Agency redoing accident reports

FORT SMITH — Complaints from motorists involved in vehicle accidents has prompted the Fort Smith Police Department to omit drivers’ phone numbers from accident reports.

Drivers complained they were getting unwelcome calls from companies promoting sometimes suspicious legal and medical services. Some companies also suggested they were working with the Police Department on the traffic accident case, said Fort Smith Police Sgt. Daniel Grubbs.

“We don’t work with companies in that way. We don’t give special privileges to any of them,” Grubbs said.

Fort Smith officers complete a four-page Arkansas Motor Vehicle Crash Report for traffic accidents, he said. The form doesn’t have a space for telephone numbers, but officers included the information to help insurance companies and other parties involved, said police spokesman Patricia Sullivan. The reports are public records under Arkansas law and can be inspected anytime offices are open.

Grubbs said the Police Department received a couple of complaints several months ago. One concerned a call from a local chiropractic clinic to someone involved in an accident. “The caller thought we were giving that practice a special privilege. We squashed that one saying we don’t do that for any-one,” he said. A second caller was upset about getting several calls at home from legal or medical providers.

The most recent complaint was in mid-September, Grubbs said, when the wife of one of the department’s officers was involved in a wreck. “She was contacted by a company that said it was working with us,” Grubbs said. “They made it sound like they were offering legal help. The first quotes [from the caller] were, ‘Do you understand your rights in being involved in an accident?’ They also said the company was working in cooperation with the Fort SmithPolice Department.”

Grubbs would not name the out-of-state company. He said police have tried to follow up but haven’t reached anyone nor received a return phone call from the number provided.

It’s not illegal for companies generally to contact citizens after getting their names from public records. However, callers can’t misrepresent themselves or make false claims.

For years, motorists involved in traffic accidents have received pamphlets and letters by mail from legal firms. But getting multiple phone calls is fairly new in the Fort Smith area, Grubbs said.

Mike Rohrer, chief operating officer with the ArkansasBetter Business Bureau, said most of his agency’s complaints about calls generated by public records don’t involve traffic accidents. They are more likely to originate with residents who have just purchased homes.

One Better Business Bureau worker who recently bought a home received a call from a company claiming the worker had until a certain date to buy the deed for his new house at a cost of $85. After that, the price would climb $35 higher.

“Of course, you actually can go down to the courthouse and get it for free,” Rohrer said.

“More often when you get a call like that, it’s someone trying to separate you fromyour hard-earned money,” he said.

Rohrer also said consumers get similar calls even when their telephone numbers aren’t on public documents. The companies get their names and do “Google searches and use the Internet to find people,” he said.

Arkansas’ Better Business Bureau hasn’t heard many complaints about licensed doctors or lawyers sending out mailings or making calls, he said. The Arkansas Better Business Bureau is more likely to hear about scammers calling in connection with storm damage, or calling elderly people to trick them into disclosing their Social Security numbers, Rohrer said.

Kevin O’Dwyer, an attorney for the Arkansas State Medical Board which investigates complaints against doctors, said he’s never heard a complaint involving a medical doctor using public records to solicit patients.

Rohrer advises consumers that “before you jump and react, look and do a little research on where the information actually came from. If there’s a phone number, it’s worth calling, or a Web address is worth looking up to see if it’s valid,” he said.

“If you’re in a wreck,” Rohrer suggested, “follow up with your police department, insurance company and with the courts if you have a court date. It’s just a matter of not panicking and being prepared.”

The Fort Smith Police Department didn’t retain the names of residents who complained about the troublesome phone calls but did keep an eye on the problem, Grubbs said. Officers were especially troubled when companies implied they had a partnership with police.

The department issued a news release last week about the change in policy regarding phone numbers on crash reports, citing the problem with telephone callers.

“We wanted to tell companies: Don’t try to use our department to generate revenue,” Grubbs said. “We’re also trying to inform the public: If you receive a call where someone does that, it’s false.”