TH POLI
OMMISSION R
ITY
OF
N W
YORK
March
4,
2013
Honorable
James
Vacca
Chairman
Transportation
Committee
New
York
City
Council
3040
East
TremontAvenue
Room
104Bronx.
New
York
10461
Dear
Chairman
Vacca:
am
writing
to
provide
you
withanupdateregarding
ourreviewof
the
types
of
cases
thatwill
be
investigated
by
the
Highway
District
Accident
Investigation
Squad.
As
you
are
aware,
the
Accident
Investigation
Squad
AIS
has
responded
to
accidents
when
there
has
been
a
fatality
or
when
there
is
serious
physical
injury
and
the
victim
i s
considered
likely
todie.
An
exhaustive
on-sccne
examinationand
the
extensive
follow-up
investigation
conductedby
AIS
personnel
is
necessary
and
appropriate
in
thesetypes
of
cases.
However,
aftera
careful
review,
it
has
now
beendetermined
that
AIS
personnel
will
also
be
notified
to
respond
when
there
has
been
a
critical
injuryor
when
aPolice
Department
duty
captainbelieves
the
extent
of
injuries
and/or
uniquecircumstances
of
a
collision
warrant
such
action.
Therefore,
expect
there
to
be
an
increased
number
of
collisions
thatwill
be
investigated
by
AIS.
would
note
that
this
decision
was
made
possible
by
therecordreduction
intraffic
fatalities
that
has
occurred
in
New
York
City
over
the
last
several
years.
A
key
consideration
ofourreview
was
to
ensure
thatthis
change
would
not
unduly
affectthe
ability
of
AIS
to
conduct
quality
investigations.
To
elaborate
further.
AIS
will
now
be
notified
when
t
has
been
determined
that
an
individual
involved
in
a
collision
has
sustained
a
critical
injury.
This
determination
will
be
based
upon
the
on-sccne
assessmentof
EMS
personnel
utilizing
existing
FDNY
EMS
guidelines.
This
step
was
chosen
as
there
is
already
a
standardizedprotocol
utilized
y
MS
to
assess
the
severity
of
apatient s
injuries.
According
to
these
guidelines,
a
critically
injured
patient
will
be
defined
as
a
patienteither
receiving
CPR.
in
respiratory
arrest
orrequiring
and
receiving
life
sustaining
ventilator
circulatorysupport.
The
relevant
Patrol
uide
procedure,
which
is
currently
in
the
final
stages
of
review,
has
been
substantially
revised
in
order
to
provide
our
patrol
personnelwith
additional
guidance
when
making
a
determination
as
to
whether
the
injuries
that
havebeen
sustained
in
a
vehicle
collision
warrant
notification
to
AIS.
In
addition,
this
revised
procedure
alsooutlinesadditionallayers
of
supervisory
review
when
making
this
assessment.
The
new
procedure
will
require
patrol
personnel
to
conferwith
on-scenc
FDNY
EMS
when
assessinga
patient
condition.
1
PolicePlaza
New
York
NY
10038
•
646 610 5410•Fax:646 610 5865
Website:http://nyc.gov/nypd
We
have
also
taken
severaladditionalsteps
to
helpsupport
this
change
in
procedure.
We
are
in
theprocess
of
increasing
both
the
overall
uniformedheadcount
of
the
Highway
District
as
well
as
the
number
of
investigators
assigned
to
AIS.
There
willalso
be
an
expanded
number
of
specialized
collisioninvestigationtraining
provided
to
both
AIS
investigators
and
Highway
District
personnel.
am
confident
that
this
additionaltrainingwill
resultin
significantbenefits
to
the
Department
over
time.Inclosing,
would
also
liketo
inform
youof
an
additionalpolicy
change.
The
Police
Department
will
replacethe
term
accident with
the
term
collision .
The
term
collision ,
which
is
utilized
by
other
jurisdictions
throughout
thecountry,
provides
a
more
accurate
description.
In
the
past,
the
term
accident has
sometimes
iv n
theinaccurate
impression
or
connotation
thatthere
is
no
fault
or
li bility
associated
with
a
specificevent.
The
term
collision
will
now
be
utilizedin
ll
relevant
Department
materials,
forms
and
manuals.
When
this
change
is
formalized,the
Accident
Investigation
Squad
willalso
be
re named
theCollisionInvestigation
Squad
CIS).
t
is
important
to
note,
however
that
accident
forms
produced
by
the
ew
York
State
Departmentof
Motor
Vehicles
will
remainunchanged.
As
always,
appreciate
your
support
of
the
ew
York
City
Police
Department.
ymond
W
Kell
Police
Commissioner