLook for a report number or a card from the scene. If you have none, write down the date, time and place and start with the Florida Crash Portal, which the statute makes the destination of every long-form and short-form report.
- Wait up to ten days, then search the Florida Crash PortalThe fee is $10.00 plus $2.00, and Tampa Police prices it at $12.00. Download within 48 hours of paying, because the state requires it.
- Or ask the agency directlyTampa Police by mail ($2.00 with a copy of your license), online or at Police Headquarters. The Sheriff’s Office through its Public Records Center or at its Records Section in Ybor City.
- If it is inside the first 60 days, bring identification and expect a sworn statementYou are eligible as a party to the crash. So are your lawyer and your insurer.
- Ask the agency that answered for the 911 recording and camera footage in the first weeksThe county’s 911 Office sends those requests to the agency that answered the call. No retention period is stated, so ask early.
- Read the report for names, insurers and the injury entryCheck every driver, passenger, witness and insurer. If something is wrong, ask the agency that wrote it how it handles a correction, and do not assume it will change.
09 What an attorney would look into
- Which agency wrote the report, based on where the crash happened and who responded
- Whether the report is a long form or a short form, and what it records about injuries and complaints of pain
- Whether every driver, passenger, witness and insurer is listed correctly
- Whether a 911 recording or camera footage exists for the crash, and whether the time to request it is running
- What the report’s account of the crash says, and whether it matches the physical evidence and the photographs
- Whether the 14-day window for medical care is still open
10 The sources
- Fla. Stat. § 316.066 Crash reportsWhen a long-form report is required (subsection 1(a)); what it must list (1(b)); reports go to the state department (1(f)); confidential for 60 days and who may receive it at once (2); a sworn statement for each report (2(d)); what you tell an officer for the report is not evidence at trial (4).
- Fla. Stat. § 316.065(1) Crashes: notice to the policeA driver in a qualifying crash notifies the local police department inside a municipality, and otherwise the county sheriff or the nearest Florida Highway Patrol office.
- FLHSMV Traffic crash reportsThe Florida Crash Portal: $10.00 per report plus a $2.00 convenience fee, up to ten days to become available, download within 48 hours.
- Tampa Police Department Records Section Services and FeesThe Records Section at 411 N. Franklin Street, the portal at $12.00, a mailed request at $2.00, and sworn statements for law firms and insurers.
- Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office Public Records CenterThe traffic and crash report request, which asks first about the past 60 days, and the Records Section in Ybor City.
- Hillsborough County 911 Office Records and reportsRequests for records of 911 calls go to the agency that answered the call, by the jurisdiction where it originated.
More questions
Can I get my crash report online in Tampa?
Yes. The state’s Florida Crash Portal has reports from whichever agency wrote it, Tampa Police has an online request and payment service, and the Sheriff’s Office takes crash report requests through its Public Records Center.
Reports can take up to ten days to appear after the crash.
How much does a crash report cost in Tampa?
Tampa Police lists $12.00 on the state portal and $2.00 by mail with a copy of your license and a self-addressed stamped envelope. The state’s own fee is $10.00 plus a $2.00 convenience fee. The Sheriff’s Office pages do not state a fee for a crash report.
Each agency sets its own price and changes it, so confirm before you pay.
How long does it take for a crash report to be available?
Up to ten days after the crash, according to the state. The statute gives the officer ten days after finishing the investigation to submit the long form.
A search that finds nothing in the first few days does not mean there is no report.
Who can get a crash report in the first 60 days?
The parties involved, their legal representatives, their licensed insurance agents and their insurers, among others the statute lists (§ 316.066(2)(b)). Each person must show identification and sign a sworn statement for each report.
The Sheriff’s Office online form asks first whether the crash happened in the past 60 days.
What if my crash was outside the City of Tampa?
Then Tampa Police probably did not write the report. In unincorporated Hillsborough County it is usually the Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Highway Patrol writes the reports on the crashes it investigates (§ 316.065(1)).
The state portal has the report whichever agency wrote it.
Who do I ask for the 911 recording?
The agency that answered the call. The county’s 911 Office says calls are answered by the jurisdiction where they originate, and that record requests go to the agency involved.
The agencies’ pages do not state how long a recording is kept, so ask early.
What if there is a mistake on the report?
Ask the agency that wrote it how it handles a correction. Whether an agency will change a report is the agency’s decision, so ask before you count on it.
A mistake on a report does not decide the claim. The facts, the photographs and the other evidence still count, and the fault is apportioned by percentage.
Do I need a lawyer to get my crash report?
No. You are a party to the crash and can request it yourself. A lawyer you hire is also on the statute’s list of people who can receive it at once.
What a lawyer adds is reading it, noticing what is missing, and asking for the 911 recording and camera footage while the time to ask is running.
What does it cost to talk to Jose A. Dapena about a crash?
The first consultation on an injury matter is free. Representation is on a contingency fee, generally payable only on recovery, with case expenses governed by the written agreement.
He will tell you honestly whether a claim is worth bringing.
Hurt in a crash in Hillsborough County?
Tell Jose A. Dapena when and where it happened and who responded. He will tell you which agency holds the report, what else to ask for, and what to do about the 14-day clock. The call is free and there is no obligation.