Your Adjuster Can't Pick Up Your St. Louis Police Report. You Can.
Revised October 29, 2026
How do I look up a local police report?
Ask the department that wrote it. In the City of St. Louis, request it through the SLMPD Public Records portal or at the Records Service Center, 1915 Olive Street, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 314-444-5551. For St. Louis County Police reports, use the county’s Sunshine request portal or Central Police Records at 7900 Forsyth Boulevard in Clayton, 314-615-5317. A simple city request normally costs less than $5.
Keep reading ↓“Do you have the police report number?”
That is usually the first question from the insurance adjuster or the bank’s fraud line, and it often comes while you are still standing beside the car, little cubes of window glass crunching under your shoes. The short answer: the department that wrote the report keeps it. In the City of St. Louis you can order it online and pick it up at 1915 Olive Street, and a simple request normally costs less than $5.
One detail explains why the adjuster asks you instead of getting it themselves. The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department’s records page says attorneys and insurance companies are not eligible to access reports at the Service Center and must submit a Sunshine Request. You are. Walking out with that sheet of paper is often the moment the rest of the claim starts moving.
How do I look up a local police report?
Ask the department that wrote it. In the City of St. Louis, request it through the SLMPD Public Records portal or at the Records Service Center, 1915 Olive Street, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 314-444-5551. For St. Louis County Police reports, use the county’s Sunshine request portal or Central Police Records at 7900 Forsyth Boulevard in Clayton, 314-615-5317. A simple city request normally costs less than $5.
Order it online, then walk in for it
SLMPD calls it Express Pick-up. You submit the request on the SLMPD Public Records portal from your kitchen table, and the department notifies you when the record is ready. Then you go to the first floor at 1915 Olive with a photo ID and payment, hand it over, and leave with paper in your hand instead of a number on a ticket. The page says it plainly: the online request is there to avoid long wait times.
Do not race downtown the morning after, though. SLMPD says police reports cannot be made available until they are completed and approved, and for crash reports that usually happens within 5 days. You can check a crash report’s status on the department’s online traffic accident page before you make the trip.
Bring a state-issued photo ID or a valid passport. If the report belongs to someone else who was involved, bring a notarized release from that person; no notary is needed when you are picking up your own record. Personal checks are not accepted, so carry another way to pay. Hours and fees can change, so glance at the SLMPD records page before you go.
The bill is small. SLMPD charges $.10 a page plus $15 an hour, prorated, for the time it takes to find the report, and says a simple request is normally less than $5. That follows Missouri’s Sunshine Law, which caps a standard paper copy at ten cents a page.
Which department wrote your report?
The one that showed up. Most people remember the flashing lights in the window better than the patch on the officer’s sleeve, so this is the step that trips them. It sounds obvious until you remember how this region is stitched together: one side of a street can be city and the other side a separate town with its own badge on the car door. Look at the patch on the officer’s sleeve, or the name on the card they handed you, before you request anything.
If it was SLMPD, the Olive Street office has it. If St. Louis County Police responded, the record sits with Central Police Records in Room B-013 at 7900 Forsyth Boulevard, open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding holidays. If a city’s own department came, ask that department for it.
Across the river, the same rule holds: ask the Illinois city’s own department. In Collinsville, the police department’s line is 618-344-2131.
The ten minutes before you call anyone
Your hands may still be shaking a little, and the cold air through the broken window smells like the street. That is normal. Breathe, and stand still for a second. Do not pick up the glass yet, do not wipe the door handle, and do not start hauling the damaged things to the trash. Walk around once with your phone camera running. Get the broken window, the open glovebox, the empty spot on the back seat where the bag used to be, and a wide shot that shows the street and the house number.
Then write it down while your memory is still sharp: what time you last saw everything fine, what time you found it, and every item that is gone. Brand, color, what was inside it. If neighbors on the block have doorbell cameras, knock or text now, because footage gets recorded over. None of this is required to get a report. All of it makes the report, and the claim that rides on it, stronger.
When the officer or the dispatcher is done, ask one question before you hang up or they drive off: what is the report number, and which department is it filed with? Write the answer on something you will not lose. That one line is the whole difference between a ten-minute errand on Olive Street and a week of phone tag.
When should you call 911 instead of the non-emergency line?
Think about what is happening in front of you. A stranger still in your backyard at 2 a.m. is 911. A busted car window you found over coffee is not. SLMPD puts it this way: 911 should be used during emergency situations that warrant immediate police response, and the non-emergency number when police assistance is needed, but not urgent.
Save these two before you need them. SLMPD non-emergency is 314-231-1212. St. Louis County Police non-emergency is 636-529-8210. The call that starts your report is also the call that gives you the number everyone else will ask for.
Off topic for a second: once the glass is swept up and the ruined stuff is in a pile by the curb, here is what you can recycle in St. Louis.
What the adjuster needs from you
The report number opens the file. Everything after that is proof you control. Before you sweep the glass off the driveway, photograph it. Write down what is gone the same day, while you can still picture where the laptop bag sat on the back seat, and dig out receipts or serial numbers.
If a Missouri insurer stalls on your claim, the Department of Commerce and Insurance runs an Insurance Consumer Hotline at 800-726-7390.
Getting a report for someone else
Maybe it was your mother’s car on her driveway in South City, or your teenager’s bike lifted off the porch, and you are the one doing the running around. In the City, that takes one more piece of paper. SLMPD asks for a notarized release from an involved party when you request a report on their behalf, along with your own state-issued photo ID or valid passport.
Get the release signed and stamped before you drive downtown. Most banks and many shipping stores keep a notary on hand, and it is far easier to sit across a desk from one for five minutes than to be turned away at the counter.
If the report gets something wrong
You read it at the kitchen counter with your coffee going cold and spot it: a misspelled name, the wrong plate, a stolen item missing from the list. Do not argue it with the officer on the street. Call the records unit of the department that wrote it and ask how to add a correction or a supplemental statement, then request the updated copy. Send the adjuster the corrected version, not the first draft.
If it was your shop, not your car
The call comes before sunrise. The alarm company, or the neighbor who opens the bakery next door, telling you the front glass is gone. You are standing in your own doorway in a coat over pajamas, smelling cold air where the heat should be, and everything in you wants to start cleaning. Take the photos first. Then get the report number, exactly like anyone else would, because your business insurer will ask for it before a board-up crew’s invoice or a stack of receipts means anything.
Price the missing stock honestly and list it item by item. If the break-in happened in the City, request it the way anyone else would: online for Express Pick-up, or at the counter on Olive Street.
Can a department refuse to give you the report?
Sometimes it can hold part of it back. Missouri law says all incident reports and arrest reports shall be open records, but investigative reports stay closed until the investigation becomes inactive. So you may get the basic facts of what happened without the detective’s notes, and on a crash report, plate numbers, addresses and phone numbers can be blacked out.
The clock is on your side. Under the Sunshine Law, a request must be acted on no later than the end of the third business day after the custodian of records receives it. If the narrative is withheld, ask for the report number and the basic incident facts. That is usually what the adjuster or the bank wanted in the first place.
Still not sure which badge came to your door? Browse police departments across the St. Louis metro on St Louis Near Me Directory, find the one that covers your address, and save its non-emergency number while you are calm.
If you run the auto glass shop, the locksmith truck or the law office people call after a break-in, put your business on St Louis Near Me Directory so the next person standing in broken glass can reach you.
More help for the days after:
- How to find your court date and records in Missouri, if a case follows the report
- What to do if the car is gone rather than broken into
- How to report money scams in St. Louis and Missouri
- Tree services, when it was a falling limb and not a thief that broke the window
Frequently asked questions
How do I get a copy of a police report in Missouri?
From the department that wrote it, not the state. Missouri’s Sunshine Law caps a standard paper copy at ten cents a page and requires the custodian of records to act on your request no later than the end of the third business day after receiving it.
How to obtain a St. Louis city police report?
Order it on the SLMPD Public Records portal and pick it up when you are notified, or go to the Records Service Center, first floor at 1915 Olive Street, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, 314-444-5551. Bring a state-issued photo ID or valid passport. Personal checks are not accepted.
Where can I get a police report in St. Louis County?
For reports written by St. Louis County Police, use the county’s online Sunshine request portal or visit Central Police Records, Room B-013, 7900 Forsyth Boulevard in Clayton, 314-615-5317, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays. If a city’s own police department responded, ask that department instead.
How long does it take to get a police report?
It has to be finished first. SLMPD says reports cannot be made available until they are completed and approved, and for crash reports that usually happens within 5 days.
Is filing a police report worth it?
If you plan to file an insurance claim or dispute a charge, usually yes, because the report number is what the adjuster or the bank asks for first. It also puts the date, place and loss on paper while they are fresh.
Are police reports public record in Missouri?
Incident reports and arrest reports are open records under Missouri law. Investigative reports stay closed until the investigation becomes inactive, and on crash reports some personal details such as plate numbers and phone numbers can be redacted.
How to access local police records?
Start with the department that responded. In the City, that is SLMPD on Olive Street; for St. Louis County Police, it is Central Police Records in Clayton; across the river in Collinsville, call the police department at 618-344-2131.
What is the non-emergency number for St. Louis police Department?
SLMPD’s non-emergency number is 314-231-1212. St. Louis County Police non-emergency is 636-529-8210. Save 911 for emergencies that need an immediate police response, and use the non-emergency line for a break-in you discovered after the fact. Calling it is also how a report usually gets started.
Written by a dedicated team of St. Louis locals who live, work, and play right here in the St. Louis metro. Founder Lane Forman and team are committed to building the region’s most trusted directory by verifying listings and connecting local businesses with loyal customers across Missouri and Illinois.