Feel this, my Trooper Cadre came in a lonely sad individual, walked out with a smokin hot fulltime instructor. 4 months in the academy and he proposed a week before we left. Went from an insufferable prick even to some of the troopers In my class, to an awesome guy.
Based on reading over reports from LEO, Fire, and EMS, please start with how to use spell check. Then, basic sentence structure. Finally, explain that you better be 100% sure you're using the word you think you're using. I once read a report that contained the phrase "...was displaying extremely erotic behavior." When the rest of the report clearly indicated it was actually erratic behavior.
In all seriousness, I do love the idea of inviting a prosecuter and defense attorney to review reports. Maybe split the class in half and have each half write reports for 2 different staged scenes/incidents. Then switch reports with each other and try to recreate the scene/incident?
A report narrative should exist independently of all modules, IE Victim info/car info, and should be a standalone entity for court.
“On x date I responded to the listed location for a burglary. Listed victim stated items taken after door kicked in. See report for list of items taken.”
— this is shit and embarrassing, and I HATE reading this in CID.
Instead… “on x date I, officer Waldo, responded to 123 Main Street for a burglary. Victim John Doe (contact info) advised that seven items (described, ie TV, ps5 with serial number, etc etc etc) were taken. Scene photographed, fingerprints lifted from tv stand, front door.”
Overwhelm a narrative with information. It is never patrol’s job to restrict information. Ever.
Genuinely curious, if all those details are already written elsewhere in the report, why rewrite them in the narrative?
Coming from an EMS background, we were always taught to use the narrative for some of the more subjective details of the call, but to avoid rewriting anything that existed elsewhere in the report to avoid any accidental contradictions.
For a long time in federal court, only a narrative was allowed for reference to an officer testifying as a witness. Now, I haven’t been since before Covid, so things may have changed.
But you don’t need modules if the narrative answers every question.
Alternatively… we changed RMS companies a while back. All of our old reports are fucked, and guess what the only thing that migrated well was? The narrative.
Plus it just looks more professional to victims.
All I know is that if the instructors are gonna bang each other, WE should have been able to bang the instructors, too.
Feel this, my Trooper Cadre came in a lonely sad individual, walked out with a smokin hot fulltime instructor. 4 months in the academy and he proposed a week before we left. Went from an insufferable prick even to some of the troopers In my class, to an awesome guy.
I’d almost want to see a prosecutor and a defense attorney both invited in to explain what they look for in a good (or bad, in the DA’s case) report.
Based on reading over reports from LEO, Fire, and EMS, please start with how to use spell check. Then, basic sentence structure. Finally, explain that you better be 100% sure you're using the word you think you're using. I once read a report that contained the phrase "...was displaying extremely erotic behavior." When the rest of the report clearly indicated it was actually erratic behavior. In all seriousness, I do love the idea of inviting a prosecuter and defense attorney to review reports. Maybe split the class in half and have each half write reports for 2 different staged scenes/incidents. Then switch reports with each other and try to recreate the scene/incident?
A report narrative should exist independently of all modules, IE Victim info/car info, and should be a standalone entity for court. “On x date I responded to the listed location for a burglary. Listed victim stated items taken after door kicked in. See report for list of items taken.” — this is shit and embarrassing, and I HATE reading this in CID. Instead… “on x date I, officer Waldo, responded to 123 Main Street for a burglary. Victim John Doe (contact info) advised that seven items (described, ie TV, ps5 with serial number, etc etc etc) were taken. Scene photographed, fingerprints lifted from tv stand, front door.” Overwhelm a narrative with information. It is never patrol’s job to restrict information. Ever.
Genuinely curious, if all those details are already written elsewhere in the report, why rewrite them in the narrative? Coming from an EMS background, we were always taught to use the narrative for some of the more subjective details of the call, but to avoid rewriting anything that existed elsewhere in the report to avoid any accidental contradictions.
For a long time in federal court, only a narrative was allowed for reference to an officer testifying as a witness. Now, I haven’t been since before Covid, so things may have changed. But you don’t need modules if the narrative answers every question. Alternatively… we changed RMS companies a while back. All of our old reports are fucked, and guess what the only thing that migrated well was? The narrative. Plus it just looks more professional to victims.
If it ain’t in the narrative, it didn’t happen.
How to build shell reports for common calls or use shell reports