(A) (1) The Police Department shall keep a record of all violations of this chapter or of the commonwealth’s vehicle laws of which any person has been charged, together with the record of the final disposition of all such offenses.
(2) Such record shall be so maintained as to show all types of violations and the total of each. Said record shall accumulate during at least a five-year period, and from that time on, the record shall be maintained complete for at least the most recent five-year period.
(3) All forms for records of violations and notices of violations shall be serially numbered. For each month and year, a written record shall be kept available to the public showing the disposal of all such forms. All such records and reports shall be public records.
(B) (1) It shall be the duty of the Police Department to investigate traffic accidents, and to arrest and to assist in the prosecution of those persons charged with violations of law causing or contributing to such accidents. Whenever the accidents at any particular location become numerous, the Police Department shall cooperate with the City Engineer in conducting studies of such accidents and determine remedial measures.
(2) The Police Department shall maintain a suitable system of filing traffic accident reports. Accident reports or cards referring to them shall be filed alphabetically by location. Such reports shall be available for the use and information of the officer in charge.
(3) The Police Department shall receive and properly file all accident reports made to it under state law or under this chapter, but all such accident reports made by drivers shall be for the confidential use of the Police Department, and no such report shall be admissible in any civil or criminal proceeding other than upon request of any person making such report or upon the request of the court having jurisdiction to prove compliance with the law requiring the making of any such report.
(4) The Police Department shall maintain a suitable record of all traffic accidents, warnings, arrests, convictions, and complaints reported for each driver, which shall be filed alphabetically under the name of the driver concerned.
(5) Said Department shall study the cases of all the drivers charged with frequent or serious violations of the traffic laws or involved in frequent traffic accidents, shall attempt to discover the reasons therefor, and shall take whatever steps are lawful and reasonable to prevent the same or to have the licenses of such persons suspended or revoked.
(6) Such records shall accumulate during at least a five-year period and from that time on such records shall be maintained for at least the most recent five-year period.
(C) (1) The Police Department shall annually prepare a traffic report which shall be filed with the Mayor.
(2) Such report shall contain information on traffic matters in the city as follows:
(a) The number of traffic accidents, the number of persons killed, the number of persons injured, and other pertinent traffic accident data;
(b) The number of traffic accidents investigated and other pertinent data on the safety activities of the police; and
(c) The plans and recommendations of the Department for future traffic safety activities.
(D) (1) The Chief of Police is hereby empowered to make regulations necessary to make effective the provisions of this chapter and to make and enforce temporary or experimental regulations to cover emergencies or special conditions.
(2) No such temporary or experimental regulation shall remain in effect for more than 90 days.
(2010 Code, § 71.01)