As a supervisor in patrol and detectives and an instructor of report writing I have had the opportunity to read and discuss ways to improve thousands of reports. Over the years I have seen the same opportunities for improved report writing. Realize, if you are looking to improve your report writing the first step is to identify two or three weaknesses you can focus on and work to improve upon them. Improving is a progression not a single moment. Work on the weaknesses you have identified and once you feel good about the progress identify other ways to improve your writing. Here are the top five tips for improving your reports.
5. Remember the basics
Spelling, grammar and sentence structure are boring and may seem unimportant however a report riddled with mistakes simply reduces your credibility in the eyes of those who read the report. It also makes the report difficult to read and follow. The most common mistakes you can start mastering are: When to use a new paragraph, verb tense, passive vs. active voice, run-ons and wordiness. Reports should be in active voice, past tense, first person, categorical, chronological and succinct. When structuring your sentence, KEEP IT SIMPLE! These basics of report writing are easy to research and brush up via a quick online search.
|Police1 resourse: Your English teacher was right: Active voice is better than passive voice
4. Avoid police jargon
This comes down to knowing who the audience of a police report is. So who is the audience? Our list of audience members for reports is extensive: supervisors, detectives, advocates, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, media, community...the list goes on. Think about your report as a form of communication to that wide array of audience members. Pay attention to and leave out words and phrases unique to your agency and the profession.
| Police1 resource: Words and phrases to avoid when writing police reports
3. Details, details, details
Have you ever viewed your report in the eyes of an attorney? Do you write your report with enough detail and explanation to move past probable cause and see down the road to successful prosecution? Your report should provide enough detail a mental picture is formed in the reader’s mind.
In my experience, officers often struggle when Reasonable Suspicion exists but not quite Probable Cause. If you make a declarative observation, follow it up with detail. For example the statement, “The suspect’s actions caused me concern for lives and property in the area” must be followed up with a description of what those actions were that caused you concern that a crime was imminent. For example, “The suspect avoided using sidewalks and kept to dark areas...as vehicles approached the suspect hid in the shadows or concealed himself in nearby bushes...the suspect was wearing dark clothing.” You get the picture.
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2. Describe the modus operandi
Modus operandi or MO simply put is criminal habits. People are creatures of habit and habitual behaviors show up in criminals. For example, burglars who kick in doors, don’t crawl through windows, and robbers who point a gun at the clerk use profanity and threaten to shoot, simply don’t ask politely for the money on the next robbery.
Generally speaking, criminals may adjust their behavior if they feel like something isn’t working but once they feel comfortable they will stick to a routine. You should be working to describe that “routine” with enough detail to link cases. Answer things like the method of travel, clothing type, point of entry, point of exit, weapon, speech, behavior, location, objects of theft and things unique to habitual behavior.
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1. Improve your victim and witness interviews
Most police reports begin with a victim or witness interview. Simply put, we need to get statements to establish a crime. Without a doubt, understanding trauma and memory will help you improve your interview skills. Stop looking at your interviews as a checklist of information you need to gather and start looking at them as a way to work collaboratively and cooperatively to elicit the best recollection from victims and witnesses. Structure your interviews to allow victims and witnesses to focus on what they can remember. If you work to elicit accurate detailed information and view an interview as a process, not an event you will get more detail, which results in a better investigation, leading to a better report.
Report writing can be tedious but we must remember that old saying, “If it is not written down then it didn’t happen.” The phrase is meant to stress the importance of accurate and detailed documentation. Reports serve the function of recording and documenting the hard work you put into a call and investigation so take the time to improve your report writing and remember you can’t have a good report without a good investigation.
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