ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The Missouri State Highway Patrol has made a change in what information it makes public when there's a traffic or boating incident.
It's because of scammers and identity thieves.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol recently stopped putting the names of people involved in traffic incidents online beginning earlier this month on Nov. 1.
In September, the patrol started getting reports of scams. Captain Scott White tells KMOX crash victims and their families were called by someone posing as a state trooper.
"This is what it kind of sounded like, 'Hey Megan this is Triple Wide with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, I worked your crash yesterday and I hope you are doing ok, it looks like your insurance maybe taken care of, but we may be looking at some criminal charges against you,'" said Captain White. "'I don't want to come and arrest you and embarrass you in front of your family or neighbors so we can take care of this over the phone.'"
White says after reports of the scam emerged in October, the highway patrol made the decision to pull names from online incident reports.
"Prior to making the change, there was more than a dozen calls that came in to the patrol," said White. "Since that change on Nov. 1, we are not aware of a similar occurrence."
He says names are still provided in cases where someone is charged with a criminal offense.
Some media organizations including the Missouri Broadcasters Association and the Missouri Press Association have taken issue with the policy, questioning it's legality and saying it could impact information that could serve a public safety interest.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol has stated it's belief that the benefit of releasing names of crash and boating victims no longer outweighs the risks.