Characteristics of Good Police Reports

A police report is a chronological account of an incident that happened at any given time and place. It could
also be defined as an account of an investigation, or an official statement of facts. The following are the
characteristics of police reports:

1. Clarity — the writer is duty-bound to serve his readers by letting them understand easily what he is trying
to get across. If the writer is misunderstood, he expects to receive a different response or answer: hence, he
has to use clear and appropriate words.

Rules:

a. Avoid impressive expressions

Big Words Simple Words

Ennui boredom, restlessness

Seminal original, creative, of the semen
Officious meddlesome
Paragon ideal
Détente ceasefire
Bathos sentimentality
Convalesce heal
Caveat warning, explanation
Anodyne harmless
Louche shameful, unrespectable
Fiat decree, directive, (diktat, ukase)
Perennial lasting
Hegira exodus
Chutzpah nerve, temerity, gall, boldness
Puke vomit
Kaput dead, done, doomed, finished
Tocsin warning
Farrago assortment
Calumny smear
Mercurial unpredictable
Demotic popular, common
Tumid swollen, bloated, overinflated
Ululate wail, howl

b. Avoid an unwitting language transfer

Ex. Kumain tayo sa labas. Wrong: Let's eat outside.
Correct: Let's eat out.
Fortnightly - every two weeks
Score/s - 20 years

c. Avoid illiteracy - misuse of the English word

Advise their a a
Advice there an the

A man robbed the bank. (generic - the robber is identified only as a man)

The man robbed the bank. (specific - the robber could be identified by name or could identified if face to face
with the witness)

appraise house agree with bring up

apprise home agree to bring about
Continual all ready assent buy off
Continuous already ascent buy from
forbear its call up call on
forebear it's call off c all in
talk to pick out tear down keep out (of)
talk with pick up tear up keep up (with)
pass away look after pass out take off
pass out look into put off take over
passby look out (for) put on take in
give back look up put up take on
give up look over put up with take back

Assure (promise)
Ensure (make an outcome inevitable)
Insure (provide insurance)
adhere to = stick to but not attend to

2. Accuracy —police communications should conform exactly to the truth or to a standard. They should be
without error, precise, exact, and correct. Accuracy has something to do on how the sentences in the
paragraphs are written.

Rules:
a. Avoid putting a period to end your sentence if the thought is incomplete.

Examples:
a) On or about 3:15 o'clock in the afternoon on March 30, 2020 inside Room S602, University of the
Cordilleras, Gov. Pack Rd., Baguio City, Juan Tamad y Talaga, 21 years old, married, an instructor at
the University of Baguio, Baguio City, together with Primitiva "Tibatiba" Pedro and Ben Tuma y
Tumbling, two of his criminology students. Primo Pepito, the witness, said that...

Take note, a period should not be placed after the word students because the set of words
before it is a phrase that does not relay a complete idea. The comma should be placed instead of the
period.

b) When love is new and the world is now reaching for you. You try .. .
Again, a period should not be placed after the word you because the set of words before
it is a dependent clause that does not relay a complete thought.

b. Avoid starting your sentence with a coordinating conjunction (but, and, nor, or, for, so, yet). Take note in
the following examples where the periods are placed.

a) Armed with a warrant of arrest, PEMS Juan Tamad, the police investigator, went to the house of the
suspect. But he did not find any person inside the house. (wrong)
b) Armed with a warrant of arrest, PEMS Juan Tamad, the police investigator, went to the house of the
suspect, but he did not find any person inside the house. (correct)
c) As a lady police officer, arresting violent people is dangerous. And very challenging. (wrong) d) As a
lady police officer, arresting violent people is dangerous and very challenging. (correct)

c. The subject and the predicate of the sentence should agree with each other.

Examples: a) Every day, the chief of police go to the police station with two of his trusted police
officers. (wrong)
b) Every day, the chief of police goes to the police station with two of his trusted police officers.
(correct)
c) The subordinates, together with their immediate supervisor, always submits their after-activity
report on time. (wrong)
d) The subordinates, together with their immediate supervisor, always submit their after-activity report
on time. (correct)

d. Use the correct tense of the verb. Take note of the verbs in the following example.
a) Last year, Pat Don Juan asked the help of PCOL PEPE PEPITO and stayed at the training center to
finished his leadership training, so that he can applied for promotion. (wrong)

b) Last year, Pat Don Juan asked the help of PCOL PEPE PEPITO and stayed at the training center to
finish his leadership training, so that he can apply for promotion. (correct)
 The correct tense of the verb and the correct past tense or past participle of a verb should be used.
Take note that the verb after a modal (like can) or the be in the present tense without -s.

e. Avoid Shift in voice within a sentence. Take note of the following examples.
a) The arresting officers arrested the suspect at the crime scene (active), and he is informed of
his constitutional rights. (passive) (wrong)
b) The arresting officers arrested the suspect at the crime scene, and informed him of his
constitutional rights. (correct)
c) Miss Paga eats bananas. (active)
d) The bananas are eaten by Miss Paga. (passive)

f. Avoid dangling modifiers. A dangling modifier is one that has nothing to modify because what is ought to
modify is not clearly stated in the context. Take note of the following examples.

a) While taking the statement of the suspect, the light switched off. (wrong)
b) While taking the statement of the suspect, PCpl Pepita Edong switched off the light.
c) To hit bull's eye in a firing competition, a caliber .38 pistol should be used. (wrong)
d) To hit bull's eye in a firing competition, Pat Pepito must use a caliber .38 pistol. (correct)
e) Going directly to the crime scene as ordered by the chief of police, the suspect has escaped.
(wrong)
f) Going directly to the crime scene as ordered by the chief of police, we found out that the suspect
has escaped.

g. Avoid shift in the tense of the verb. In police technical report writing, consistency in the tense of the verb
used is also very important.
a) The chief of police was instructing his subordinates of what to do, and he is asked by some
patrolmen to be more considerate. (wrong)
b) The chief of police was instructing his subordinates of what to do, and he was asked by some
patrolmen to be more considerate. (correct)

h. Avoid shift in person.

a) Pat Juan Tamad will attend the seminar if his wife will allow him. (wrong)
b) Pat Juan Tamad will attend the seminar if he will be allowed by his wife. (correct)
c) When you are investigating wanted persons, one should be very careful. (wrong)
d) When you are investigating wanted persons, you should be very careful.

Take note, you is in the second person and one is in the third person.
i. Maintain the antecedent-pronoun agreement.
a) The provincial director likes to play with his dog when they are newly bathed. (wrong)
b) The provincial director likes to play with his dog when it is newly bathed. (correct)
c) Pepita told his husband to eat bananas. (wrong)
d) Juan, the instructor of eighty-seven CCJE students, conducts his class under the banana tree.
(correct)

j. Use the exact or appropriate word that serves your purpose. Take note of the following:
Sin - violation of religious law
Vice - habitual degrading or corrupting behavior
Crime - violation of man's law
Felony - punishable by the RPC
Offense - punishable by special laws
Misdemeanor - punishable by ordinances

k. Use numbers properly. In general technical report writing, single numbers are written in words and for
double numbers from 10 and above, the numbers are written instead of the words. In police technical report
writing, however, the practice of writing the number in words first then putting the number in open-close
parenthesis makes it more accurate.

a) 10 police officers escaped from the ambush this morning. (wrong)

b) Ten (10) police officers escaped from the ambush this morning. (correct)
I. The ranks and names of police commissioned officers (from Police Lieutenant to Police General) are all
capitalized. For police non-commissioned officers (Patrolman - Police Executive Master Sergeant), the
beginning letters of their ranks and names are capitalized. The PNP and the military do not place a period after
their middle initial.

POLICE MAJOR NANDREF B YAO Police Corporal Simplicio Pepito

POLICE COLONEL DEO N JUAN, JR. PEMS Don F Bravado

m. Use the proper punctuations. Try to remove all the punctuations in a paragraph and read it again. There is
one thing sure: you cannot understand it.

a) PEMS Pedro Penduko did not have a warrant of arrest. He arrested the suspect. (wrong)
b) PEMS Pedro Penduko did not have a warrant of arrest; he arrested the suspect. (correct)
c) Patrolman Maphod Peman reported for duty not in proper uniform. And he did not bring with him his
service firearm. (wrong)
d) Patrolman Maphod Peman reported for duty not in proper uniform, and he did not bring with him his
service firearm. (correct)

3. Brevity- saying much in fewer words

a. Avoid redundancies
completely eliminated protest against
controversial issue qualified expert
definite decision razed to the ground
For recreational purposes reason why
future plans Strangled to death
general consensus totally destroyed
Joined together true facts
new recruit Past experience
whether or not each and everyone

b. Avoid padded phrases

Wordy Brief

At a period of time when

At this present writing now
Due to the fact that for
In compliance with your request
Or pursuant to your request as requested or on request
In a number of cases some cases
In relation to toward
In the event that in case or if
In the majority of circumstances usually or sometimes
In the matter of in or on
In this time and age today
In (with) reference to about or concerning
In view of the fact that as
Notwithstanding the fact that though, although
On the part of for
Under date of on or dated
Under the prevailing circumstances as things are
Enclosed herewith is enclosed is
During the course of on

Published hereunder is the duty detail of this station covering the period from the months of May to
July 2020. (wordy) Published is the duty detail of this station from May to July 2020. (brief)
 c. Avoid unnecessary sentence openers. People nowadays are very busy. They would like to know
immediately what you would like to tell them; thus, it would be better for the sender of any written
communication to state directly what he would like to tell the reader. The reader is very much aware
that your purpose is to communicate; hence, the following sentence openers are not necessary.
For your information ...
Permit me to say ...
We take the liberty of ...
We are taking this opportunity ...

4. Specificity — giving life to a sentence by using 1mi-hullers that call up shape, texture, color and
movement. Concretize abstract words I or example, in your report you stated "Juan Tamad stoned Culassa
Petro to death." Here, there could be many questions to be asked by the reader: How did Juan stone
Culassa?; What kind of stone?, What is the size, weight, color and texture of the stone? Persons also, whether
suspect, victim or witness, should be described to be specific. Remember, in our country, we have people of
the same names. Take note in the following example that as you go down the ladder, you become more
specific.

Example:
Resource
Material
Equipment
Weapon
Firearm
Rifle
M16
a. A person stabbed another person to death. The statement above is not specific: the suspect and the
victim are not identified, the kind of weapon used was not specified, how the suspect attacked the
victim is not shown, the part of the body of the victim that was hit, and the number of times he was hit
were not also shown. Compare the above statement (a) to the following statement (b).

b. Juan Tamad. Jr. alias Juju, the bartender at the Jose's Bar and Restaurant, Session Rd.. Baguio City,
and holding a double-bladed 24-inch-long Kapangan-made knife with his left hand approached Emilio
Aguinaldo, a CCJE student at the University of Baguio, Abanao St., Baguio City, from the back and
stabbed him seven (7) times on the front upper part of his body that led to his instant death.

5. Timeliness— just like a spot report that should be submitted within twenty-four (24) hours, any other
police report should be submitted on time in order to serve its purpose. A report that could no longer be used
because it was not submitted on time is useless. In the police organization. punctuality is very important that
is why compliances to police correspondence usually have target dates of submission.

6. Security— most police reports are either classified as Restricted, Confidential, Secret or Top Secret. The
purpose is to secure the given information from unauthorized access; hence. the security classification of the
document should be placed on top and below of the document, and police personnel are prohibited from
divulging classified information to unauthorized people — meaning they have a lower security clearance or
none at all. A PNP member with a security clearance of Top Secret can access all classified information, but
somebody with a security clearance of Secret cannot access Top Secret information.

7. Impartiality—the report should be based on facts and not the opinions of the writer. The writer should
then be always objective and avoid bias in presenting his reports.

8. Completeness— simple reports do not need all 5 Ws and 1 H, but as much as possible, the writer should
use at least the 5 Ws and 1 H. The writer should be aware that the reader, after reading the report should
have no question hanging in his mind because all the necessary information he needs to know are provided in
the report.

Whenever a police officer decides to write a report, it very advantageous for him, especially for a neophyte
report writer, to get a piece of paper, write all five Ws and one H, and one by one answer them. Afterward, he
makes the draft and shows it to his immediate supervisor for checking before he finally writes it into the police
blotter.
The 5 Ws and 1H of Police Reports

1. Who? The who question identifies a person. In police communication, if we refer to one person, then we
should refer to him alone, and not to any other person. It is then very important that the name of the person
should be spelled correctly and included are his or her middle name, alias/ es, specific address, nature and
place of work, and contact number.

The following answers the who question:

a. Who was the victim?
b. Who was the suspect?
c. Who were the witnesses?
d. Who saw, heard, smelled or tasted anything relevant to the crime?
e. Whom did the suspect talk to?
f. Whom did the victim talk to?
g. Who helped the suspect commit the crime?
h. Who processed the crime scene?
i. Who was the evidence custodian?
j. With whom the suspect was last seen?
k. With whom the victim was last seen?
I. Who informed the police officers about the crime?
m. Who first noticed that the bank was burning?
n. Who called the firemen to the crime scene?
o. Who accompanied the victim to the hospital for treatment?
p. Who saw the suspect hiding in an open manhole?

2. What? The weakness of some police officers is that they tend to name the specific crime that was
committed, even with just a few pieces of information they had gathered. The police officer's duty is just to
gather all necessary data, submit the case to the Prosecutor's Office, and the Prosecutor's Office will be the
one to tell the police officer of what crime actually happened. In answering the What, the police officer must
see to it that he accurately names and describes all material things relevant to the case. Just like the Who
question, the writer must see to it that he places all the characteristics of the things mentioned like shape,
color, texture, size, length, width, etc. The following answers the What question:

a. What property was stolen, lost or found?

b. What type of property was attacked?
c. What type of evidence was found at the crime scene?
d. What type of weapon used in the crime?
e. What tool or machine was used in the crime?
f. What did the suspect do after committing the crime?
g. What defense did the victim offer after being attacked?
h. What did the witnesses observe about the crime?
i. What was done to the pieces of evidence gathered?
j. What was done to the victim?
k. What was done at the crime scene?
l. What did the suspect say during, before or after the crime?
m. What was the relationship between the victim and the suspect?
n. What was the color of the suspect's clothes?
o. What was the victim doing when he was attacked by the suspect?
p. What word or words did the suspect tell after committing the crime?

3. Where? This question answers the geographical location of the crime scene, person, property or evidence.
The police officer must see to it that he is so specific about the location. It is not good if he just puts that the
crime happened in Baguio City because he will be asked, "where exactly in Baguio City."

The following answers the where question:

a. Where was the crime committed?
b. Where was the piece of evidence discovered?
c. Where did the suspect hide the weapon he used?
d. Where was the victim found?
e. Where was the suspect seen during the crime?
f. Where were the tools used in the crime?
g. Where was the exit of the suspect?
h. Where was the entrance of the suspect?
i. Where did the suspect hide after committing the crime?
j. Where were the hangouts of the suspect?
k. Where was the piece of evidence stored?
I. Where did the suspect pass through?
m. Where is the place of residence of the suspect?
n. Where is the place of birth of the victim?
o. Where were the witnesses when the suspect attacked the victim?
p. Where did the suspect run to after committing the crime?

4. When? This includes the date and time the crime was committed, pieces of evidence discovered, victim
found, suspect apprehended, etc. Just like in the where question, the when must be very specific; hence, the
date should be written completely and the time indicated whether in the morning, at noon, in the afternoon,
or during nighttime. Sometimes it is not beneficial to report writing if the writer will just place A.M. or P.M.
because an unintentional mistake between A or P makes a difference of 12 hours, and many things can
happen in that span of time.

The following answers the When question:

a. When was the crime committed?
b. When was the crime discovered?
c. When was the victim found?
d. When did the victim see, hear, smell, touch, or taste something unusual?
e. When was the piece of evidence recovered?
f. When was the police informed of the crime?
g. When did the police arrive to the crime scene?
h. When did the suspect plan to commit the crime?
i. When did the victim know that he was robbed?
j. When was the crime scene cordoned?
k. When was the crime scene turned over to the SOCO
I. When was the victim last seen?
m. When was the suspect seen with the victim?
n. When was the last time the suspect was charged of an offense?
o. When did the suspect know that the police are looking for him?
p. When did the suspect apologize to the victim?

5. Why? The Why question answers the motive of the perpetrator committing the crime. It is not enough that
the police officer will just place that the motive is revenge, hatred, jealousy, material gain or lust; he has to
answer the question in such a way that the reader will exactly understand why the suspect did the crime.

The following answers the Why question:

a. Why did the suspect commit the crime?
b. Why did the suspect choose to use certain tools or weapons?
c. Why did the person report the crime to the police?
d. Why did the suspect, himself, report the crime to the police?
e. Why did the victim go the place where he was attacked?
f. Why did not the victim defend himself?
g. Why did not the victim ask help from bystanders?
h. Why did the suspect choose the place to commit the crime?
i. Why did the suspect choose the time to commit the crime?
j. Why were the witnesses hesitant to give their testimony?
k. Why were the pieces of evidence destroyed?
I. Why were the pieces of evidence absent from the crime scene?
m. Why did not the police arrive on time to the crime scene?
n. Why was there no light at the crime scene?
o. Why was there somebody at the crime scene when the crime happened?
p. Why did not the victim notice that the suspect was about to hack him?
6. How? The How question answers the manner the crime was committed. It is necessary that the police
officer should use adverbs so that the reader could imagine and understand exactly how the crime was
committed. The weakness of some police officers is that they just mention a verb without a modifier (adverb).
In addition, so that the report will be easily understood especially in narration, it should start from the first
that happened, then the second, until he last.

The following answers the How question?

a. How did the suspect commit the crime?
b. How did the suspect go to the crime scene?
c. How did the suspect leave the crime scene?
d. How did the witness observe the crime?
e. How did the victim know about the plan of the suspect to attack him?
f. How much money was taken from the bank?
g. How often do the suspects loiter around the pawn shop?
h. How long was the bolo that was used in the crime?
i. How much did the suspect give to the witness for him not to testify in court?
j. How long did the suspects stay inside the bank before they declared the bank robbery?
k. How heavy was the stone the suspect used?
I. How dark was the room where the crime was committed?
m. How did the victim run away from the suspect?
n. How did the police know of the crime?
o. How did the suspect stab the victim?
p. How much was spent by the victim in the hospital?