Writing Reports

[Social Worker]

Oh guys and ladies...I have another question. Anyone had to write a collision report? Any tips? Aside from what has already been posted.

[Social Worker]

Ok, another questions....mind you I am not a LEO so I dont just assume, well, most of the time.
Do you write the reports, hand written or type them on a computer?
Either way its done, where do you find the time?
I'm from the central coast, Ca, my county is rittled by gang violence, I think I see GTF officers in their black cars more often than I see regular police an of course our sheriff, well they have a lot of uncorporated area to cover.....they are busy. So with all the calls the leo's are getting and sometimes there can be two, maybe three shootings in a 12hr span.....How do the reports get done?

[Nobody]

http://forums.officer.com/forums/

[KapsFB]

I can't stand reports that read victim 1, suspect 2, or whatever...the only thing worse is V1, R1, S1. Oy. Use their NAME!!!

I agree. Another pet peeve of mine is the overuse of "this Officer/Deputy", "reporting officer", etc. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the pronouns "I" or "me" when appropriate. Nobody speaks that way. Why would they write it as such?

[DACP]

DACP....
Is that department policy?

Yes it is, They want that format for all cases, not just TA’s at the bottom of the page we do an indent, then write out victim1= Howie Kister, subject1=Otto Order, and so forth to identify all involved. Trust me you get a good case, and by the time you are done you want to beat your head aginst the wall.

[DACP]

I can't stand reports that read victim 1, suspect 2, or whatever...the only thing worse is V1, R1, S1. Oy. Use their NAME!!!

Thats how we have to write them, it drives me up a wall. Nothing like writing up a traffic accident with vehicle1, vehicle2, then having to add victim1..... witnes 1....subject1....., and persons related1..... I have had many reports that even I do not get after writing them, it's like the report IS the accident.

[Smurfette_76]

I can't stand reports that read victim 1, suspect 2, or whatever...the only thing worse is V1, R1, S1. Oy. Use their NAME!!!

[Dinosaur32]

Can't destroy your notes in NY........you'd be grist for the mill with any decent attorney. And subject to discipline on complaint of ADA.

[Nobody]

http://forums.officer.com/forums/

[mooseyard]

We don't have a set method of doing reports at our department. Usually on something that is quite involved, I start with a summary of what happened, so the Lt. and the DA can read the first paragraph and have an idea of why I went there, what happened and what the solution was. I next break it down into chronological order, and start a new 'titled' paragraph with each step in the investigation. For example "Incident Summary", "Initial Observations", "Investigation at Site A", "Investigation at Site B", "Interview of Person A","Arrest of Person A". I like this way because it helps me keep the order of things that happened, but someone can read the first paragraph and get an overview of what happened.

[xxcrispyxricexx]

I was trained differently when using names in reports. We were told to use last names, and if you have more than one person with the same last name, we were told to add the first initial with them.

Oh, and I always destroy my notes/recordings when my report is finished... That way the defense attorney can't get them and just has my report to look at... Not that he/she would be able to read my scribbles anyway.

[Dinosaur32]

Anything you put on paper, including scratch notes, is material a defense attorney is allowed to review to look for inconsistancies, etc., in preparing the defense of his client. Which is why KISS is important.

[Sarge048]

You have already established that you are interviewing Mary Jones so it is a given that the following is what she has told you.

Reports are written differently depending on your department or what part of the country you are from. Funny story.

I was in Chicago for training and there were other officers there from all over the country. We were telling war stories. In my story I said "I had a subject in custody for 5400-2 and to roll me a hook." This officer from Oregon who was originally from Texas looked at me strange and said "Whats a hook?" A wrecker. Oh he says, "You mean a tow." I said, "No I mean a hook a toe is the thing at the end of my foot."

[Sarge048]

I interviewed the caller Mary Jones. "Mary said that she went into the living room and looked out the window. She saw a man running north on the street.

Not--

Mary said she went into the living room and looked out the window. Mary said she saw a man running north on the street.

It doesn't sound as bad here but imagine if you had "Mary said" x5 or 6 in a row.

[Sarge048]

I usualy try to use first names after I've established the persons full name in the narrative. So for example Mary Jones is referred to as Mary throughout the report. This is extremely helpful when dealing with family members all having the same last name.

Be careful not to start all your sentences with -Mary said. Then the next sentence Mary said. Some of my Deps do this and it drives me nuts.