Riverside County Sheriffs Office
73705 Gerald Ford Drive
Palm Desert, CA 92211
Palm Desert Branch: (760) 836-1600
Switchboard: (951) 955-2400
Website: Riverside County Sheriff

Online Traffic Collision Reporting Now Available
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Station now offers online traffic collision report filing for eligible incidents. This provides residents with a convenient way to submit certain non-injury traffic collision reports online. Available report types may include:

• Hit and Run 
• Hit and Run, Property Damage Only 
• Vehicle Collision, Private Property 
• Vehicle Collision, Public Street 

Residents should review the incident type definitions carefully before submitting a report to ensure the incident qualifies. If the appropriate incident type is not listed, please contact the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department at (800) 950-2444 for assistance.

Access the online traffic collision reporting system here: DORS Palm Desert

Purchase Collision Reports Online
The Riverside County Sheriff is excited to offer an online resource to the public, the Palm Desert LexisNexis BuyCrash portal. This web page allows entitled parties the opportunity to purchase traffic collision reports online.  A limited number of accident reports will not be available on this portal, particularly those accidents containing a criminal element. If you have any questions about this system, please contact the Riverside County Sheriffs. 

As an Palm Desert resident, you are protected from any out-of-pocket costs related to emergency paramedic and ambulance transportation services.

As part of the Billing Program, Medicare, Medi-Cal, Medicaid, and private insurance companies are billed directly to recover costs incurred from the medical emergency. The recovered costs are only those collected from the amounts that health insurance providers will pay, and the remainder of the bill will be waived, therefore resulting in no out-of-pocket costs for residents of the Cove Community Cities (Indian Wells, Palm Desert, and Rancho Mirage).

Palm Desert residents do not need to register for this program. Your resident status makes you automatically eligible.

Transported residents may receive a Request for Insurance Information form from the Cove Community’s billing provider, Wittman Enterprises. Wittman Enterprises, an outside public agency contracted by the City, bills the insurance providers of residents who are transported by a city ambulance.

In accordance with HIPAA privacy regulations, this Request for Information form will only be viewed by Wittman Enterprises to ensure the confidentiality and security of protected information. The Request for Insurance information form allows the City to recover the portion of the cost for service covered by Medicare, Medi-Cal, Medicaid and Private Companies.

On January 11, 2018, the Emergency Medical Services Insurance Billing Program (Billing Program) went into effect for the City of Palm Desert. An amendment to the Billing Program resolution was adopted on March 14, 2024, to ensure compliance with Assembly Bill 716, which was signed into law on October 8, 2023.

For any questions regarding a received bill, please contact Wittman Enterprises at 800-906-6552. For all other related matters, please contact publicsafety@palmdesert.gov.

Riverside County Department of Animal Service
72050 Pet Land Pl
Thousand Palms, CA 92276
Phone Number: (888) 636-7387
Email: shelterinfo@rivco.org
Website: Department of Animal Services

Emergency Phone Number

The types of calls that are considered emergencies include the following:

• Injured animals
• Aggressive animals
• An immediate cruelty matter (something you have just witnessed)
• An animal that could impede public safety (such as loose livestock, a dog in the middle of a busy road, etc.)

Emergency Phone Number: (760) 343-3644

The City of Palm Desert owns the data collected through its Automated License Plate Reader system. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department manages the system on the City’s behalf in accordance with California law, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department Policy 412, and the City’s agreement with Flock Safety.

During each reporting period, the City reviews ALPR information provided by the Sheriff’s Department, including shared network activity. Palm Desert ALPR data is shared only with authorized California law enforcement or prosecutorial agencies as permitted by Senate Bill 34 (2015) and applicable state law. Flock Safety automatically deletes ALPR data after 30 days by default. Once the data is deleted, it cannot be retrieved. Flock does not sell or share ALPR data with third parties. Searches require an authorized investigative purpose, and audit reports are available to system administrators.

ALPR information may only be accessed or shared for authorized law enforcement purposes. The data will not be sold, shared with private entities, or shared with unauthorized federal or out-of-state agencies. Access is limited to authorized users and is subject to training, audit logs, and administrative review.

For additional transparency information, including Riverside County Sheriff’s Department ALPR information, visit the Flock Safety Transparency Portal.

The Joint Regional Intelligence Center (JRIC) is a fusion center in California dedicated to integrating and analyzing threat intelligence related to terrorism and major criminal activity. Serving as a regional threat assessment hub, JRIC provides critical intelligence and investigative support to law enforcement and public safety agencies across a broad area of central California.

• To file a report, visit: jric.org