July 1, 2004 The Atlanta Police Department uses a system of reports to document crimes, arrests and other non-criminal matters. Because the report serves a variety of important police functions, it is vitally important that the officer complete reports accurately and in accordance with guidelines of the Atlanta Police Department Field Manual section 9.1.

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  NUMBER: A.P.D. T.M. R.C.T.04.03  EFFECTIVE DATE:  7-1-04

 

SUBJECT: Preliminary Inquires and Police Reports Roll Call Training

 

DISTRIBUTION:      All Sworn Employees             

 

APPROVAL  AUTHORITY  TITLE :      Academy Director

 

SIGNATURE: Lt. M.A. Perdue               DATE:

     
 

The Atlanta Police Department uses a system of reports to document crimes, arrests and other non-criminal matters.  Because the report serves a variety of important police functions, it is vitally important that the officer complete reports accurately and in accordance with guidelines of the Atlanta Police Department Field Manual section 9.1.

 

A.                 When To Make A Report

 

The average officer is out of service between two to three hours to complete reports. Listed are reasons why reports are made.

 

1.                  Crimes reported to or witnessed by police or investigators

2.                  Physical arrest, including traffic arrests, but excluding “victimless” crimes

3.                  Copy of charges arrest, except minor traffic violations

4.                  Juvenile situations, whether an arrest was made or the juvenile was turned over to the parent or guardian. Including any incident involving a child’s welfare or removal from the custody of a parent or guardian

5.                  Situations involving an arrest for controlled substance

6.                  Significant events in a follow-up investigation

7.                  Situations resulting in damage, loss or theft of city property

8.                  Deaths, whether natural, accidental, suicidal, criminal due to unknown causes

9.                  Situations resulting in injury, including an injury to an on-duty employee

10.             Incidents of a firearm discharge or use of force by a department employee

11.             Incident of lost or damaged property reported to an officer by a citizen

12.             All cases where it is not clear if a report is needed or not

 

B.                How a Report Should Be Written

 

In order to write a good report the reporting officer must be a good communicator.  The officer should be an active listener, accurately receive the information, understand the information and record the information in a manner that will be easily understood by all the people who may read the report.

 

Listed are important points when trying to gather information.

 

q       Stress/Meaning – Understand persons frame of mind (what prompted this person to request a police report?)

 

q       Organizational - Used terminology unique to a group of people with

                       Similar background

q       Interpersonal – Different roles in society have bearing on communication

                      between groups

q       Individual – People may have mental or physical impairments that

prevent or reduce immediate communication (slow your process down in order to better understand these persons.)

q       Time – Passage of time distorts the memory unless it is recorded through

       a written report, an audio-tape or video tape

 

The reporting process involves gathering, examining, interpreting, arranging and recording pertinent information concerning an incident. After you have gathered the information, you have to analyze it to determine what happened and arrange it in chronological order. 

 

Be objective and rely on facts, do not rely on inferences and opinions.  (Note: Inferences and opinions often result in misclassified crimes due to an opinion as to what happened or who one thinks the suspect is.) 

 

Example: A reporting person states that he/she left a cell phone at a particular location.  The victim states that someone stole her property and wishes a report.  This incident should be describes as lost or mislaid property.  Someone could have found the phone and turned it in for safekeeping.  The key to this scenario is that there is no evidence of a theft.

 

If an incident that involved a crime or an arrest for a crime, remember to include ALL the facts and circumstances involved.  Simply explain the probable cause in terms that a citizen could understand.  There may be times when a report may be lengthy due to good articulation of the information presented.

 

C.                Characteristics of an Effective Report

 

The elements of a good incident report

 

            Accuracy - Write the narrative in an objective manner

 

            Clarity – Make the incident report as simple and direct as possible

 

            Completeness – Fill in all blanks, blocks or boxes on the report form

 

            Conciseness – Words should be specific, concrete and exact

 

            Correctness – Pay attention to the mechanics of writing

 

            Legibility – Incident reports must be printed in black ink

 

D.                Key Point Summary

 

q       The incident report is the official memory of the department.  Officers have a duty to complete a report under the listed circumstances.  Having an accurate and complete report will assist in the follow-up investigation and prosecution as well as protecting officers from unfounded accusations.

q       Many incidents are reported as crimes, which in fact may or may not have been criminal acts.  The reporting officer should state list all the statements in the narrative.

q       Supervisors should pay particular attention to the Who, What, Where, When, and Why (or how), of a narrative.

q       The incident description section of the report should be what the crime is, not a description of the behavior.

 

Example:  Shoplifting, theft by taking, battery, etc.

 

q       If an incident is non-criminal, enter the nature of the report in the description section. 

 

Example:  Lost or mislaid property, missing person, damaged property, etc.