In 1988 Chief Howard Erickson approved the formation of the Accident Reconstruction Unit. At the time the Accident Reconstruction Unit was made up of two officers. Two years later the team was expanded by two, making it a four person unit.

Currently the Accident Reconstruction Unit has four members. These members perform Accident Reconstruction unit duties in addition to their normal job assignments. Members of this unit attend trainings at the State Patrol academy where they learned the physics involved with vehicle crashes. This information is used to assist the families and district attorney’s office by providing a complete explanation of the crash.

Traffic accident recontructionists potentially respond to scenes of serious crashes with severe property damage and/or great bodily harm or death.