It Did Happen: A Police Officer’s Guide to Successful Report Writing

Jamie M. Calise is a veteran law enforcement officer and police administrator. He is currently a police chief in Massachusetts, and for more than two decades, served as a municipal police officer in Rhode Island. An attorney and educator, Calise has extensive experience in public safety administration, patrol operations, investigations, law enforcement accreditation, and police management. He has instructed on several criminal justice topics in police academy and college settings. His courses have included police report writing, criminal procedure, investigations, first-line supervision, legal issues in human resources, and field training.

To Julie, for making this, and so much more possible.

To Mom, for always being you.

Jamie M. Calise

It Did Happen: A Police Officer’s Guide to Successful Report Writing

Copyright © Jamie M. Calise 2024

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

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Ordering Information

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Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Calise, Jamie M.

It Did Happen: A Police Officer’s Guide to Successful Report Writing

ISBN 9798889103240 (Paperback)

ISBN 9798889103257 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023919498

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

[email protected]

+1 (646) 5125767

In memory of my grandparents, Frank and Josephine, and my uncle Frank.

I am forever grateful for your guidance, love, and support.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: An Introduction to Police Report Writing

Chapter 2: The Purposes of Police Reports

Chapter 3: Criminal and Non-Criminal Investigations

Chapter 4: Police Reports Cannot Be a Road to Nowhere!

Chapter 5: The Dos and Don’ts of Narrative Writing

Chapter 6: Types of Law Enforcement Reports

Chapter 7: A Quick Stroll Through the Weeds: Documenting Constitutional Requirements in Police Reports

Chapter 8: The Face Sheet

Chapter 9: Use of Force Reports

Chapter 10: Taking Field Notes

Chapter 11: Let’s Tie This All Together!

Chapter 1

An Introduction to Police Report Writing

Report writing is one of the most vital responsibilities of a law enforcement officer. As we will discuss in detail in this book, police reports serve many functions in the criminal justice system. Each report provides a window from which the public can view the daily activities of a police agency.

Modern day police departments prioritize transparency and agency accessibility in their efforts to promote the public’s trust. Time has shown that successful police departments are those that have gained the confidence of the communities they serve.

Due to ever-advancing technology and better tools for sharing information, many of the inner workings of police departments are now publicly displayed. Common among police agencies is increased social media use and interactive agency websites. Moreover, from twenty-four-hour news coverage to the advent of police oversight committees and civilian review boards, our present-day society meticulously examines the actions of law enforcement personnel. As a result, police reports have taken on new life within the criminal justice field and the importance of clear and effective police reports has never been greater.

Today, the role of a police agency has expanded and officers work in a field that has become increasingly complex and diverse. They are asked to be social workers, mental health professionals, arbitrators, law enforcers, friends, and mentors. Police reports, in a very real sense, have become a direct reflection of an agency’s mission and the overall competency of its members.

Broadly speaking, a police report is a written repository of the facts and circumstances learned by an officer during an investigation. Good reports include not only what occurred, but also what the officer did as a result.

At the outset of this book, the reader must appreciate that a police report has the legal endorsement of the issuing officer, as well as the supervisor who approves it. This is not an insignificant fact. When police officers submit their reports, they verify that their accounts are truthful, factual, and written without passion or prejudice. Supervisors who then review and approve those reports endorse that the reporting officer’s actions were lawful and proper.

As we will discuss in the chapters ahead, police reports document situations that run the gamut. They are not limited to arrests. In fact, there are many non-criminal events that become the topics of police reports. Each day in the United States, a significant number of reports are written to document motor vehicle crash investigations, community policing events, traffic stops, field interviews, civil disturbances, and many other things. These reports are used by many people and for a variety of purposes. Common report audiences include, but are not limited to, other officers, prosecutors, police administrators, insurance company employees, oversight committee members, media personnel, crime victims, and governmental employees. To this end, this book is a good resource for any profession that requires investigative reports as part of its duties.

Reports and the Officers

Who Write Them

While a police report details what transpired during an event, they are often a tool used by others to evaluate an officer’s decision-making. This means that every police report must leave the reader with the assurance that the actions taken by the reporting officer were reasonable under the circumstances. Actions, whether proactive or reactive, are representations of the judgment calls that police officers make.

For purposes of this book, then, let us start with the general premise that police reports describe the happening of an event and an officer’s response to that event. In essence, every situation an officer confronts dictates the nature of that officer’s response. A robbery call may prompt an officer to use physical force, while a lost child call may prompt the officer to utilize a highway message board. In this way, the specific facts of the event pave the road that the officer needs to travel.

Since policing is not an exact science and each new fact introduced has the potential to turn a situation on its head, sound judgment is a necessity. In my career, I have learned that decision-making is enhanced when officers are able to identify their legal duties while considering the options available to them. But how does this work? Consider the following general statement:

This general approach can have broad applicability.

Decisions in a law enforcement context can best be defined as the affirmative steps officers take based on the conclusions they reach. Decisions must consider facts and circumstances as they are found. Officers need not have all the information related to an event to make a decision. Rather, they just need sufficient information. It is a rarity that every piece of information is immediately discernible.

At the same time, officers must be cognizant of their duties and the acceptable discretionary actions available to them. We know that duties can be legal, policy driven, regulatory, or ethically based. For example, an officer may be bound to act in a certain way when the law dictates an outcome. This is common with domestic violence statutes that mandate a suspect’s arrest if probable cause exists. But while duties are generally defined, discretionary actions are not. Instead, discretion necessitates that officers digest the available alternatives. And while the use of discretion, in and of itself, is a decision, it is the officer’s ability to choose among viable options that is of importance here.

Minimally, every police report should document the investigating officer’s decisions as well as the reasons for those decisions. While we will cover this in greater depth later, we begin with the premise that all investigations are simply searches for answers. Invariably, those answers will then generate more questions.

To better appreciate this, let us take, for instance, an officer who is dispatched to investigate whether a vehicle had been vandalized. Think about the following questions and how each may guide the officer’s decision-making.

Did a crime occur? What if the damage was caused by nature or unintentionally by another?

If no crime occurred, is further police action needed?

If a crime did occur, is an investigation needed? What would that entail?

Observations: What did the officer see or hear?

Actions: Did the officer search for witnesses? Photograph damage? Seize evidence? Obtain witness statements?

Connections: Did the officer make reasonable inferences from direct or indirect evidence?

What are the next steps?

This is but a sampling of factors that an officer may need to consider during an investigation. Where this could lead is anyone’s guess. For instance, the officer could uncover evidence and arrest the perpetrator. The officer could also reach a dead end and decide to close the case. What if the case took a turn and revealed that the alleged victim was attempting to file a false insurance claim?

Regardless of the direction that the investigation takes, the final report must document (1) the facts and circumstances the officer learned during the investigation, (2) the actions the officer took based on those facts and circumstances, and (3) the disposition of the case.

So, Here We Are

Since you are reading this book, I will assume you have either some interest in the criminal justice field or some involvement in law enforcement. You may be a college student, a police academy trainee, an active officer seeking refresher training, or someone who is responsible for writing investigative reports. In order to dive a bit more deeply into some of the nuances of law enforcement report writing, we will touch upon some common procedural topics. A basic familiarity with regularly encountered criminal procedure topics will be helpful as you work your way through this book.

Also, as we progress through different subject areas, it is important for the reader to recognize that the rules or strategies we discuss in this book are general ones. They are by no means absolute. We are exploring matters that are very fluid and each investigation depends heavily on the facts and circumstances presented. The result is that exceptions will usually accompany a rule or strategy. In fact, the only certain rule is that every rule will have an exception. In policing, there are often different ways to approach an investigation, so the mechanics of narrative writing can vary. The imprecise nature of everyday life requires it. Consequently, the expectation that officers must be adaptable and analytical is very real, especially when the prevalence of situational or legal nuance is so great.

Our focus will not be on the study of grammar or English composition. Instead, we will focus on information gathering and the process of reducing that information into a workable, structured, and comprehensive report. Police officers are trained observers and there is no shortage of information that can be uncovered by an inquisitive investigator. Often, though, the challenge is not just identifying information, but also properly synthesizing it into a clear and organized form. An officer’s investigative proficiency, or the connections that exist between pieces of information, will be unknown if information is not properly documented.

Throughout this book, I will use the terms police report, report narrative, or some variation thereof, interchangeably. For our purposes, these terms mean the same thing. However, there are additional parts of a police report beyond the basic narrative portion. These commonly include witness statements, hand-written sketches, rights forms, evidence logs, face sheets, and a host of other forms. During our examination of police report writing, whenever a new document is introduced, it will be described and discussed.

Lastly, as we consider the various approaches to report writing, you will see that the references made to persons writing police reports will be officers, law enforcement members, or some variation thereof. Although this book is primarily geared towards police reports, it is also applicable to other areas of the criminal justice system. The topics we will cover may be helpful to investigators who work in other state or federal agencies; correctional officers; sheriffs and constables; military members; private investigators; and persons employed in the private security field. Similarly, this book may be beneficial in different educational settings beyond the police academy, such as professional development seminars or secondary or post-secondary courses. In the end, our main goal is to enhance the quality of reports by taking a comprehensive look at the investigative process itself and how it impacts the act of writing.

Where Do We Start?

Police officers require extensive training to survive in the law enforcement world today. Survival, in this sense, means both physical safety and professional durability. Training, when coupled with experience, polishes the lens through which officers view the law enforcement world. Together, training and experience provide them with the best opportunity for success. Each call affords officers with opportunities to refine their professional skills.

Proper training and experience are necessary in policing to help officers develop their own problem-solving roadmap. Instincts are important, but not all instinctive responses are appropriate or lawful in policing. Training helps officers refine their responses to ensure that their actions comport with best practices. As a result, good officers learn to identify clues, make factual connections and reasonable inferences, and act with an open mind. They