Basic Report Info
During an officer's report preparation, this future type of testimony should ALWAYS be considered.
What is COURTROOM TESTIMONY?
This is the most common type of small notebook officers carry to capture daily activities.
What is a POCKET NOTEBOOK?
This type of report is an essential element for the officer, the prosecutor, and the jury to have in order to successfully prosecute the criminal.
What is the NARRATIVE CASE REPORT?
These types of boxes on traffic citations and accident reports help to minimize unnecessary wording, reduce the time to record long narratives and assist the officer in documenting necessary information.
What are PREPRINTED boxes?
These types of crimes can be against people and property. They are typically lower level, non-violent crimes, but can still have significant impact on the victims.
What is a MISDEMEANOR
Disciplinary action, civil liability, criminal charges against the officer, as well as termination of the officer's employment may all result from the officer's decision to use this.
What is FORCE?
This type of form is used at a crime scene to document the evidence collected.
What is a CHAIN OF CUSTODY sheet/form?
The writing style of a case report must consider this type of audience
What is WIDE and VARIED
It is important that these are spelled correctly in officer's notebooks.
What are NAMES?
This is the order in which a narrative case report is completed.
What is CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER?
This type of report is a legal document, and is used to assess fault when there is an auto accident.
What is a CRASH or TRAFFIC COLLISION REPORT?
This type of loss to the victim is typically what distinguishes a misdemeanor from a felony property crime.
What is FINANCIAL LOSS?
Documenting the suspect's behavior, why force was necessary, and the type of force used by the officer are three of the most critical elements to address in this type of report.
What is a USE OF FORCE report/form?
What is EVIDENCE?
Officer's case reports should include facts and observations, but should never include this/these.
What is an ASSUMPTION?
These two types of note taking should be used with caution due to technical difficulties, be used as a supplement, and are considered to be legal documents that can be subpoenaed into court.
What are AUDIO and VISUAL?
This part of the report documents what happened at the incident and what actions the officer took.
What is CRIME RECONSTRUCTION or the BODY of NARRATIVE?
These types of stops are dangerous, unpredictable, and is also a way for officers to help reduce criminal activity. They account for more than half of the contact law enforcement has with the public.
What are TRAFFIC STOPS?
As opposed to a make and model or color on a stolen TV, a 'Z' Shaped crack on a TV screen would be an example of this type of characteristic.
What is a UNIQUE CHARACTERISTIC
When an officer is giving these types of commands, he/she must consider: That the offender speaks the same language, that he/she can hear (is offender making gestures that he/she is deaf?), and that they have the mental capacity to understand the commands.
What are VERBAL commands?
Before the officer provides this, he/she should meet with the prosecutor (District Attorney's Office) to review the facts of the case, the strengths and weaknesses of the case, and any other concerns the officer has.
What is TESTIMONY?
This person typically reviews the completed police report.
Who is the first line supervisor?
These types of notes are the first step in completing a professional report. They are comprised of key words and phrases that should be documented, and they are a permanent record that can be subpoenaed into court.
What are FIELD or HANDWRITTEN notes?
This aspect of the report is determined strictly by the accurate and precise documentation of the incident.
What is the LENGTH of the report?
When documenting this type of report, the officer's observations, the driver's description of what occurred, and witness statements should be taken into consideration.
What is a TRAFFIC CRASH or TRAFFIC COLLISION report?
When an officer considers arresting a person for a misdemeanor crime, these MUST BE MET in accordance with the specific state statute.
What are ELEMENTS OF THE OFFENSE?
Agency policy and procedure, as well as case law, addresses use of force as does this special document which officers use to identify the steps in using force on a suspect to gain compliance or stop a threat.
What is the USE OF FORCE CONTINUUM?
Known as the 5 "W's" and one "H"; important to include in all police reports.
What is WHO WHAT WHEN WHERE WHY and HOW?
It is important for officers to follow these two 'P's' when considering individual agency requirements for completing case reports.
What is POLICY and PROCEDURES?
These types of errors may seem insignificant, but they can lead to legal ramifications in court.
What are GRAMMATICAL errors?
These types of reports are used when a follow up report or attachment needs to be added to the original report.
What is a SUPPLEMENT report?
Issuing this type of a warning for a speed violation provides a good example of educating the public, traffic law enforcement, and reducing traffic violations.
What is a VERBAL WARNING?
Imprisonment for more than a year may apply to this type of crime.
What is a FELONY crime?
A judge decides to issue this kind of warrant based upon whether a crime has been committed, the person or items to be seized are clearly defined, and the location where the warrant is to be executed is included.
What is a SEARCH WARRANT?
This specific paragraph at the beginning of a report has the following structure:
Format: On DATE at TIME, WHO reported WHAT occurred WHERE. WHO stated WHAT
occurred on DATE/TIME or during a certain timeframe.
What is an INTRODUCTORY SECTION?
These should be used sparingly in a police report, such as when a confession is made or when the interviewee is using profanity in order to capture the statement made.
What are QUOTES?
"My favorite pizza topping is mushrooms they are really tasty I also like pizza with olives." This is an example of this common grammatical error.
What is a RUN ON SENTENCE?
This person can provide the best source of information regarding a crime scene.
Who is the FIRST RESPONDING OFFICER?
What is a DIRECTED PATROL?
All states have different statutes that focus on felony vs misdemeanor property crimes. This factor determines whether the crime is a misdemeanor or felony.
What is The VALUE of the item taken/damaged?
This type of affidavit is normally completed AFTER an arrest and AFTER the crime has been committed.
What is a PROBABLE CAUSE AFFIDAVIT?
Clear, Complete, Correct, Concise , Chronological, Consistent, Past-tense, 1st Person, and Proofread are all examples of these.
PRINCIPLES OF REPORT WRITING
This type of obligation is required by officers reporting the facts of the case, even when they point away from your prime suspect.
What is an ETHICAL OBLIGATION?
Language used in this type of conversation is recommended for case reports.
What is DAILY CONVERSATION?
At a crime scene when victims, witnesses or suspects may be present, an officer may need to do this in order to gather the most accurate information.
What is SEPARATE the parties?
It is suggested that officers ask an individual to complete this type of statement because the person's own words are powerful in court, and also to help minimize the possibility of the person recanting their statement.
What is a WRITTEN STATEMENT?
Identity theft, counterfeiting, and larceny would all be considered this type of crime.
What is a FELONY PROPERTY CRIME?
A written declaration of fact given by an officer under oath.
What is an AFFIDAVIT?
In police reports, we are always documenting information about events that have already occurred.
As a result, all of our action words (verbs) need to be written in this tense.
What is PAST TENSE?
Several common errors in report writing can include incorrect addresses, omission of the elements of the crime, and more commonly these types of errors.
What are GRAMMATICAL errors?
"The mother was holding her baby." is an example of the use of this kind of 'voice' in report writing.
What is ACTIVE VOICE?
One of the officers first priorities after making sure the scene is safe is to check for these.
What are INJURIES?
While normally at a traffic crash officers would remove victims/witnesses/media from the immediate scene, these workers would not be.
Who are Emergency Medical Personnel?
When assessing a crime of battery, for instance, this is the distinguishing factor between it being a misdemeanor or a felony crime.
This amendment to the Constitution provides protection from unreasonable searches and seizures.
What is the FOURTH AMENDMENT?
This U.S. Supreme Court Case established OBJECTIVE REASONABLENESS as the standard for ALL police applications of force in the United States.
What is GRAHAM VS CONNOR?