Report Writing 3 Flashcards
1
Q
What is a report for Law Enforcement?
A
Any written or electronic communication on a dept form
2
Q
True or False: Everything contained in reports should be accurate to your knowledge at the time it was written.
A
True
3
Q
What are the types of reports in Law Enforcement?
A
- Operational: Incident reports/miscellaneous reports
- Administrative: Personal evaluations
4
Q
When do we write a report?
A
- Whenever dept policy prescribes
- Whenever police action is taken
- When statutes require documentation
5
Q
What are the elements of a good report?
A
- Factual: something that can be verified
- Clear: clear understandable account of the events
- Complete: who, what, when, where, why, how
- Concise: short and to the point
- Impartial: focus on the facts, remain neutral and free of bias
- Transition Words
- Cardinal Rule: self-explanatory, establish the elements of the crime!
6
Q
What are the steps to successful report writing?
A
- Organizing
- Revise for clarity
- Write in first person
- Write in chronological order
- Proofread
7
Q
What is recorded on field notes?
A
- Personal observations recorded by officer for:
- Memory aid
- Key to other records
- Investigative aid
- Protection
- Self-evaluation
- Memorandum
8
Q
True or False: All criminal incident reports get sent to SLED.
A
True
9
Q
What is a supplemental report?
A
Additional narrative space/overflow page, to add or change report
10
Q
What is the value of a report?
A
- Permanent record of events
- Able to reference it later
11
Q
What is some objective information?
A
Someone’s address
12
Q
What is an example of subjective information?
A
13
Q
What are the elements of report writing checklist?
A
