Editor’s Note: Online training is an essential way for public safety agencies to maximize their training budget and meet compliance requirements. Lexipol’s Academy offers thousands of courses, tools to assign and track training, and the ability to build your own curriculum. Contact Lexipol at 844-312-9500 to learn more or request a demo.
There are many words and phrases that could be replaced in police reports. In this tip, risk management expert and Lexipol co-founder Gordon Graham outlines what terms to avoid.
Get more tips from Gordon here.
Questions for discussion:
- What are some common examples of “cop talk” you have encountered in reports, and how can they be reworded in plain English?
- Why is it important for police reports to be clear and concise, particularly in court proceedings?
- How can supervisors help reinforce the use of plain language in report writing within their departments?
- What strategies can officers use to break the habit of using unnecessary jargon in their reports?
- How does specific and precise language in reports contribute to better investigations and case outcomes?
Additional report-writing resources:
- How to write organized and concise police reports
- How to write a better police report
- How to set up spellcheck to proofread your police report
- 3 simple ways to instantly improve your report writing
- How being grilled by a criminal defense attorney can help officers write better police reports
- How speech recognition technology improves police report writing
- 10 steps to improve your written police reports
