Chapter 3 Quiz Flashcards
What is the second most time-consuming thing a police officer does? (2nd to report writing)
Driving around patrolling
Discovery crimes are what?
They are the opposite of involvement crimes. Crimes were no suspect information is available such as property theft crimes
The victim “discovered“ the crime
Who is the audience for police written reports?
Other officers, supervisors, attorneys and judges, jurors, social workers, city officials, insurance adjusters and investigators, civil rights groups, citizens and the media
Writing effective investigation reports is a _____that must be learned
Skill
Common problems among police reports are
Confusing or unclear sentences, and conclusions assumptions and opinions
The final paragraph states the ____ of the case
Disposition
Headings Of reports are used to guide the reader. They state the subject of the reports. For example:
Initial response, evidence, witnesses and suspects,
Concise statement example
A brief example: “she drove a car“
A concise example: “She drove a maroon 1992 Chevrolet caprice“
Being concise means making every word count without leaving out important ____
Fax
Active voice means
“I wrote the report“ versus “the report was written by me“
The first is “active“ and the second is “passive”
First person example
“I responded to the call“ is written in first person. This contrast with “this officer responded to the call“ which uses the third person. Do not use the third person, only the first
An effective report is also organized into paragraphs and written in the…
Past tense, using the first person and active voice
The basic purpose of an investigation report is to record the ____
Facts
The two words to make it clear that your “Inference“ is not a “fact“
Apparently, appeared
PC means…
Probable cause
Denotative means…
Words that have little to no emotional effect such as, cried
Connotative Means
Words that have an emotional such as, wept, blubbered
Slanting means to…
Include only one side of a story or only faxed a tend to prove or support one sides theory; result of a lack of objectivity
Exculpatory means to
Clears the alleged from fault or guilt
Describe Presyct
It is a secure web-based application for paperless management of the incident and investigative reporting processes from creation to archive that uses digital versions of existing form so that there is minimal training or behavior change required on the part of the users. It combines voice and text in one application that integrates blah blah blah
Oh well written report _____ ______ for the department and the officer
Reduces liability