Opening the West, Lethbridge CRC Opens
Accident Support Services International Ltd. in partnership with the Lethbridge Regional Police Service officially opened the Lethbridge Collision Reporting Center, Alberta’s first, on September 13, 2012. The grand opening event was attended by Lethbridge Regional Police Chief Tom McKenzie, ASSI President Steve Sanderson, VP Bob Gutwein, LRPS Inspectors Bill Kaye and Jeff Cove, members of the Police Service, the Press, CRC staff and many guests.
Lethbridge is the largest city in Southern Alberta and the fourth largest City in the Province. It is home to over 89,000 people. The Lethbridge Regional Police Service vision is “Citizens living in a safe community provided through community participation, partnerships and excellence in service delivery.” Partnering with Accident Support Services Collision Reporting Center will allow the police service to allocate resources to higher priority calls for service and enable them to concentrate on proactive traffic safety initiatives and enforcement.
Inspector Bill Kaye is a 31 year veteran of the Lethbridge Regional Police Service. He writes the Police Beat column for the Lethbridge Herald. In his March 5 column, he wrote that, “We believe that the concept of a Collision Reporting Center will not only address the issue of long wait times, but also reduce the risk of secondary collisions by enabling post-collision work to be completed away from the scene.” His column goes on to discuss how the CRC will allow the police service to provide better service to the public while freeing uo frontline officers for a quicker and more efficient response to other calls for service. His article wraps up with “We are very excited about implementing the first Collision Reporting Center in Alberta and look forward to enhancing the services we provide to citizens.”
The new Collision Reporting Center is located at 135 1 Avenue South. The hours of operation are Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Citizens are provided the convenience of reporting collisions in a safe and comfortable location with the assistance of our counselors in a ‘one-on-one’ interview process. Police and partnering insurers will have real time access to collision data and reports through ASSI’s Microsoft award winning Collision Reporting and Occurence Management System (CROMS). There is no cost to the Police or the public for our services, as supporting insurers fund the program.