Report Writing for Criminal Justice Professionals

Larry Miller, John Whitehead

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351973465
• Edition: 6
• Topic: Derecho
• Subtopic: Derecho penal

The criminal justice process is dependent on accurate documentation. Criminal justice professionals can spend 50–75 percent of their time writing administrative and research reports. The information provided in these reports is crucial to the functioning of our system of justice. Report Writing for Criminal Justice Professionals, Sixth Edition, provides practical guidance—with specific writing samples and guidelines—for providing strong reports. Most law enforcement, security, corrections, and probation and parole officers have not had adequate training in how to provide well-written, accurate, brief, and complete reports. Report Writing for Criminal Justice Professionals covers everything officers need to learn—from basic English grammar to the difficult but often-ignored problem of creating documentation that will hold up in court. This new edition includes updates to reference materials and citations, as well as further supporting examples and new procedures in digital and electronic report writing.

Section 1

The Nature of Report Writing

Chapter 1

The Why and How of Report Writing

What do you like least about working in the criminal justice system? If your answer is writing reports, you are not alone. Were you attracted to the criminal justice system because you enjoy writing reports? It is doubtful that many people were. Do you view report writing as a chore to do before you can either get on with the real work of the day or get home for fun or rest? If so, you are like many, if not most, of the people working in the criminal justice system. If you are already working in the system, you know that much of your time is spent writing reports. Many patrol officers report spending up to one-half of their workday completing reports. Some detectives report spending up to 75 percent of their day with reports. Big cases can wind up looking like volumes of books, with many people contributing to the final product.

Most criminal justice professionals receive little training in writing reports. Departments, agencies, academies, colleges, high schools—everyone expects someone else to do the training. With standards of writing falling fast, even in newspapers and television, it is hard to recognize correct writing when you see it. You are not alone if you have a hard time writing reports.

With modern technology advancing so fast, why do you need report writing? Machines are a means used to complete reports. They cannot write or organize your work. They can help fill in forms fast, compare fingerprints and identifications, and speed up information for law enforcement, security, corrections, and probation and parole personnel. They do not organize or think; they just do as they are told. They can speed up misinformation as well. The spell-checking function on a computer or word processor will accept any word that is spelled correctly, e.g., seen for scene, bale for bail, miner for minor; anything goes, including your credibility.

Consider the O. J. Simpson case, arguably the most noted case of the twentieth century. The Los Angeles Police Department was an early user of technology, but how much did technology help to document the action? Other high-profile cases continue to benefit from the use of technology, often by comparing known factors in the various situations. Airports, hospitals, hotels, and businesses are helped by the rapid exchange of information among security officers. Probation and parole officers depend on computerized information for short reports, often for monthly checking on the observation of regulations.

Being computer literate is almost a given today, but the computer does not organize material, use correct grammar, or select the specific words to write an accurate and complete narrative. Your writing is important both to yourself and to the public, whether you are in law enforcement, probation or parole, corrections, security, or some other agency. The sooner you take a businesslike view of writing and develop a skilled approach, the faster you will progress in your writing—in both your own estimation and that of others. You are also less likely to wind up in court (usually long after the report is written) with insufficient material to aid the cause of justice. Knowing why you write will positively influence how well you write.

Why Do You Write Reports?

Just about everyone writes reports. Notes are written to our loved ones, bosses, coworkers, friends, enemies, and creditors. People write when they are happy, in love, angry, or sad. Most people learned to write while they were in school. Is what they learned applicable to law enforcement, probation, corrections, and security? Many people do not write much after leaving school unless their job requires it. Does yours? Stop and think of all of the reasons that you write. Some of the people you write to are very important to you, either in your personal or professional life. Errors in personal writing may cause laughter, but errors in professional writing can cause you to lose credibility, professional standing, and even your job.

In the criminal justice system, reports are written for many reasons. Recording information to ensure that it will be available in the future is one purpose. Cold case investigations are increasingly being reopened due to new technology. A common complaint among many cold case investigators is how difficult it is to glean information from the original written reports. Reports are also an expeditious way to share information with other people without you having to be there. In many of the cold cases that have been reopened, the original investigators, witnesses, and victims are retired, have moved away, or are deceased.

Few people, including those who write reports, actually stop to think about the many ways in which reports are used. The following are a number of operational and administrative uses of reports.

Law Enforcement Reports

Operational Purposes

1. 1. Document actions taken by persons involved in crimes, incidents, and accidents, as well as actions taken by you and your fellow officers.
2. 2. Give pertinent facts that will help determine if follow-up is required by you or anyone else.
3. 3. Help the prosecutor decide whether to charge an individual, and if so, with what charge. (If the prosecutor charges the suspect with Crime X when testimony shows Crime Y was more important, the defendant may be released.)
4. 4. Point out a pattern of action, a modus operandi or method of operation (MO) taken to commit the crime, or a trademark, a habit that may even slow down the action, but that is characteristic of a certain perpetrator. This can help to show similarities between crimes and is an important investigative aid.
5. 5. Help you recall details of a case when you testify months or years later. Your report may also protect you against a civil suit.
6. 6. Help you or others to keep track of what has been done on an investigation and what needs to be done, and to help coordinate activities between investigators and agencies involved in the investigation.
7. 7. Pinpoint times and places with a high incidence of crime so that officers can be deployed to the best advantage. This can provide help for you when you need it most.

Administrative Purposes

1. 1. Determine what type of administrative action or follow-up is needed.
2. 2. Send materials to other agencies, states, or the federal government, and even to other countries. The FBI has been gathering statistics on a voluntary basis for the Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) for more than 80 years. The National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) will eventually replace the UCR and goes into even greater depth with crime reporting.
3. 3. Assist in obtaining cooperation in community policing to better serve the area and enhance public relations.
4. 4. Form the backbone of reports to the upper echelon in your city or state, including the mayor, governor, and members of the legislature. Such reports document problems, progress, and possible solutions, and the information is used to budget money. Your equipment, assistance, and paycheck may hang in the balance.
5. 5. Help management determine training needs and assist in quality control efforts within the agency.
6. 6. Determine who receives advancements or transfers. People are often judged and selected for advancement or transfer based on their writing and communication skills.

Reports are also used by people outside of your agency and sometimes outside the criminal justice system. These people include attorneys, members of the public, insurance companies, and news agencies.

Security officers operate in many ways similar to law enforcement officers. Both groups protect people and property; however, their emphases may be different. Law enforcement, as its name implies, is expected to ensure that laws are upheld, and violations are referred to the proper agency for adjudication. Security officers are responsible first to their employers, and their reports are often used to provide employers with information required to make decisions and to protect the good name and financial interests of the employer.

The public has very little understanding of security and loss prevention officers, who are sometimes called private police. To some, “security” may refer to a guard or night watchman. To others, the word may suggest large organizations such as Wackenhut or Burns. A local business may hire a few people off the street and give them scant training. On the other hand, the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) has high standards for certified public protection degrees. Duties vary from simple alarm sounding when danger threatens to a whole assortment of work that can be done for large corporations. In addition to the protection of people and property, some organizations expect such things as reports on customer satisfaction, employee theft, narcotics, assault, sexual harassment, firearms possession, bomb threats, terrorist threats, and more; the list goes on and on.

Security Reports

Operational Purposes

1. 1. Note problems that may hinder the smooth working of the facility or business. (Preexisting dangerous conditions that are not taken care of can form bases for lawsuits.)
2. 2. Prevent employee theft and shoplifting from businesses.
3. 3. Promote a favorable image of the company, facility, or organization by solving problems in-house, whenever possible.
4. 4. Document courteous responses to public demands.

Administrative Purposes

1. 1. Help protect stockholders by documenting specific needs and justifiable expenditures.
2. 2. Help secure funds to support such places as museums, performing arts facilities, and colleges.
3. 3. Can be used to cooperate with similar facilities, such as other hotels and hospitals, to share information about swindlers, drug dealers, con artists, and other threats to security.

Corrections Reports

Corrections writing sometimes differs from that of law enforcement and security. Logs are prepared, as are incident reports and memos, by corrections officers who work in many areas of correctional facilities. Admission and other forms are also filled out, as are investigative and incident reports.

Probation and Parole Officer Reports

Some of the most comprehensive investigations and report writing is done in presentence investigation reports (PSIs or PSIRs)....