Chapter 1 Flashcards
It is defined as an account of any occurrence prepared after thorough investigation.
REPORT
It is an account or statement describing in detail an event, situation or the like, usually as the result of observation or inquiry
REPORT
It is considered technical writing, and as such, one needs to develop special skills and techniques.
POLICE REPORT WRITING
It is the backbone of criminal investigation and prosecution.
POLICE REPORT WRITING
is a much-needed skill that can make or break a successful career in law enforcement.
Report writing
What are the Tips for Good Legal Writing?
- Use plan language
- Write shorter sentence
- Always keep your reader in mind
- Be will organized
- Be accurate
- Be honest
- Be consistent
- Provide context
- Provide short description
- Focus
- Type your document
- Edit your work
- Legal review
simple works & familiar words
A judge wants to understand your case. The best way to ensure this is by writing in plain language. Don’t write in an unnecessarily complex manner.
1) Use plain language
Keep it simple. Avoid telling your reader too much in one sentence by keeping sentences short (usually under 20 words). Write one idea per paragraph and keep to the point.
2) Write shorter sentences
Your number one reader is likely the judge. The judge needs to understand the meaningful facts of your case and the law that applies to those facts. To aid the judge you present your facts in a serious and professional manner that avoids unnecessary details.
3) Always keep your reader in mind
dapat step by step and chronological
At the start, organize your ideas by creating an outline. Outlines will help you figure out and communicate your key points. Organizing your outline into key points will make your writing easier to understand. It is helpful to number your paragraphs so you can easily refer to them. If you have multiple pages, make sure to have them numbered.
4) Be well organized
dapat accurate • clearly and conflict and understanding
Give precise information instead of general information when it is possible. For example, give the date of an event instead of saying “recently” or “last month”. Specificity gives credibility to your writing.
5) Be accurate
State facts. If you don’t know if something is true, then don’t say that it is true. You do not want the reader to question your credibility by misrepresenting what happened.
6) Be honest
Consistency brings clarity. Referring to things in a consistent manner helps your reader understand what you are writing. For instance, don’t keep switching between first name, last name, and nickname because the reader might think you are referring to different people
7) Be consistent
assume the reader knows nothing about your situation.
8) Provide context
to help the reader understand the situation.
9) Provide a short description
Stay focused on what you need to tell the reader. Don’t distract the reader with irrelevant information because relevant facts can get lost in the pile of irrelevant ones.
10) Focus
If you have the option to type your document, do so. Handwriting is acceptable but a typed document looks much more professional and is easier to read.
11) Type your document
As in all professional writing, spelling and grammar is important. Be sure to read through it multiple times before finalizing your draft. If you can, have someone else review it
- Edit your work
Getting a professional to review your document will help ensure that it is done properly. A lawyer can point out mistakes that are not immediately obvious to people without legal training.
13) Legal review
PRINCIPLES OF GOOD POLICE REPORT WRITING
1.The report should be clear
2. The report should be pertinent
3. The report should be brief
4. The report should be complete
5. The report should be current
6. The report should be accurate
7. The report should be fair
8. The report should be properly classified
9. Report should be written in proper form
Your report is as simple and direct as possible. It should include a clear statement of objectives or purpose so that the reader can quickly evaluate it against this stated objective.
- The Report Should Be Clear
Your report should deal exclusively with the stated objective or the subject with which it states it is concerned. If other subjects are introduced, they should be related to the major one, and the relationship should be made clear.
- The Report Should Be Pertinent
Although brevity is a relative matter and should depend upon the nature of your report and the use that will be made of it, it should be brief enough to be useful, but not so brief as to raise questions about its validity. Brevity is achieved by avoiding verbosity and needless repetition, unnecessary detail, and all matters not bearing on the subject under discussion. It includes the ability to make your report unified, coherent, and emphatic.
- The Report Should Be Brief
Within the dimensions of the assignment or stated objective, your report must be sufficiently exhaustive so that the reader can use it with confidence. Although again this is a relative matter, completeness means reporting all the facts you have learned which have a bearing on the problem or case.
- The Report Should Be Complete
Therefore, your report should be carefully dated, not only with respect to the time it was written, but as of the time the investigation ended.
- The Report Should Be Current
Your report is as accurate as possible, because inaccuracy may cause embarrassing to you, the chief, and to others. If there are errors of substance or judgment, it raises doubts with respect to your methods of investigation, the preparation of the report, or in the competence of the person or persons w-ho evaluated it. In order to be accurate, you must conform to the truth. A report is an exact recitation of the facts obtained without any addition or subtraction. A fact is that which you know to be a fact by the use of any or all of your five senses. Any other information is hearsay, it must be given at the proper time and place in the report and labeled as such.
- The Report Should Be Accurate
Regardless of the type of report, fairness is essential to a good report. In some reports it may be difficult for you to be unbiased, but you must make every effort to recognize your difficulty and to eliminate its influence on your report. One way to achieve fairness is to report all of the facts. Nothing should be concealed or withheld because it tends to weaken your case or because it doesn’t fit your conclusion. Fairness can be achieved by keeping an open mind Take facts as you find them.
- The Report Should Be Fair
If the substance of your report deals with secret or classified information, or, if the nature of the report is one requiring confidential treatment until it is released, this should be clearly stated.
- The Report Should Be Properly Classified
Form refers to the arrangement of the material presented, the visual shape of the document, the mechanical set-up. It refers to anything that will make your report more easily read and useful as a reference, It includes, among other things, proper paragraphing, proper indentation, proper underscoring, proper capitalization, or any device which sets out the important phases of the report.
- The Report Should Be Written in Proper Form
What are the Classifications of Police Reports?
- Informal reports
- Formal reports
It is usually a memorandum, or any of one of the many prescribed in day-to day police operations. It customarily carries three items besides the text proper (ex: date submitted, subject, and persons or person to whom submitted). It may, however, contain many items of administrative importance along with the subject matter of the text.
- Informal Reports
All in all, a complete formal report must consist of the following parts: cover, title page. letter of transmittal, table of contents, introduction or preface, summary, body of the report, conclusions, recommendations, and supplemental materials like appendices, etc.
- Formal Reports
What are the Categories of Police Report are?
- Operational reports
- Internal reports
- Technical reports
- include those relating to the reporting of police incidents. investigations, arrests, identification of persons, and miscellaneous reports necessary to the conduct of routine operations.
- Operational Reports
- relate to the reporting necessary to the management of the police organization and include financial reports, personnel reports, purchase reports, equipment reports, property maintenance reports, and general correspondence.
- Internal Reports
- present data on any specialized subject, but usually related to completed staff work, and add to the specific knowledge necessary to proper police management.
- Technical Reports
What are the Types of Police Report?
- Arrest reports
- Clearance reports
- Crime reports
- Event or incident reports
- Evidence collection reports
- Memorandum
- Narcotic, drunk driving, intoxication reports
- Officers activity report or daily log
- Supplemental reports
- Traffic collision reports
- Spot reports
- Investigation reports in criminal investigations
This report must include the probable cause for the detention, arrest, and disposition of the suspect.
- Arrest Report
states the end result to a specific case. It might be the arrest of a suspect, the recovery of property, or the filing of a complaint. It brings the case to a conclusion.
- Clearance Report
is written after the investigating officer concludes that a crime has occurred.
- Crime Report
must include all the elements of the crime and should include all information regarding the crime at the time the report was taken, such as location, the time and place the crime occurred, loss or injuries, evidence collected, suspect description, etc.
crime report
form tends to be a generic pre-printed form that can be used to document any criminal occurrence.
crime report
-An event or incident report is used to document events not considered criminal. Such events may be medical aid calls, civil disputes, citizen assists, and the like. Some agencies call these Service or Miscellaneous reports.
- Event or Incident Report
establishes the chain of evidence, such as who discovered the evidence, when and where it was located, who collected it, and its disposition.
- Evidence Collection Report
is generally used to request information or to answer a request for information.
- Memorandum
are commonly used to pass on information from shift to shift, to document minor disciplinary actions, vacation requests, training information, etc.
Memorandums
report is used to describe the suspect’s condition of being under the influence of a drug or alcohol. Most often, these are separate reports and written in conjunction with a crime report.
- Narcotic, Drunk Driving, Intoxication Report
report is typically written by an officer other than the original reporting officer. For instance, an officer may assist a fellow officer in an investigation by interviewing people or by recovering property. The assisting officer would write a Supplemental Report to document his or her actions.
- Supplemental Report
These reports include the calls the officers responded to, the disposition of the call, the amount of time spent on the call, and other activities within the shift such as car stops, number of citations written, etc. Some agencies obtain the same information via a computer terminal in the officer’s vehicle.
- Officer’s Activity Report or Daily Log
is commonly used to provide an agency with statistical information regarding the activity on an officer’s shift.
- Officer’s Activity Report or Daily Log-
report provides information regarding traffic collisions. Such reports typically include statements of drivers and witnesses, diagrams, and photographs. Traffic Citations are given when a traffic or parking violation has occurred. They are pre-printed forms.
- Traffic Collision Report
Basic Types of Investigation Report are?
Spot report
Progress report
After operation report
Final report
is an immediate initial investigative or incident report addressed to Higher Headquarters pertaining to the commission of the crime, occurrence of natural or man-made disaster or unusual incidents involving loss of lives and damage to properties.
- Spot Report
is an accounting of the actions or series of actions undertaken in relation to an ongoing investigation of a case.
- A Progress Report
is a report that may be rendered afterany successful police operation that leads to the arrest of any member or some members of syndicated crime group
- After Oporation Report
is a thorough, in-depth and lengthy account regarding an investigation into an mestent or case as mandated by higher authorities to establish a determination of the truth andrer how far it could be determined based on the facts and circumstances with the appropriate recommendation for the proper course’s of action’s to be made.
Final Report
- done after an important incident takes place in a certain area at a given time. Verbal or written, it must be done or acted upon within twenty-four hours. The idea is to inform an immediate chief, considering the fact that whatever happens in the area is his command responsibility.
- Spot Reports
It is less formal than the crime or incident report but can be just as Important.
- Memorandum
the arrangement of the material presented in an investigation report follows a certain pattern. The idea is for the report to be easily read
- Investigation Reports in criminal investigations,
