Causing a car wreck in West Valley City may not earn you a ticket anymore.

Following the lead of several major cities across the nation, new West Valley Police Chief Alan Kerstein announced that officers will no longer respond to non-injury accidents not involving a hit and run or alcohol and drug use. The move is believed to be a first in Utah.The 31-year Los Angles Police Department veteran, who was sworn in as West Valley's chief in January, said the decision is one of four he has implemented to help officers pursue more productive activities. As part of his "seven/40 program," Kerstein hopes to reduce response time for serious offenses, such as burglaries or domestic violence, to seven minutes or less while allocating 40 minutes of every hour for officers to engage in proactive, problem-solving policing.

"We sat down and looked at how we could make ourselves more efficient . . . . I don't want to tell someone I was late to the burglary at their home because I had two units on a minor traffic accident," Kerstein said.

Wardley Insurance Services agent Rob Miller said companies in his business often use police reports as the final word when accident blame is disputed. While Miller said police reports would be missed, blame in the insurance world ultimately lies in the hands of claims adjusters.

"They decide how much money is going to be paid out and they will investigate regardless of whether they have a police report."

At Farmers Insurance Group, claims supervisor Howard Morgan agreed that reports are important but not essential to his profession.

"In my own opinion it's not that big of a problem. I would rather have police working on more serious issues like getting drugs out of schools. . . . If there's a big dispute, the policeman's not going to make the decision anyway."

One possible problem Morgan cited was post-wreck injuries. Often people feel fine at the accident scene but later stiffen up and face substantial injury. In those cases, a police report offers an unbiased account of what went on at the scene, Morgan said.

But in general, Kerstein and Morgan agree certain accidents cause unnecessary headaches and paperwork for busy officers.

"A police report is just a reiteration of what people told us at the scene," Kerstein said. Adjusters could get the same information by calling accident parties after the wreck.

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Besides traffic accidents, with the given exceptions, West Valley officers will no longer respond to vehicle lockouts when a child or pet isn't inside. Nor will they respond to requests for vehicle identification number checks.

Kerstein said his department will be taking more reports, such as vandalism and property damage, over the phone instead of sending officers to places where immediate investigation isn't required.

"(The changes) are all designed to save the time of waiting for an officer to respond," Kerstein said.

The alterations were put into effect Wednesday, and dispatchers have been notifying callers of the new policies.

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