What is Note-taking?
The process of writing down information concerning an incident, event, activity, or statement.
Good notes provide what?
Documentation so that other officers who may become involved in the investigation learn the facts and important information about the case.
What are field notes?
Are the details you record on the scene about an event, interview, or persons involved.
Field notes should address the following basic questions:
- Where did the incident take place?
- When did the incident take place?
- Who was involved?
- What happened?
- How did it happen?
- Why did it happen?
- What actions did the officer take?
Where is ___
The location of an incident.
When is __
The date and time an incident occurred.
Who is __
Everyone who may have information about what happened.
What is ___
The information regarding the nature of an incident.
How specifies __
How an incident occurred.
- Example: did someone hit the victim
with their fist? Did someone spray paint the side of a building with
graffiti? Did a vehicle strike the mailbox?
Why is __
The reason for an incident and is sometimes called the motive.
Your field notes should __
Include information about possible motives in evidence of intent.
The longer you delay in writing down what you see or hear __
The greater the chances are that you will not accurately recall some of the information
A good technique is to __
Listen and ask the complainant, witness, victim, or other person of interest to pause so that you can write down the information
- This alternating method will allow you to here in record information accurately from these people
A.k.a. stands for __
Also known as
DOB stands for __
Date of birth
F stands for __
Female
Nmi Stands for __
No middle initial
S stands for
Suspect
A report is __
A written document that gives information about an event, situation, occurrence, or incident.
A report reflects what __
Competent and professionalism, not only in writing skills, but in all aspects of police work.
You may have heard someone say __
If it isn’t in the report, it did not happen.
Reports are commonly used in:
- Criminal case filings
- Criminal trials
- Civil proceedings
- Depositions
- Draft or a probable cause affidavits
Keep in mind that if you are wearing a body camera __
You can request to review the record of footage from the body camera before writing a report
To recognize the significance of writing a clear and complete report, consider that it may be read by:
- Other officers
- Supervisors
- Defense and prosecuting attorneys
- Judges
- City, county, or state officials
- Media reporters
You will not write every incident report the same way. Therefore __
Think about the situation and the circumstances before you begin writing
When you organize or group information __
It’s easier to write an efficient report
Grouping information is __
The most efficient way to organize notes.
Notes can be organized in two ways:
By order of events: Organize notes chronologically
By category: Organize notes by category, such as witnesses, victims, suspects, and weapons.
An effective report should be __
Well written and demonstrate a good command of the language
Grammar involves what __
The rules and guidelines that govern languages usage
A noun is
Names, persons, places, thanks, actions, qualities, beliefs
A pronoun is
Acts as a substitute for a now. Ex (they, them, he, she)
A verb
Expresses actions, states of being
An adverb does what __
Describes, identifies, or quantifies a verb, adjective, or other adverb
An adjective describes what __
A noun or pronoun
A preposition does what __
Links words and phrases and provides temporal, special, and logical relationships
A conjunction does what __
Connects words with other words, clauses with other clauses
When you expand your vocabulary __
You increase your report writing skills
A sentence is what __
A group of words that contains the subject, a verb, and an object and that Expresses a complete thought
The subject and verb in each sentence should __
Agree in numerical value
The subject of the sentence tells you __
What or who performs an action
The object tells you __
The person or thing that is affected by or that receives the action of the verb
A Sentence fragment is __
A group of words that lacks a subject, Verb, or object or fails to express a complete thought
Homophones are __
Words that are easily confused in use and spelling
Use a comma to __
Separate items in a series of three or more items
Use an apostrophe to __
Show possession or to create a contraction
Try to use a persons __
Exact words in an incident report. If using a direct quote, please quotation marks around the persons words
A narrative is
A detailed account of an incident and events related to the incident
Make sure the report consist
Only of facts. Omit unnecessary words and irrelevant material
A report must be what __
Factual. Do not alter any information you obtained about an incident
Report all sides __
Of the story
A report should be clear __
And allow only one interpretation of each sentences meaning
When you write a report __
Be concise and to the point
Standard English refers to __
The form of language used when speaking and writing wherever English is spoken and understood
Jargon
Includes vocabulary words in profession that has meaning only to the people who work in that particular field or profession
Slang
Consists of informal, non standard words often used by regional or specific groups
Textspeak is __
A language that includes text message and digital communications
If you hand write a report __
Print clearly and legibly
Complete your report __
As soon as possible after the incident
An effective report __
Will have good content and proper formatting
The format is __
The way information is organized and presented in the report
To present a clear narrative a report should contain __
An introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
The body of the narrative is __
The detailed chronological account of the incident
The conclusion explains __
How you resolved the situation
The introduction of a report usually includes information such as:
Date and time of the incident, place of the incident, your assignment and arrival time, your name, your initial actions, I didn’t identity of the victim, suspect, or complainant
The content of the narrative should answer four key questions:
Why were you there? What did you observe? What did you do? What were the outcomes?
Point of view:
Write reports in the first or third person depending on your agency’s policies
Voice:
Write your reports in active rather than passive voice. In active voice, the subject of the sentence comes before the verb it is clearly stated
In passive voice __
The object and the subject switch places
Tense:
Most law enforcement reports are written in past tense because the events have already occurred
Check the report to make sure __
It has correct spelling, proper punctuation, appropriate capitalization, improper grammar.
During the evaluation process __
Make sure that you included all pertinent facts from your notes in any statements in an organized accurate manner
You should evaluate the report __
After you finish writing it