SOUTHWESTERN INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY, INC
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Technical Report Writing
Definition and Purposes of Police Report
Handout 1
NAME: _________________________________________________________________
YR/COURSE: ____________________________________________________________
INSTRUCTOR: __Aida N. Del Rosario, LPT_____________________________________
Introduction
This handout gives the students training in investigative report writing including the
structure and format of making reports and feasibility studies. It covers fundamentals and styles of
report writing forms and contents of police reports, including simple legal forms, manner of
handling standard police forms, technique sequences of blotter entries, preparation of arrest and
crime reports; fundamentals of records management and the decimal system of reports and
document filing; study of uniform Crime Reports, care and custody of confidential files; criminal
statistics and wanted forms; the follow-up control system and the use of electronic processing.
Objectives
At the end of the unit the learners must have
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Understand the definition, purposes of Police Report
Know the important uses of If Report Writing
Know Criteria to be considered in Report Writing
Understand the types of Police Report
Identify the Classification of Police Report
Identify the Category of Police Report
Identify the Elements for a Crime
Define the meaning of Police Visibility
Know the goals of Criminal Investigation
Identify the tools of an Investigator in Gathering Facts
Identify the qualification of An Investigator
Know the basic functions of An Investigator
Understand the Police report Writing Form
Topics
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Introduction
Definition of Police Report
Purposes of Police Report
The Important uses of If Report Writing
Technical Report Writing and & Presentation
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lntroduction to Police Report Writing
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Overview:
Having good communication skills is very important to foster understanding and build
better relationships among others wherever you maybe are– at school, home, work, or in an
organization. Hence, this module provides details through the Read and Reflect Section to help
you grasp related concepts and information about communication, how it is done, why it is
complicated, what are its underlying principles and Do’s you have to be reminded of. Do the
warm up exercise; answer and respond to the learning activities; and provide a feedback about
what you do and what you have learned. Always follow the indicated instructions before having
the activities. Explore, Enjoy and learn.
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
1. Give the meaning of communication and explain why it is a complicated process;
2. Recall the elements of communication and identify them in different texts;
3. Recall the elements of communication
Warm Up:
Crack the Code Challenge
Use the chart to crack the codes. All you have to
do is, you will use the numbers in vertical as the x
coordinates while the numbers in horizontal as the y
coordinates to pin point the correct letter in position
until you arrive with the correct word. Example,
number 23 is letter G and number 35 is letter O, 2335 then meanc GO. Afterwards, give your own
definitions of the words you have unlocked.
Codes
1.) 33–15–44–44–11–22–15:
2.) 13–23–11–34–34–15–32:
3.) 13–35–34–45–15–54–45:
4.) 52–15–43–12–11–32:
5.) 21–15–14–14–12–11–13–31:
Unlocked Word
Definition
Technical Report Writing and & Presentation
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Read and Reflect
Writing is one of the most indispensable skills that a learner should develop to be able
to express his/her ideas effectively. lt is a skill that every student should master for efficient
expression of ideas. Likewise, this skill is needed in all types of professions and jobs especially that
communication is an important component of any challenge.
Hence, writing proficiency is essential not only of civilians but also of uniformed
personnel such as patrolmen who are believed to be the premier law enforcers in the country.
They write police reports during their day to day activity. Thus, it is imperative that they grasp
writing to come up with an effective police report.
Definition of Police Report Writing
According to Webster’s new Collegiate dictionary (as cited by Gammage, 1961). A
report is an account of some subject specially investigated or an official statement of facts. A
police report is a chronological or step–by–step account of an incident that transpired in a given
time (Soriano, 2005).
Police report maybe written or oral; detailed or brief; simple or complex. They may
be prepared by anyone in the department from the chief to the patrolman of the beat. ln any
event, police reporting has become one of the most significant processes in modern police
operations. Reports result from the fact that someone has sked from them and needs them for
immediate or future use. They are made to be read and used (Gammage, 1961).
Among the several methods of writing narrative report writing is effective in writing
police report where it presents the facts what actually occurred. The chronology of actions is
properly arranged according to the order of events. The report writer should follow the standard
format prescribed by the PNP.
Police officers, trainees, and students should be exposed to the different types of
police report writing to become abreast with the require competencies and standards of the PNP.
Aside from the usual police reports which they usually write, police officers, trainees, and students
should also learn other challenging forms of police report writing which will allow them to analyze
pieces of evidence and validate authenticity of information in order to prosecute offenders. One
type of writing which allows the police officers, trainees, and students to use higher thinking skills
to transmit information is police report writing.
PURPOSES OF POLlCE REPORT WRlTlNG
Just like other written public documents, police reports should be written efficiently
because it has the following purposes (PNP Standard Operating Procedure No. 2012–01):
1. To serve as the official document and personal record of incidents in the community.
2. To compile statistical information and identity problems in the community.
3. To facilitate investigations, prepare and defend court cases including prosecution of
offenders; and
4. To identity training needs of the members of the Philippine National Police.
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lMPORTANT USES OF POLlCE REPORTS WRlTlNG
Just like other forms of writing, police report writing has the following important uses
(Soriano, 2005):
1. Serve as records for police administrators in planning, directing, and organizing the
unit’s duties and functions.
2. Use as legal documents in the prosecution of offenders.
3. Uses basis by law enforcement agencies and other government and private
organizations.
4. Provide information to the media which need access to public documents.
5. Be a basis for research; and
6. Reflect the competence and personality of the police writer regarding his written
work.
CHARACTERlSTlC OF AN EFFECTlVE POLlCE REPORT WRlTlNG
1. Accurate and Specific
Police reports should be accurate and specific. Accurate means not only being exact,
but also non–commission of errors. Words presented must be precise and correct. The report
must be free from mistakes or errors. Akin to accuracy is specificity. The use of specific words in
conveying ideas most clearly to the readers is very important.
To achieve accuracy and specificity, al forms of correspondences and reports should
be thoroughly edited in spelling, punctuation, standard format, sentence structure, mechanics,
and grammar, among others.
2. Brief and Concise
Police reports should be brief and concise. This means that reports should be short
or economy of words. Use necessary words only as you retain the natural tone of your sentences.
Superiors are always busy and they do not have the luxury of time reading wordy and long reports.
Conversely, being brief and concise does not mean deleting important words to make you report
short, but write forcefully when using three or more words where only one word is sufficient. Good
writers impress their readers with ideas, not words.
ln order to make you reports brief and concise, and avoid the use of redundant or
superfluity, jargons, triteness, and misleading euphemisms, among others (See Module 2 for
reference).
3. Clear and Complete
Police reports should be clear and complete. This means that the reports is free from
confusion and ambiguity, and is easily understood. The report should include all necessary
information such as the 5Ws and 1H (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How). All these
elements of crime are also included in the report including attachments, enclosure, and result of
medico–legal and other examinations released by the PNP Crime Laboratory and other PNP
recognized hospitals and organizations.
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Moreover, this also means that the idea in the mind of the sender should be
corresponded to the idea formed in the mind of the message receiver. Any incongruence in the
interpretation of the message between the sender and the receiver results to miscommunication.
ln order to achieve clarity and completeness, use simple words to assure
understanding. Avoid also the use general words, abstract words, weak phrases, gender–biased
words, unwittingly language transference, colloquialism, and slang, among others. Finally, provide
the necessary information and pertinent documents required to support the facts.
4. Factual and Objective
Police reports should be factual and objective. The report contains only facts, not
hearsays. A fact is a thing that has actually happened or that is really true. Being objective is not
injecting his/her own bias or prejudice into the reports. The Police writer should be fair and
impartial in conducting investigation and gathering facts and pieces of evidence. To do this, the
police writer may properly quote statements from sources and without adding prejudices and
conclusions.
To be factual and objective, focus on the facts. Avoid getting opinions and personal
judgments in order not to be partial and subjective.
5. Well–organized and Grammatically Correct
Police reports should be well–organized and grammatically correct. Chronological
order is usually used in organizing and writing the facts in police reports. lt is also important to
follow the standard format and required specifications prescribed by the PNP such as official font
style which is Arial and font size is 12 including quality paper, proper and clean printing, format,
spacing, margin, and indention, among others.
Police reports, on the other hand, should also be grammatically correct. Aside from
the fact that the report is written using the proper form and arrangement of words and sentence
structures, it should also be edited before submitting to the higher authorities. Avoid also the use
of full uppercase or full lowercase all throughout the document especially if it is not necessary to
do so.
ln order to achieve that, follow proper rules in police report writing including
standard format specification. Before you submit you report, you let someone check the grammar,
sentence structures, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and content of the report, and among
others.
TYPES OF POLlCE REPORTS
This provide the most common types of Police Report used in PNP.
Police Blotter
Police Blotter refers to a logbook that contains the daily registry of all crime incident
reports, official summaries of arrest, and other significant events reported in a police station (PNP
Police Operational Procedures 2013).
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Spot Report
Spot Report refers to the initial report written by a police officer after an important
incident and submitted immediately to higher authorities for further investigation and appropriate
action.
Progress Report
Progress Report refers to a follow–up report submitted by a police officer after
conducting further investigation of a particular incident. Progress report can simply be an
accomplishment report which may be analytical and may be comparatively longer than a spot
report.
Final Report
Final report refers to an accomplishment report written by a police officer after the
investigation is completed and the case has been filed against the suspect/s. ln some cases,
progress report can also be the final report especially if the investigation has been terminated at
that level.
After Operation Report
After Operation Report refers to a report that may be rendered after any successful
police operation that leads to the arrest of any member or some members of syndicated crime
group (PNP DlDM Criminal lnvestigation Manual 2011).
lnvestigation Report
lnvestigation Report refers to a report such as in criminal investigations. The
arrangement of the parts follows a specific pattern to be easily found and read.
The format is similar to a memorandum format except the text or body Should have
the following parts: AUTHORlTY, MATTERS lNVESTlGATED, FACTS OF THE CASE, DlSCUSSlON,
CONCLUSlONS, AND RECOMMENDATlONS. The parts are capitalized followed by a colon (:).
Paragraphs are numbered consecutively using Arabic numbers such as 1, 2, 3, and 4, among
others.
The investigator signs the report. On top of the letterhead and on the lower fold of
the paper, the word CONFlDENTlAL is typed or stamped (Soriano, 2005).
Situational Report
Situational Report (SlTREP) refers to a report which is done on a need basis. lt
contains the actual situation on a particular incident or incidents which are on public interest. This
is primarily addressed to the commander or chief for him to know the actual situation before the
media and the public is informed.
A SlTREP may be done every hour, every 6 hours, or every 8 hours depending on
the situation. During peaceful and ordinary days, a SlTREP is not necessary.
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Beat lnspection Report
Beat lnspection Report refers to a report that is submitted daily by an any duty officer
after his/her routine check on foot.
After Patrol Report
After Patrol Report refers to a report which is submitted by assigned sector using
official vehicles and is signed by the team leader.
WRlTlNG ACTlVlTY: lMPORTANCE OF POLlCE REPORT WRlTlNG
lnstructions: As a (future) police officer or public safety officer, discuss the importance
of report writing in your career. Use the space provided below and gives a title for your essay.
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Technical Report Writing and & Presentation
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Feedback
Below is a reflection figure that looks like a human figure. Determine
what you have learned (the knowledge that serves as your foundation to stand and
keep); the things you have realized and appreciated (attitude towards learning); and
the things that you discovered (skills that you will cherish in life).
Fill in each part the reflection figure.
Things l have learned
Things l have realized
and appreciated
Things l have discovered