Text Evidence

Text Evidence

by Lilia Tovanche

​Police Statistics

​•In 2020, there were 696,644 full-time law enforcement officers employed in the United States. The number of full-time law enforcement officers reached a peak in 2008 with 708,569 officers, and hit a low in 2013 with 626,942 officers.

​Stats

​• Over 6.4 million Americans were in prison, jail, or under probation or parole when counted in 2018, though an estimated 10.7 million people were admitted to jail throughout the year.

•Nearly 90% of prisoners were in state prisons. The total number of prisoners in 2019 was down 11% from the 2009 peak due to shrinking state and federal prison populations.

​Police have to write!

​• When police respond to a call they are required to create a police report

• This is so detectives, lawyers or the person who was involved in the case needs the report, is then able to know what occurred and understand what happened

• Writing is a part of the job!

Writing police reports is different from writing traditional essays. This specific style of writing requires its own rules and conventions. While some expectations for police report writing may differ depending on the police department, certain basic guidelines universally apply.

​

Police reports are written in first person, past tense and organized in chronological order​

​

When writing a police report, you also want to abide by the 4 C’s:

Clear: Try to be as specific as possible. Avoid any vague statements or phrases.

Concise: Avoid overly wordy language. Keep statements sim ple and direct.

Complete: Include all relevant information.

Correct: Make sure that the information you include is accurate and unbiased.

​

​Formatting

​

Formatting refers to how information is organized and how the report is laid out on the page. The heading should contain the report date, title, narrative report, and officer name The body should be written in paragraph form, left-justified, and single spaced with a double space between paragraphs

​

​​The Introduction

​The introduction establishes why you are on the scene and includes:

Date:

Time (in military time)

Location:

The nature of the call or incident

Why: you were at the scene

Additional officers if present (and when those officers arrived on the scene)

​The Body

​The body explains what happened at the scene by answering the 5W’s and H:

​

Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How

​

Example: When I saw Inmates Frank Lopez and Dave Brock wrestling on the floor of cell P6B1, I immediately radioed for assistance. Officer Scott Carter arrived at my location at approximately 0905 hours. We separated Inmates Lopez and Brock, and we escorted them to a dormitory (cell P5C2)

​​The Conclusion

​The conclusion should include the final actions as the reporting officer. It should always end with “There is nothing further to report.”

​

Example: At approximately 0915 hours, I arrested Harrison and read her the Miranda Rights, and placed her in the backseat of my squad car. We arrived at Jamesville Police Station at approximately 0925 hours. There is nothing further to report.

​Time to Practice!!

​You are now Rookie Officers and practice writing a Reports over the next few scenes

​

​In Part 2 you will be a Promoted to Detective and use Text evidence from police reports to build your case

​

​

​10 minutes

​You have 10 minutes to write your report!

​

​Remember to be specific!

​

​

​Practice

​As an officer on this search write your report!

​Promotion!

​You are now a Detective!

​

​Read the follow police report and use text evidence to determine who is at fault and will go to court!

​I met with Frank Gaines, the homeowner who had reported the burglary.

Gaines told me he lives alone. He was out of town on business when the burglary happened. He had left on Monday, April 5, at approximately 6:15 p.m. and returned on Friday morning at approximately 8:45 a.m. Because he used his car for the trip, there was no car in his carport when he was gone. He said because he left during daylight, he hadn’t thought to leave any lights burning. He is a sales representative for Pfizer, and many people know that he often does business from home and makes sales trips.

When he returned from his trip, he saw a broken window over the kitchen table.

​Gaines told me that he is friendly with a retired neighbor who lives next door, and she keeps an eye on his house when he is away on business. I questioned the neighbor (Anna Morgan, 2164 Powell Street). She told me:

• Her dog started barking at about 2 a.m. Wednesday, April 7.

• She had a headache and did not feel like looking outside.

• She put the dog into her guest bedroom so that she could get some sleep.

• Nothing else unusual happened while Gaines was away.

​Citations

​•https://usafacts.org/state-of-the-union/crime/?gclid=CjwKCAjwqeWKBhBFEiwABo_XBleVQVRQHqljX80zYMshGhQIt6Pm8J

EFRMP0sdsqQ3Fq6u0lAtmtqBoCY1YQAvD_BwE

• https://www.statista.com/statistics/191694/number-of-law-enforcement-officers-in-the-us/

​

​Now You Know

​Now you know how officers make their police reports and how vital they are to investigations!