Notes in CDI 8

1. Classes of Reports

a. Technical Reports- these are written reports dealing with technical and
specialized subjects.
b. Problem Determining Reports- these are written reports identifying the
existence and causes of certain problems. Examples of these are case reports
on Causes of Juvenile Delinquency, Causes of Drug Addiction, and causes of
Human Trafficking.
c. Problem Solution Reports- These are written reports identifying the
processes and solution of certain problems. Examples of these are case
studies on preventive measures against juvenile Delinquency, Drug Addiction
and Human Trafficking.
d. Fact-Finding Reports- These are written reports on the methods of logical
gathering and presentation of data. Examples of these reports about facts and
figures of terrorism, Drug trafficking, Human Trafficking, etc.
e. Performance Reports- these are written reports referring to information on
the status of the activity or operation within a unit or organization.

2. Categories of Reports, Foronda (2009) enumerated that reports are

categorized according to whether they are Operational, Internal Business or
Summary Reports.

a. Operational Reports- these are written reports about police incidents,

investigations, arrests, identification of persons, and other miscellaneous
reports for routine operations of police organization.
b. Internal Business Reports- these are written reports on financial,
personnel, purchase, equipment, property maintenance, and general
correspondence which are important in the agency or organization’s
management.
c. Summary Reports- these are reports that are furnished for the necessity of
the solution of crime accident, and other police administrative-related
problems,

3. Two General Types of Reports, there are two general types of police reports
as stated by Guevarra, et.al. (2008), these are the Basic of Informal reports,
and the Investigative or Formal Reports. These two types are elaborated
below:

a. Basic or Informal Report- these are reports that are mostly related with
ordinary, miscellaneous incidents, usually in letter or memorandum form.
These are accomplished by any member of a unit, section, bureau, or
division within a department in accordance with prescribed regulation.
Basically, these reports contain the generic format like the heading, the
person or office to whom it is addressed or submitted, the text or the body,
and the name of the writer or the source of the report.
b. Investigative or Formal Reports- these are reports that cover all the exact
and exhaustive narration of facts. These reports are classified as Initial or
Advance, progress or Follow-up, and Final or Closing Reports.
4. Specific Types of Police Report

a. Spot Report- this is a verbal or written report done within twenty-four hours
after an important incident. This report is written to inform an immediate
chief or those in higher position of particular occurrences in his command
responsibility. This report should be acted upon within 24 hours. In some
cases, a spot report may be in the form of radiographic message if the
reporting unit is far from the receiving office. The following are indicated in a
radiographic message: Originating office, Addressee, Cite numbers,
precedence actions, Precedence info, Date-time group, Text written in
capital letters.

b. Special report- this is written by a police unit or office based from a

directive or instruction from higher police officers. This type of report follows
the memorandum format of correspondence. The commander or chief signs
this report, or an authorized person signs if the commander is not around.
This report should contain the ‘rationale’ and the ‘action’. The rationale is
the specifications and details related to the problem, and the action is the
expected action or response the receiver or reader will do after reading the
report.

c. Beat Inspection Report/ After Patrol Reports- This is one of the widely
practiced written forms of communication in a station. This is a routine
report because the duty beat supervisor submits this report daily; those
assigned on beat inspection do their routine check on foot, while those on
patrol sectors use patrol cars. The Beat Inspection and After Patrol reports
use the memorandum format.

d. Wanted Person Report – Using the notice on wanted person, this report is
about those persons who are by the police. Information of wanted persons
are flashed on local and national television, as well as posted in
conspicuous areas as notice to the public. This report is done in four (4)
copies to be submitted to the following: to the PNP Provincial Director, or to
the PNP Chief in Camp Crame if the province is not under the provincial
commander, to the Department concerned which will have the original
copy, and the Rogues’ gallery will have the fourth copy.

e. Arrest Report – this is a report that documents all the events in arresting a
suspect including personal information, jail bookings, information about
control and release of prisoners, and court proceedings. This report is
based on information received, ensuring probable cause for warrant/
warrantless arrest.

f. Crime Report – these are reports written after the conclusion from
preliminary investigation that a crime truly happened. This report also
include important factors like corpus delicti (elements of the crime), suspect
descriptions, properties taken, evidences collected, property damages,
victims’ injuries, and suspects’ modus operandi.

g. Situation Report –Also known as SITREP, this is similar to patrol report

 which is submitted every eight hours but on a need-only basis.
The Importance of SITREP
-Completing the SITREP covers all key aspects of community
survival.
- A structured message is easier to carry as a document or to
send over radio or the telephone.
-The SITREP can be copied to organizations with different
responsibilities, to initiate action and ensure that action is
coordinated.
SITREPs from various parts of an affected area can be used to
detect variations in general need and so assist in allocating
resources most effectively.
SITREPS form a record for the future of the actual situation and
the results of action to deal with.

h. Miscellaneous Incident Report also known as MI Report – this is used

to document any incident, situation, or circumstances that are nor crimes,
or may not be designated by a particular title. The purpose of this report is
simply to maintain the integrity of the department’s reporting system.

i. Traffic Accident Report- this report is written by the officer who

investigates the accident. This type of report documents all the facts and
information about any vehicular accident whether it is fatal or non-fatal. This
also examines the nature of the damage of any property, the location of the
accident and its causes. Included in this type of report are statements of
witnesses, diagrams, and photographs.

j. Investigation Report- written to investigate a particular case or crime. This

is an internal form of communication that requires the addressee, the
officer-on-case, and the chief of investigation section. The addressee of
investigation report is the chief or head of a police unit, the officer-on-case
will write and sign the report, and it will be noted by the chief investigation
section. An investigation report is important in court proceedings, the
prosecutor’s office can use this minor offenses and for determining whether
the accused is guilty or innocent.

5. Classification of investigation Report- there are three (3) classifications

of investigation report namely: the Initial or Advance report, the Progress or
Follow-up report, and the Final report.

a. Initial or Advance Report- this is an advance information on a new or

fresh case an investigator; the data in this report is not yet complete, but
it is written and immediately submitted after the preliminary investigation
of the case.

b. Progress report- this is a written narration of facts developed by the

investigator in the course of the follow-up investigation. This is a report
on subsequent details which are very vital to the case but have not
been incorporated in the initial report. This report shall be submitted
within three days after the initial report has been submitted, and
consequently a monthly report thereafter
 .
c. Final report- a complete written narration of facts based from a
thorough investigation of the case. This is a result of evaluation,
summation, and analysis of all facts and circumstances of the case, and
the complete accumulate and collection of data.

6. Parts of an Investigation report- an investigation has the following parts:

Authority, Matters Investigated, Facts of the Case, Discussion, Conclusion
and Recommendations. Each of this part is elaborated as follows:

a. Authority- this part where the investigator cites the authority for
making the report, and he states briefly the date, the place, and the
person by whom the investigation is made.
b. Matters investigated- this part where the investigator writes the
purpose of his report by generally stating what the investigation is all
about. Included in this part are the complaints, and the allegations of
committed crimes.
c. Facts of the case- this part is the coherent presentation of all the
important facts supported by evidences involving the whole
investigation.
d. Discussion- this is the part indicating all the factual information
related to the investigation. The investigator discusses all the
circumstances to give the reader a clear picture of the whole
investigation in order to establish the conclusion and
recommendation of the report.
e. Conclusion- this is the part indicating the summary of the result of
the whole investigation process. The summary should be supported
by facts basing from the order of statement of allegations.
f. Recommendation- this is the last part which is consistent with the
conclusion. This is where the investigator writes his judgment and
the practical suggestions for appropriate actions to be taken, for
proper disposition of the case, for remedy of unsatisfactory situation,
and for a recommendation that a case be closed.

 Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)- the standard procedures for all police
stations and all offices of the National Operational Support Units.

 Police Blotter- a logbook that contains the daily registry of all crime incident
reports, official summaries of arrests, and other significant events reported in a
police station. (PNP Manual revised 2010)
- Defined as a daily record of events within the territories of a
police unit, it contains daily material concerning events for legal and
statistical purposes. (PNP Circular No.5)

1. Procedures for Making Blotter Entries

a. All entries in the police blotter shall be handwritten in a clear, concise
and simple manner but must answer as far as practicable, the 5W’s and
1H. Clarity should not be sacrificed for brevity.
b. Only facts, not opinions, are entered in the blotter.
c. No erasures shall be made on entries. Corrections are made by drawing
 a horizontal line over such words or phrases and the actual entry
initiated by the police officer making the correction.
d. A ball pen with blue, black or blue-black ink is used for making the
entries.
e. Misinterpretation of the blotter or any attempt to suppress any
information is punishable criminally and administratively.
f. All entries must be legibly written in longhand and consecutively
numbered.
g. Every page of the blotter shall be consecutively or chronologically filled
in. no line or space shall be left blank between any two entries.
h. Any development of case reflected in the blotter should be a new entry
at the time and day it was reported. A reference to the previous entry
number of the case, however, should be made.
i. During every shift, the Duty Sergeant, under the supervision of the Duty
Officer or Complaint Desk Officer, shall make the actual entries on the
blotter and at the end of their tour duty, both the Duty Sergeant and
Duty Complaint Desk Officer shall sign the blotter.
2. Units Required and Supply Accountability of Police Blotter
a. A Police blotter should be maintained by a police station.
b. All PNP operating Units or Divisions in the Metropolitan police District,
together with the stations and substations, should maintain a separate
blotter.
c. The general Headquarters, Philippine National Police should supply
police blotters to each PNP command reflecting the same as
accountable items on their property books.
d. It is the responsibility of the PNP unit commander to properly maintain,
use, safe, keep and account the police blotter.
e. Police forces shall continue to use the present blotter, provided the
forms and rules should be followed.

1. Sworn Statement- also termed as Sworn Declaration. It is document

containing facts related to a legal proceeding. The person who makes the
declaration affixes his or her signature in a separate endorsement paragraph at
the end of the document with a statement that the declaration is made under
oath.
2. Affidavits- these are types of verified, formal sworn statement of fact signed by
an affiant or author, and witnessed by a notary public. An affidavit can be used
as evidence in court proceedings. An affidavit is composed of:
a. Commencement- this identifies the affiant
b. Individual Averments- these are separate claims that are numbered as
mandated by law;
c. Statement of Truth- this is a statement verifying that what is stated is
true under oath
d. Attestation- a clause certifying the oath and the date made by the
affiant.
e. Signature- this is both the signature of the affiant and the notary public.

Examples of Affidavit.
2.1 Affidavit of Complaint- section 3 of Rule 110 defined complaint as sworn
written statement charging a person with offense, subscribed by the
 offended party, any peace officer, or other public law officer charged with
the enforcement of the law violated. An affidavit of complaint contains the
following: the name of the accused, the designation of the offense by the
statute, the acts or omissions complained of as constituting the offense, the
name of the general offended party, the approximate time of the
commission of the offense, and the place wherein the offense was
committed.
2.2 Affidavit of Desistance- a complainant executed an affidavit of desistance
when he no longer wishes to pursue a case against an accused or
defendant in a court case. The complainant states that he/she didn’t really
intend to institute the case and he/she no longer interested in testifying or
prosecuting. This is only a ground for dismissing the case if only the
prosecution can no longer prove the guilt of the accused beyond
reasonable doubt without the testimony of the offended party.
2.3 Affidavit of Arrest- is a statement given under oath and penalty under
perjury. This states about facts and circumstances about the arrest, the
information which led to the arrest and the observation made before and
after the arrest. This is filled out by the arresting officer.
2.4 Affidavit of Witness- is a legal and binding document of written testimony
of a witness as a way for evidence to be presented to the court. It is usually
filled out by a lawyer, and then filed as part of the case. The affidavit has to
be in paragraph form, and each paragraph covers one specific topic. The
full name of the person making the statement has to be included, as does
the name of one who affirms the statement. This kind of affidavit can also
be used to record the testimony of an expert witness in certain cases. The
affidavit has to be truthful and just give facts, not personal feelings or
opinions.
3. Inquest Forms- is an informal and summary investigation conducted by a
public prosecutor in criminal case involving persons arrested and detained
without the benefit of warrant of arrest, issued by the court for the purpose of
determining whether or not the said persons should remain under custody and
correspondingly be charged in the court.
4. Complaints in Criminal Cases- it is important that those who will be writing
the police report will be familiar with forms of complaints in criminal cases, its
format, and the standard headings and captions cases, its format, and the
standard headings and captions of cases. The familiarization of all these will
help him in reports, and in any court proceedings. These standard headings
and captions are used in the: Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Municipal
Courts. The sample forms of complaints included are: Violation of Municipal
Ordinance, Forcible Abduction, Arson, Damage to Property through reckless
imprudence, homicide and murder.