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    The Police Report Handbook
    The Police Report Handbook
    The Police Report Handbook
    Ebook137 pages1 hour

    The Police Report Handbook

    By Paul Lasiewicki

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    About this ebook

    Based on observations of common report writing problems that were observed as the author developed the highly effective LEOCJI Report Writing course, the Police Report Handbook provides instructors and officers alike the only textbook that comprehensively targets these areas.
    The Police Report Handbook provides criminal justice professionals at all levels of experience a handy reference guide they can use to better organize their police reports and refine their writing skills. For newer officers, this book examines the basics of police reports; provides readers with a comprehensive, easy-to-use grammar guide; and offers a system for taking notes that includes a CopKeys list of abbreviations and tips on using AutoCorrect as a report writing tool. For more advanced users, The Police Report Handbook provides sections on effectively documenting behavior, overcoming common defenses, documenting use-of-force incidents, and effective proofreading – which includes a Report Writing CheckList.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPaul Lasiewicki
    Release dateJun 20, 2012
    ISBN9781476215013
    The Police Report Handbook
    Author

    Paul Lasiewicki

    Dr. Paul Lasiewicki is currently a Patrol Lieutenant with the Flagstaff Police Department in the City of Flagstaff, Arizona. Paul originally hails from Saginaw, Michigan. Paul attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, graduating with bachelor's degrees in Biology and Art. In 1993 Paul joined the Navy where he enjoyed an enlistment as a Hospital Corpsman. While enrolled in BUD/S training, Paul suffered a major injury, making it no longer possible for him to participate. Nevertheless, he had a great time and learned a lot. Although the broken bones prevented Paul from completing BUD/S training, the circumstances inspired him to go back to school. Dr. Lasiewicki worked as a medicolegal photographer for a few years at the Naval Hospital in San Diego until he earned his Masters of Forensic Sciences (MFS). Upon completion of his MFS, Paul accepted a transfer to the NCIS regional crime lab in San Diego where he worked as a Criminalist until the end of his enlistment. From there, Paul took a civilian job as Chief Forensic Scientist at a private crime lab in Albuquerque. In 1999 Dr. Lasiewicki answered his calling to police work, becoming a cop with the FPD. Dr. Lasiewicki worked as a patrol officer, detective, patrol corporal, and patrol sergeant; he now works as a patrol lieutenant. In 2007, Paul completed his doctoral dissertation Achieving Congruence between Individual Commitment to Policing and Organizational Objectives in Police Departments to earn his Doctorate in Management. Dr. Lasiewicki has taught at Norther Arizona University (NAU) and the University of Phoenix as a part-time professor in the fields of Criminal Justice and Administration of Justice. In addition to his duties at FPD as LT. Lasiewicki; privately, Dr. Lasiewicki pursues his passion of advancing the profession of policing. In 2011, Dr. Lasiewicki opened his online school The LEO Criminal Justice Institute (LEOCJI), dedicated to the professional development of police. Dr. Lasiewicki is currently working to build degree-granting programs specifically for police so that every cop who appreciates the thought of working hard to earn a scholarly degree can get one.

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      Book preview

      The Police Report Handbook - Paul Lasiewicki

      The

      Police Report

      Handbook

      By

      Dr. Paul Lasiewicki

      A Complete Writing Guide

      for Law Enforcement Professionals

      Copyright 2012, Paul Lasiewicki, LEOCJI Publishing. Flagstaff, Arizona, 86004. www.leocji.org

      The LEO Criminal Justice Institute. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy recording, or any other information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher.

      Copyright 1012 Paul Lasiewicki

      Smashwords Edition

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Table of Contents

      Preface

      Introduction

      Purpose of Police Reports

      Types of Police Reports

      Parts of a Police Report

      Elements of the Narrative

      Different Functions of Crime Reports

      Arrest Reports

      A word about Writing Criminal Complaints/Probable Cause Statements

      Grammar Guide

      Overcoming Common Grammar Problems

      Overcoming Common Punctuation Errors

      Overcoming Common Spelling/Word-Confusion Errors

      Taking Effective Notes

      CopKey/AutoCorrect List

      Documenting Behavior

      Documenting Probable Cause Searches

      Articulating Driving Behavior

      Tips for Avoiding Common Defenses

      A Word about Documenting Use-of-Force Incidents

      Effective Proofreading

      Preface

      If I had a training program that guaranteed to improve a person’s shooting accuracy by 20%, I’d bet most officers would be pretty interested. Similarly, if I developed a martial arts system that promised to improve defensive tactics/arrest effectiveness by 25% many police departments might consider the training almost too good to pass-up. Since criminal investigation is one of a police department’s primary functions, it isn’t hard to see the value in a training program that helps increase an officer’s conviction rates while at the same time lowering their risk for civil liability.

      One estimate suggests that in up to 90% of cases where felony charges have been declined, a poorly-written police report narrative was to blame. The purpose of this training handbook is to provide a tool officers may use to help close that gap. Considering how much emphasis supervisors, investigators, and prosecutors place on an officer’s police reports, I am surprised at how little emphasis gets devoted to training officers how to write reports effectively.

      Introduction

      Of all the police officers I’ve ever known, never once have I heard an officer say that they got into police work because they loved to write police reports. Most people answer the call to law enforcement because they want to make a difference, or they want to help other people. As newer officers quickly come to realize, however, police stand their best chance of making a difference and helping other people by impacting crime.

      Police serve their communities by taking a stand between citizens and risk. In short, police try their best to deal with criminal behavior so their citizens won’t have to. Individual officers can’t do it alone, though. Individual police work within the boundaries and protections of the law and their department’s policies as they work together as a part of a larger Criminal Justice system to manage crime, preserve life, and protect property.

      As the law enforcement arm of the Criminal Justice system, police play their roles by conducting sound investigations into criminal behavior, and then bringing that information to the courts so justice can be served. If everything goes according to plan, each individual officer can make their community a better, safer place by doing their part within the system to help incapacitate criminals and reduce victimization.

      Unfortunately, not everything always goes according to plan. There are any number of variables that may impact the outcome of an officer’s case. Maybe the most prominent among those variables is the fact that a poorly written police report will kill a well-executed, technically perfect case. This is because nearly every aspect of every case must be reduced to a written form; and only that form gets reviewed. So, even if the investigating officer did everything within the law and in accordance with their department’s policies, a failure to adequately document their actions and observations will cause their investigation to be triaged-out so that stronger cases can be pursued. Supervisors, investigators, and prosecutors all have limited time and resources…They will not waste their time trying to save a weakly formatted case when they have other, more viable cases to which they must also attend.

      The purpose of this handbook is not to teach officers how to write. The purpose of this handbook is to help officers improve their report writing skills. This book should act as a reference guide that officers can use to better organize their reports and refine their writing skills. Officers should also use this handbook as a checklist to ensure necessary report elements exist; and as a manual to help them develop their grammar skills, writing mechanics, and the overall readability of their reports. Lastly, officers should use this handbook as a tool to better equip them to translate the good work they do into writing – giving their cases (and subsequently their careers) more traction to make the differences they hoped they could make when they first put on the badge.

      The Purpose of Police Reports

      A police report is a formal, detailed statement about a described incident; or, a formal, detailed account of a police investigation. Police reports provide permanent written records of the work conducted by officers as they manage police-related incidents. In addition to providing a permanent written document of facts, observations, and police actions, police reports provide a number of uses for different consumers.

      Police reports document crime and traffic activity. Especially important for agencies that utilize COMPStat or other intelligence-led policing strategies, data derived from police reports help departments to identify patterns of driving behavior and dangerous areas to which additional police resources can be applied.

      Police reports help departments to develop statistical information on crime trends. Individuals directing law enforcement organizations need to collect certain data for operational purposes: The number and types of crimes that occur; qualities of known offenders; and the number of cases cleared. These data can help police to develop strategies for crime prevention and to help administrators present a clear understanding of the crime problems in their jurisdictions.

      Police reports provide information for follow-up by other officers. Patrol officers are frequently called to conduct initial investigations. Not every police officer can conduct all the follow-up investigation necessary to close their own case in the time they are required by their department to complete their report. As such, officers who make contact with individuals involved in another officer’s investigation rely on the reports written by that officer to conduct the follow-up necessary to assist the reporting officer with their case.

      Police reports document investigations of civil incidents to provide factual, accurate, objective perspectives on specific events. Citizens often use police reports to provide an objective record of non-criminal incidents, like child custody and landlord/tenant disputes. Similarly, depending on the size of the agency and the level of service provided, many police departments invite citizens to file police reports that document claims of lost (or found) property, and neighbor disputes.

      Operational reports may be used by supervisors to help evaluate their employees’ performance. All police reports must withstand the rigors of a multi-stage system of

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