New York Police Report Codes: Penal Law, KABCO, and MV-104

New York police report codes are a mix of Penal Law section citations, single-letter offense category markers, numbered contributing-factor codes on crash reports, KABCO and MV-104 injury codes, disposition notations, and a long list of shorthand abbreviations. Each field on your report follows a defined system, and once you know which system applies to which field, most of the page becomes readable. The codes you see depend on the type of report: a complaint report for a crime uses different classifications than an MV-104 motor vehicle crash report.

Penal Law Section Numbers

The most important code on a New York crime report is the Penal Law reference. Rather than using a proprietary numbering system, agencies classify offenses by citing the exact section of the New York State Penal Law that was allegedly violated.¹

If you see “PL 155.30” on your report, that refers to grand larceny in the fourth degree. The number before the decimal (155) identifies the article of the Penal Law. The number after the decimal (30) identifies the specific offense within that article.

Some offenses carry a further subdivision. PL 155.30.07, for example, narrows grand larceny in the fourth degree to theft of a firearm. Not every offense uses these extra digits, but when they appear, they pinpoint the qualifying circumstances of the charge.¹

Not every code on the report is a Penal Law section. Offenses under the Vehicle and Traffic Law appear as “VTL” followed by the section number. Other state laws use their own title abbreviations. The format stays the same: title abbreviation, section number, category letter.

Category Letters and Class Designations

Alongside the section number, you’ll see a category letter and often a class designation. The category letter tells you how serious the offense is:

F: Felony
M: Misdemeanor
V: Violation
I: Infraction

The class designation narrows it further. Felonies range from Class A (the most serious, including murder) down to Class E. Misdemeanors are either Class A or Class B. A “Class A Misdemeanor” assault is a less serious offense than a “Class D Felony” assault, and the class directly determines the maximum penalties a person faces.¹

Person-Type Codes on the Standardized Incident Report

New York law enforcement agencies use the Standardized Incident Report (SIR) format established by the Division of Criminal Justice Services. On that form, every person connected to the incident is assigned a type code followed by a number. “WI2” means the second witness. “PR1” means the first perpetrator. For each person listed, the report records the full name, date of birth, address, and telephone number. A checkbox indicates whether the victim is also the complainant.²

Contributing Factor Codes on Crash Reports

Motor vehicle crash reports use an entirely different system. In New York, crash reports follow the MV-104 format established by the DMV, and the contributing-factor field is where most readers get lost. Factors are numbered and divided into three groups.

Human Factors (Codes 1–37)

These codes identify driver behavior or condition. The ones you’ll see most often include:³

1: Cannabis involvement
2: Alcohol involvement
4: Driver inattention or distraction
7: Failure to yield right-of-way
9: Following too closely
17: Traffic control disregarded
19: Unsafe speed
22: Cell phone (hand-held)
28: Aggressive driving or road rage
31: Texting

Vehicle Factors (Codes 41–60)

These cover mechanical failures, including defective brakes (42), steering failure (46), and tire or wheel failure (47).³

Environmental Factors (Codes 61–70)

These capture conditions at the scene, including glare (62), pavement defects (65), slippery pavement (66), and obstructed views (69).³

A crash report can list more than one contributing factor per vehicle, so you might see code 19 (unsafe speed) alongside code 66 (slippery pavement) for the same driver. Insurance adjusters and attorneys pay close attention to which factors appear and for which vehicle, because these codes influence fault determinations.

Injury Codes on Crash Reports

Crash reports record injuries using two separate systems.

The KABCO Scale

KABCO is a national standard used on police crash reports across the country. Each letter represents a severity level:

K: Fatal injury (death within 30 days of the crash)
A: Suspected serious injury (broken bones, severe lacerations with exposed tissue, crush injuries, loss of consciousness, burns over 10% or more of the body)
B: Suspected minor injury (visible bruising, abrasions, minor cuts with no exposed tissue)
C: Possible injury (reported pain or nausea, momentary loss of consciousness, limping, but no visible wounds)
O: No apparent injury

The KABCO letter reflects what the officer observed at the scene, not a medical diagnosis.⁴

MV-104 Physical Complaint Codes

The MV-104 form’s “Type of Physical Complaint” field uses numbered codes for specific injury types:³

1: Amputation
2: Concussion
3: Internal injuries (no visible wound, but signs of pain or anxiety)
4: Minor bleeding
5: Severe bleeding
9: Fracture, distortion, or dislocation
12: Complaint of pain or nausea with no visible signs
13: None visible
14: Whiplash
15: Crush injuries
17: Severe lacerations with exposed tissue

These injury codes matter for insurance claims and personal injury cases. An officer marking code 14 (whiplash) rather than code 13 (none visible) can make the difference between an insurer taking your claim seriously or fighting it from the start.

Disposition and Clearance Codes

Every report includes a disposition field showing what happened after the incident was reported. For crime reports, the key question is whether the case was “cleared,” which in law enforcement terms means closed. Cases are cleared in one of two ways.

A case is cleared by arrest when someone has been arrested, formally charged, and turned over to the court for prosecution. All three conditions must be met. An arrest without charges doesn’t clear the case for reporting purposes.⁵

A case is cleared by exceptional means when police have identified the offender, gathered enough evidence to arrest, and know the offender’s location, but something outside their control prevents an actual arrest. Common examples include the offender’s death, the victim refusing to cooperate after the offender was identified, or the offender being prosecuted for a different crime in another jurisdiction. Recovering stolen property alone never clears a case.⁵

Other disposition entries you may see include notations that a summons was issued, that the complaint was determined to be unfounded, or that the investigation remains open. These aren’t as rigidly standardized as the clearance categories, so wording varies between precincts and agencies.

Common Abbreviations

Officers writing narrative sections rarely spell anything out when an abbreviation will do. The ones you’ll encounter most on New York reports:

DOB: Date of birth
LKA: Last known address
MVC: Motor vehicle collision
Comp: Complainant (the person who reported the incident)
Vic: Victim
Perp: Perpetrator
WI: Witness
PR: Perpetrator (on the Standardized Incident Report form)
PL: Penal Law
VTL: Vehicle and Traffic Law
Apt: Apartment
St: Street
EDP: Emotionally disturbed person
RMP: Radio motor patrol (a patrol car)
AID: Aided case (someone needing medical assistance)

Military Time on the Report

All times on New York police reports are recorded in 24-hour military format. The report will say 0730 for 7:30 a.m. and 1945 for 7:45 p.m. The simplest conversion: for any time 1300 or above, subtract 1200 to get the standard time. So 2115 minus 1200 equals 9:15 p.m. Times before 1200 are the same as standard morning hours, just written without a colon.²

Reading the Narrative

The narrative section is where the responding officer describes what happened in chronological order. It is usually the longest part of the report and the hardest to decode, because officers use shorthand freely and the narrative isn’t standardized the way the coded fields are. Reading it takes context clues alongside the abbreviations and code systems above. If a field on the report still doesn’t make sense after checking the relevant reference, the officer who wrote the report or the records unit at the precinct can confirm what a specific entry means.

1
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Law Section Reference
2
New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services. Standardized Incident Report Instructions
3
NY DMV. MV-104COV – Police Crash Report Cover Sheet
4
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Automated Crash Reporting System Field Reference Guide
5
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Clearances