Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

When detectives interview a potential killer, is there a report that the detective later has to type up? If so, what is the name for it?

Probably different everywhere. Here, the initial report is called an Incident Report. Subsequent reports are called Special Reports.

They can also be called supplemental reports or narratives.

In my agency, the report is much more data that just the officers narrative. The "report" includes people, charges, etc. As for narratives, the reporting officer types up the initial narrative. Every officer that does anything with that case later would add a supplemental narrative, or just a supplement. They can also add more information to the report if they find more witnesses or such.

Thank you all for being helpful.

Here, that would be called case notes. The suspect would also be asked to complete a written statement.

Here, that would be called case notes. The suspect would also be asked to complete a written statement.

It differs a lot around the country. Case notes here are the notes I take during the investigation that I use to write my reports. In a murder case, the interview would be take place in an interrogation room with cameras and sound. Even before we had the cameras, I recorded felony interviews with a small cassette recorder. The only thing a suspect signs is the notification of Miranda rights form.

There are about 16,000 law enforcement agencies that report statistics to the FBI, and each one is different from all the others in some way -- which means that there can be 16,000 ways of referring to basically the same thing. Detectives in the NYPD may or may not file something which is called a DD-5, which is not really the name of the form, but just what it is called, rather like the famous dialogue of Alice and the White Knight in Through the Looking Glass:
"The name of the song is called ‘Haddocks' Eyes.’”

“Oh, that's the name of the song, is it?" Alice said, trying to feel interested.

“No, you don't understand,” the Knight said, looking a little vexed. “That's what the name is called. The name really is ‘The Aged Aged Man.’”

“Then I ought to have said ‘That's what the song is called’?” Alice corrected herself.

“No, you oughtn't: that's quite another thing! The song is called ‘Ways And Means’: but that's only what it's called, you know!”

“Well, what is the song, then?” said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered.

“I was coming to that,” the Knight said. “The song really is ‘A-sitting On A Gate’: and the tune's my own invention.”

First report: Initial report
Secondary reports: Supplemental reports/narratives
Later reports: Follow-up reports.

Initial report for my department is the case report. In your situation, the interview would be entered into a supplement report.