Northwestern University - Traffic Crash Investigation 2
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- This event meets the criteria for specific mandated training
- Non members please click here to contact us to request access to online registrations.
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Waiting List
This event is currently full and we are not allowing for any more registrations at this time. We do apologize for this, but would like to offer you to be added to our Waiting List. Fill out the following form, then if someone cancels their registration, you will be notified and given the opportunity to become an official registrant.
Date: Monday, February 9, 2026
Ends On: Friday, February 20, 2026
Registration Deadline: Friday, February 6, 2026
Class Time(s): 2/9/2026 - 2/20/2026: 8:00 AM -- 4:00 PM
Ends On: Friday, February 20, 2026
Registration Deadline: Friday, February 6, 2026
Class Time(s): 2/9/2026 - 2/20/2026: 8:00 AM -- 4:00 PM
Instructor Location:
New Lenox Police Department
Instructor: Course instructor(s) are provided by NUCPS.New Lenox Police Department
200 Veterans Parkway
New Lenox, IL 60451
Driving Directions
New Lenox, IL 60451
Member's Fee: $0
Non-Member & Civilian Fee: $0
At scene traffic crash data collection is useful only if all appropriate information is collected and properly interpreted and analyzed. Participation in Crash Investigation 2 enhances the capability and credibility of the at-scene investigator.
Crash Investigation 2, based on the 2014 edition of J. Stannard Baker’s world-renowned textbook Traffic Crash Investigation, emphasizes vehicle behavior in crashes, vehicle damage analysis and more advanced mapping and evidence location skills.
Crash Investigation 2 builds upon topics examined in Crash Investigation 1 and provides the student/investigator with greater knowledge of the information available at the crash scene and how to properly collect and initiate interpretation of that information.
The course also provides instruction in the use of laser-based measurement devices to measure crash scenes and the evidence found there. Laser Technology, Inc. units are used for these demonstrations. Downloading the electronic information into mapping programs is also covered.
Course Topics:
- Vehicle damage analysis - description, reporting and determination of direction of forces
- Vehicle behavior in crashes
- Results of the crash on the road - identifying and interpreting tire marks and road scars
- Lamp filament analysis - determining whether headlamps, tail lights and turn signals were on or off at moment of impact
- Tire damage analysis - role of tire failure
- Measurement methods - perspective grid, photogrammetry, measurement techniques, diagram drawing and systematic methods for organizing and illustrating data
- Interpretation of data - use of all information obtained through investigation
- Specialized data gathering - measuring devices and other testing
- Laser-based measurement and use of mapping software
- In addition to addressing how the latest generation of vehicle electronics - including data recorders, traction and stability controls, multiple airbags - affect both the crash and the crash investigation, specific new topics include: (Continued on next page)
- hit-and-run investigations,
- dealing with event data recorders
- technical report writing and other emerging technologies
Course Materials: All students need to bring a laptop computer or other device with a USB port to the class. Student reference materials will be distributed in USB flash drives (files will accept electronic comments and highlighting and can be saved).
In all cases, please bring the following additional items to class:
- Comfortable outdoor clothing (likely to get dirty) for Week 2 outdoor projects
- Small pair of scissors
- Simple calculator with square root key
- Staedtler Geometry Compass
- Mechanical Pencils
- Triangles 45-45-90 and 30-60-90
- Laptop computer (or other device) with USB port(s) and Adobe Reader installed
- Traffic Crash Investigation, 11th Edition – All Crash Investigation 1 students receive a copy of the text. If necessary, a copy may be purchased online at nucps.northwestern.edu/crashbooks.
- Students may use calculators and electronic communication devices in class; however, possession/use of electronic communication devices during closed-book quizzes and exams is prohibited.
Who Should Attend:
- Crash Investigation 2 is designed for those who analyze data collected by other crash investigators and who gather and analyze supplementary data.
- Crash Investigation 2 participants must have successfully completed NUCPS’s Crash Investigation 1 or its equivalent
Instructor (s): Course instructor(s) are provided by NUCPS.
Member Tuition: None* Non-Member Tuition: None*
*Initial registration will be limited to Tri-River member agencies; a waiting list will be established for non-members. A limited number of seats are available. All agencies may be limited as to the number of attendees allowed to initially register and attend.
This class is funded by the Illinois Department of Transportation through the Police Traffic Services Training Project and administered by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training & Standards Board.
This training covers the following mandates:
- Civil Rights - 2 hours
- Constitutional / Proper Use of LE Authority - 3.5 hours
- Legal Updates - 3 hours
- Procedural Justice - 9.5 hours
- Lead Homicide Investigator - 80 hours
