Principles of Investigations and Report Writing
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Principles of Investigations
and Report Writing
Brian C. Kennedy
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Principles of Investigations and
Report Writing
A criminal
investigation is
only as good
as
the report that
supports it.
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Investigation Basics
•Who is an
investigator?
•What is an
Investigation?
•When does an
Investigation Begin
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Basic Legal Beginning of an
investigation.•Probable cause -
Probable cause means that
police must have a
reasonable belief that a
crime has been committed,
or is being committed, by
the suspect
•Reasonable Suspicion –
an objectively justifiable
suspicion that is based on
specific facts or
circumstances and that
justifies stopping and
sometimes searching a
person may be involved in
criminal activity
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Basics of Report Writing Skills
•Write in the first person.
•Use chronological order.
•Use past tense.
•Use active voice.
•Use correct spelling and punctuation.
•Use correct subject/ verb agreement.
•Use correct pronoun reference.
•Avoid jargon and wordiness.
•Write facts rather than opinions.
•Choose the correct word to describe the incident.
•Organize the report by using openings, paragraphs, and headings.
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Quality
“The best investigation is only as good as the
report completed about it. A quality report is an
effective report, and to qualify as effective it must
be:
•Complete
•Clear
•Concise
•Accurate”oPolice Magazine, May 2008
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Note Taking
•Purpose:oRecord storage
oBuilding Blocks
oAid to Memory
•Mechanics of Note TakingoReadable
oAccurate
oConcise
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Notes to Sentences
•0700 rec’d call, 459 now, 123 N. Main
Street.
•0710 arrvd scene
•0711 PR R. Foster (3-16-59) arrvd busins,
0645, frnt door open.
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Sentences to Reports
On February 6, 2005, I was assigned to
uniformed patrol, unit 1A12. At 0700 hours,
I received a call of a burglary in progress at
123 North Main Street.
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Reports
Source of Activity:On February 6, 2005, I was assigned to uniformed patrol, unit 1A12. At 0700 hours, I received a call of a burglary in progress at 123 North Main Street.
Observations:At 0710 hours, I arrived on scene were I was met by the Person Reporting, Raymond Foster. Foster told me that he arrived at his place of business (123 N. Main Street) at 0645 hours and found the front door of the business open.
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Tell the Story
What happened?
Create a mental picture so
the reader knows what happened.
The reader:
Supervisor Detectives Victim
District Attorney Witnesses Judge
Defense Attorney You
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Write in First Person
•To make reports easier to read and to understand, most department ask officers to write in the FIRST PERSON.
•The writer of the report refers to himself/herself as I, and uses the first person pronouns me, my, and mine.
•The more formal third person this officer, reporting officer (R/O) or this writer reference is old-fashioned and unacceptable in modern law enforcement.
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Missing Information
Missing information can be used to infer
that you are:
•Not very professional
•Not Thorough
•Do not have certain expertise
•Not Truthful
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Write in Chronological Order
•Chronological order is order by time. Your report should tell what happened in the order that the events took place.
•Get all the facts and then list them in the order in which they happened. It is much easier to understand what happened if the details are written in chronological order, even if the people involved do not tell you the information in chronological order.
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Write in the Past Tense
•Everything you write in your report has already
happened, so use the past tense.
•In present tense, you would write: The suspect lives at
1010 Swanson Court. A defense attorney might ask:
“Does the suspect still live there?”
It’s likely you will have to say that you do not know. If you
have to say, “I don’t know” many times, you will destroy
your credibility. If you write in past tense, you can say
that what is in the report was correct at the time you
wrote the report.
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Past Tense
•Do not use the emphatic form (the word did) in
combination with other action words (verbs).
This form implies that something else happened.oIncorrect: I did issue a citation. (But it was ignored.)
oCorrect: I issued a citation.
oIncorrect: Markly did say that Norman had a gun. (But
later he changed his statement.)
oCorrect: Markly said that Norman had a gun.
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Basic English Rules
Or, the what your teachers
have been telling you for
years!
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Antecedent
•Basic Principle:
A pronoun usually refers to something
earlier in the report (its antecedent) and
must agree in number — singular/plural —
with the thing to which it refers.
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Spelling and Punctuation
Basic Principle:
Spelling always counts!
Avoid looking –
Stupid
Careless
Unprofessional
Uneducated
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Use an Active Voice
•Every sentence has a subject and a verb. Active Voice: When the subject performs the action of the verb. •Active voice: I asked the man about the broken mirror.
Passive Voice: When the action is done to the subject. The subject receives the action of the verb.•Passive voice: The fire was reported by the child.
•Reports should be written in active voice whenever possible.
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Use Active Voice
•The report was
written by Officer
Jackson.oPassive voice
oSeven words
•Officer Jackson wrote the report.oActive voiceoFive words
oIf you save two words per sentence, in a five paragraph report, you will save approximately 40 words.
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Subject/Verb Agreement
•Singular subjects require a singular verb. (Note:
Verbs that end in s are singular!)oI was not aware of the new procedure.
•A plural subject must have a plural verb.oThey were sent to the hospital.
•The pronoun “you” always requires a plural verb.oYou were never good at telling a lie.
oYou all were to finish the exercise before you left the
class.
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Subject/Verb Agreement
•Singular (He/ She)oIs
oWas
oHas
oDoes
oKnows
oWants
•Plural (They)oAre
oWere
oHave
oDo
oKnow
oWant
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Subject/Verb Agreement
•Collective nouns are words which indicate
a group (like committee, jury, department,
squad).oIf the noun is used to show the group as an
entity or whole (one), use the singular verb. The jury was able to reach a verdict.
oIf the noun shows members acting as
individuals, use the plural. The Squad cast their votes for a new president.
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Subject/Verb Agreement
•Certain subjects look like they are plural when they are really singular. The words each, either, neither and any word that ends in –one, -body, or -thing are singular.oAnyone Anybody AnythingoNo one Nobody NothingoEveryone Everybody EverythingoSomeone Somebody Something
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Subjects Joined by And
•If two or more singular subjects are joined
by and, they are considered plural. (1 + 1
= 2)oOfficer Thompson and Officer Sims were
transferred to District 5.
•If singular and plural subjects are joined
by and, they are plural.oOfficer Green and three teenagers were asked
to testify in court.
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Subjects Separated by Or or Nor
•If two subjects are separated by or or nor,
the verb agrees with the subject
positioned nearest to it in the sentence.oMrs. Gayle or her sons were in the house at
the time of the incident.
oHer sons or Mrs. Gayle was responsible for
the fire.
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Pronoun Antecedent Agreement
Basic Principle:
A pronoun takes the place of a noun. Each
pronoun has an antecedent – the word that
the pronoun takes the place of and refers
to. Each pronoun refers to only one
antecedent.
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Pronoun Antecedent Agreement
•The pronoun must agree with the
antecedent in gender and in number.oIncorrect: Each officer must bring their notes
to the meeting.
oCorrect: Each officer must bring his (or her)
notes to the meeting.
oBetter: All officers must bring their notes to the
meeting.
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Pronoun Antecedent Agreement
•The same rules that apply to subject/ verb
agreement also apply to pronoun
antecedent agreement.oThe female child held her pencil in her closed
fist.
oAttorney Jim Spartus was asked to bring his
estimates on the damage to his client’s boat to
court on Wednesday.
oThe three suspects asked for their lawyers
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Ambiguous Pronouns
•When a sentence is
written in such a way
that the reader does
not know who or what
the pronoun refers to,
the sentence has an
ambiguous pronoun
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Ambiguous Pronouns
•Each pronoun in a sentence should refer to only
one antecedent.oIncorrect: Officer Swanson saw the man carrying a
television set, and he began to run. Who does he refer to–
Officer Swanson or the man?
oCorrect: Officer Swanson saw the man carrying a
television set, and the man began to run.
oCorrect: Officer Swanson saw the man carrying a
television set, and he, Swanson, began to run.
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What is Jargon?
And, why should we avoid it?
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Avoid Wordiness
•Good police reports can avoid wordiness
by doing the following:oUse simple words
oUse active voice
oAvoid wordy phrases
oAvoid redundancy
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Examples
•Incorrect: In
subsequent
endeavors to
ascertain her
whereabouts on July
28, I questioned the
suspected perpetrator
as she exited the
premises of her
employment.
•Correct: I later
questioned the
suspect as she left
work to learn where
she had been on July
28.
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Avoid Wordy Phrases
•Each and every
•Red in color
•Due to the fact that
•If this should prove to be the case
•Paced back and forth
•Members of the gang
•Each
•Red
•Because
•If
•Paced
•Gang members
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Avoid Redundancy
•Past experience
•True facts
•Future plans
•Meet together
•Reduce down
•Final result
•Join together
•Basic fundamentals
•Experience
•Facts
•Plans
•Meet
•Reduce
•The result
•Join
•Basic/ fundamental
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Report Facts, Not Opinions
•How do you know?
oSee
oHear
oTaste
oTouch
oSmell
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Report Facts, Not Opinions
•Report facts, not your opinions.oOpinion: Peterson is a violent person.oFact: Peterson has been arrested twice for domestic
abuse.
•Be sure to cite the source of your information.oThe victim entered the garage at approximately 2311
hours. (How do you know? Were you there?)oThe victim said she entered the garage at
approximately 2311 hours.
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Use Specific Words
•Accuracy involves detail,
so be sure your
sentences are specific
enough to give the reader
a clear picture.oThe suspect was driving
recklessly.
oThe suspect did not stop
the vehicle before it struck
the child on the sled.
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Attitude Toward Reports
•Defense Attorney:o“If it isn’t on paper, it didn’t happen.”
oDefense attorneys always check to see who
was the arresting officer. Every officer earns a
reputation for the quality of reports that he or
she writes.
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Attitudes Toward Reports
•Juries:o“If I don’t hear it in court, it didn’t happen.”oIf something is not in the report, it is harder to bring up
in court. If you testify about information but it’s not in the report, you’ve lost credibility. There is no good answer to the question, “Why isn’t it in the report?”
oOn the witness stand, if an officer can’t remember but says that the information is in the report, the jury usually believes the report.
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Writing a Report
•Most reports will begin with a face sheet.
•Face sheets are used to oDirect information gatheringoRecord pertinent statisticsoOrganize informationoReduce the length of the narrativeoProvide a quick reference for others
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Writing a Report
•Once your notes are in
order, write the
narrative. Each
narrative will have oAn opening or Source of
Activity
oChronological facts of
the investigation or
Observations
oA closing or disposition
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Writing a Report
•The opening will containoWho the officer(s) and complainant(s) are
oWhat the officer was doing at the time of the
call and the date/ time of the call
oWhat the incident was
oWhen (time and date) the officer received the
call
oWhere the incident occurred
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Writing a Report
•A typical opening, with heading, may read
as follows:
Source of Activity:
On Tuesday, March 18, 200-, I was on patrol
alone. At approximately 1042 hours, Dispatch
called and said that a Henry Bartell had
reported a battery in progress outside Katy’s
Café, 123 Main Street.
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Writing a Report
•The chronological narration of the incident
should outline what you did to investigate
the incident.
•Use headings to keep your report
organized. Exact headings will depend on
the type of incident that you are
investigating.
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Writing a Report
•Source of Activity
•Observations
•Victim’s Statements
•Witness’ Statements
•Officer’s Actions
•Suspect’s Statements
•Description of Stolen
Goods
•Evidence
•DispositionoArrests
oCitations
oJuvenile Custody
•Status
•Headings may include:
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Writing a Report
•Under each heading use one or more paragraphs. Use a new paragraph to signaloA shift in focus
New perspective/ viewpoint New topic or idea within a topic
oA change of timeoA change of locationoA new person or speaker
Set off dialogue
oA new section of the report
•Paragraphs may include numbered or bulleted lists.
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Questions??