Police Report Writing: Building Stronger Cases
Exceptional police work requires exceptional documentation. Every call, stop, and investigation demands reports that precisely detail events, outline investigative steps, and justify actions taken. For law enforcement professionals, comprehensive police report writing training is essential. It’s not enough to simply fill out forms. Reports must capture the event with vivid, factual recall, the on-paper equivalent […]
Brown University warrant affidavit
This is the affidavit for the arrest warrant for the murder suspect in the Brown University shootings. Outstanding job by Det. Fedo! Does this establish probable cause? You bet it does! This is what you should strive for when writing your reports. Anyone who reads this will understand it, and the judge will be more […]
Police Report Writing Instructors for Stronger Documentation
In law enforcement, a well-written report is often the difference between a case win and a loss. The report is the official documentation from crime scene observations to the narrative that is scrutinized by supervisors, attorneys, judges, and juries. This is why expert police report writing instructors are vital to professional policing. Effective, tailored training […]
Act Like A Journalist
Excerpt from The Police Report Formula: Act Like a Journalist “Your job as a police officer is to report the facts, just like a journalist. Keep your opinions out of reports. A well-written report will allow the reader to form the same opinion you have. For instance, if you and I were working together on […]
Misplaced Modifiers
As police officers, we describe a lot of things! We often used modifiers to describe what we are talking about. A misplaced modifier is a word, phrase, or clause that is improperly separated from the word it describes. Example of a misplaced modifier: “The cops chased the bear in the squad car.” This sentence […]
Run-on sentences
Another error common to a lot of reports, especially police reports, is the run-on sentence. I preach to keep sentences short and sweet. Remember the “one fact per sentence” rule as you read through some of the examples of run-on sentences. If you stick to “one fact per sentence,” you’ll usually avoid run-ons! A run-on […]
Advise vs. advice (and are we using “advise” too much?)
Advise vs. Advice What’s the difference between the two?….And, are we using the words “advise” or “advised” in our reports too much?! Advice is a noun that refers to recommendations or suggestions about what someone should do. Advise is a verb that means to offer advice or recommendations. So, when thinking about police reports, ask […]
How to fix the passive voice
Here’s a good article on active vs. passive voice. I’ll be adding more on active voice because of the difference it makes in your police reports. Strive to write your reports in an active voice and you’ll see an immediate improvement in them.
Great article on Parallelism (strive to write sentences in parallel to make your writing stand out)
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/rhetorical-devices/parallelism/?utm_source=email_share&utm_medium=content
One Fact Per Sentence
Here’s a great and quick read on “One Thought (Fact) Per Sentence.” This is the formula within the Formula. Stick to one fact per sentence when you write your police reports! All of your readers will be thankful. Quote of the Day One Thought Per Sentence May 11, 2021 One maxim that my students find […]
