Police Reports

[Kate]

I'm probably going to ruffle some feathers here, although I assure you it's not intentional at all. So I'll offer my apologies now if any of you find this offensive, and I hope you won't be too harsh with the critical comments.

I'm just curious how many of you are grammar and punctuation freaks like I am! :eek: I'm far from perfect, but I do try my hardest not to make mistakes. I do notice that there are a lot of officers here in this section of the forum whose posts are a pleasure to read. It's apparent that you take the time and have pride when typing something out. Those are the posts I always read because they are easy on the eyes.

As far as your job is concerned, I'm wondering how meticulous you all are when it comes to writing your reports. Has anyone ever told you that you'd have to resubmit a report because of spelling errors, grammar, or just the way it was worded? Have you ever answered a call with another officer and you both had two different accounts of a situation submitted in your reports, or is it something you discuss before a report is written so you're both on the same wave length and don't miss important details, especially if it's a case that you know will go to court?

I'm also curious if there is there a time limit on how soon you have to have a report completed after you've taken a call.

As always, thanks in advance.

Kate

[Kate]

To err is human, that's for sure. Already I found mistakes in MY post. I'd correct them if there were an edit feature. BTW, I'm curious why that feature isn't available in this section of the forum.

[lindat2957]

Wow, quite a lot of questions. As far as errors go on posts. I am typing on a lap top . I can't speak for the others, but how I post here is not how I write reports. First of all my reports are dictated. They are typed by folks who have a special talent for gramar and spelling. On the posts I follow a train of thought, that can get derailed at times Difference, work is work. There is a methodology to reports that is not required here.
When I was new I always reveiwed my reports and learned to take out all the repetitive words, Ie: all of the then's and said's, but it takes practice. Do we talk to each other before we write? Sure we do. I am not so much worried about two different accounts, so long as we are truthful that isn't an issue, but for redunancy. I did this part, I will cover just that, and the other officers will cover their portions. On major cases we will even write out on the board who is covering what to make sure it is all there.
Time limits, depends. On missings, we like to get those done right away. Otherwise, most of the time, it is all done at the end of shift. Even with that, if it is not an arrest it can hold.

I always tell my trainees, what you write now, might be read back to you 10 years from now. In an arrest case, it will be thrown in your face in a crowded court room. Either way you need to be confident that neither would be an issue.

Answer your question?

[Kate]

First of all my reports are dictated.

Transcription is something I've always loved, and I think in the LEO field that would be very interesting, and probably much easier than in the medical field, as sometimes it's very difficult trying to understand foreign doctors. It was my favorite course (dictating/transcription) that I learned when I went to school.

Thank you very much for your answers, Linda. They're very much appreciated.

[retdetsgt]

Spelling has always been sort of a thing with me. Nothing irritates me more than some college grad who spells everything phonetically. An unusual word now and then is okay, but when people misspell everyday words, it shows a lack of professionalism. We're judged by all the different people who read them and it annoys the hell out of me when people don't care.

[mcsap]

It too is important to me. I dislike to see that I have made mistakes and feel I have to go back and correct them. As I review officer's reports, I cringe at the spelling and sometimes the grammar. I will not accept a report with the words " busted" , " ain't" etc. Since our reports can be done on the laptops in the cars AND their is spellcheck available...

[dwf]

I am one fussy mofo. As was already indicated, I write as though it will appear in court and read aloud. Our reports can pass through a lot of hands before they are finally tucked away in a storage room. I would prefer not to look like a flaming idiot if I can help it. I do plenty of stupid things without adding to the legacy by crappy grammar and spelling.

One department I worked for had a requirement that all paperwork was in before signing out of service. This often lead to hammering out a report following a long shift with a call coming as I was heading for the office. Those reports were done fast and mistakes happen. Currently I have more time to get them done. This Chief is much more worried about overtime costs than expediency. As long as they are done in a day or two life remains good and he stays off my fanny.

On two officer calls, when I read the other report I often find myself wondering if we were both at the same call. I'll dial in on one aspect of the scene while he has focused on another. Makes for more complete reporting although it may take a supplemental report or two to tie the seperate reports together. We don't talk about them much prior to writing other than to figure out who is going to cover what.

[oscarmitre]

I don't know what it's like for you but here it's very formulaic. I know we have to be objective in how we prepare our reports but for goodness sake why do cops (here at least) have to "proceed"? "I was proceeding in a southerly direction along King William Street, Adelaide". I know we can't begin our reports with "It was a dark and stormy night...." :D but that formulaic thing always gets up my nose - sorry , it "intrudes into my left nostril".

I am now going to proceed onto another post which I shall peruse. I promise though not to begin my next post with "Once upon a time..."

:D

[corporal716]

First of all my reports are dictated. They are typed by folks who have a special talent for gramar and spelling.

Got to love the clerks, Actually I did for seven years, but that's another story. :D

At my first department we had to hand write all of your reports. I'm dyslexic, so that was a big challenge for me. Sometimes I would rewrite the same report three times before turning it in. After about a year lap tops started to become the big thing, so I bought my own. They were new and cost a lot of money back then. I think it was money well spent. I have not hand writen a report sense 1993.

At my second department the clerks would type dictated felony reports.

When writing police reports, I used the KISS (KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID) method. If the word had more than seven letters it was to big. If the sentence had more than ten or twelve words it was to long. I should probable go back to writing that way, it seemed to work well for me.

[Kate]

Got to love the clerks, Actually I did for seven years, but that's another story.

:D

When writing police reports, I used the KISS (KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID) method. If the word had more than seven letters it was to big. If the sentence had more than ten or twelve words it was to long. I should probable go back to writing that way, it seemed to work well for me.

I need to teach a few people at work that method. All I hear and read is broken English and Ebonics all day long. :rolleyes:

It's really nice to see that quite a few of you take pride in your reports and know that how and what you say on paper really does make a difference.

[SeVere]

My REpOrTZ R 3r33T. Eazyonnn Wryting and punktualley kurrect. Mi SUpeR ViZeRZ ALWay tell Me mine RePortZ R EZ to ReED bedcausze I gud at wrrrrrrrrrrrrriting but sentincez NeVeR run on and WhATNotZ.

P.O.'Z on mY Shift SaYK I M GO-2 Guy FoR 411 bout BoXexs, Pinctuashun, n Sentenze Struck Chure.

My REporetZ are red oWT LOWD in Curt.

[Cinnamon]

lol @SeVere

I've been told that I write very well reports. I take the time to read them over first to try to correct any spelling or punctuation, and just make sure the dang thing makes sense. I've been told my reports are easy on the eyes too (I guess that means I have neat handwritting).

I have always been consistent on how I write my reports too. I always start off with why I am writing something...like, "I responded to the listed address for a report of an assult.....". Then I pretty much go chronological order.

We are eventually changing over to our cruiser computers to type our reports, and send 'em electronically too....no paper pushing anymore. When that happens, I'm sure I will get more detailed in the reports maybe. But I also pray for spell check, as it's easy to get fat fingers on the keyboard.

[Joeyd6]

I type faster than my mind...and thus...make a ton of mistakes typing. But all of my reports are hand-written. If they need to be enetered on a computer, we have people who do that called PAA's....Police Administrative Aids.

I can write perfect....that is what 12 years of Catholic School and a Jesuit College will do. Most of my reports start the same also: "At T/P/O, ....." I am surprised though by the large group of people who do not know anything about puncutation! Forty five words and no commas, semi-colons or anything else! Ugh! And I can't stand my co-workers who use "slang" in their reports. I can only imagine what the insurance adjuster in the mid-west thinks when he reads "...states his bling-bling was snatched..." instead of "...yellow metal necklace stated to be 14K gold, large in size with a 14K gold crown pendant with approximately 2 carats of diamond chips was forcibly taken from his neck..."

[lindat2957]

I don't know what it's like for you but here it's very formulaic. I know we have to be objective in how we prepare our reports but for goodness sake why do cops (here at least) have to "proceed"? "I was proceeding in a southerly direction along King William Street, Adelaide". I know we can't begin our reports with "It was a dark and stormy night...." :D but that formulaic thing always gets up my nose - sorry , it "intrudes into my left nostril".

I am now going to proceed onto another post which I shall peruse. I promise though not to begin my next post with "Once upon a time..."

:D

Laughing....I actually have a list words, not to use, in reports. Observed and proceed are two of the biggies. We also try to teach the KISS method. I have had new guys argue with me that those words make it sound good. UUHH no they don't, makes them sound like a robot and not a person. We have a rather standard way of doing reports, which is rather easy to learn.

[retdetsgt]

One of the hardest things to get new people to do sometimes is to "dumb down" their reports to a Reader's Digest vocabulary. They seem to want to impress people with how smart they are even if they can't spell the damn words...

The only people who dictate in my dept are detectives and officers assigned to Drugs and Vice. But we still have to put in our own punctuation as we dictate. The typists shouldn't be responsible to do that. Besides, they can type a lot faster if they don't have to stop and try to figure out our sentence structure.