St.

Louis College of Bulanao

Purok 6, Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga 3800

TITLE/TOPIC
TECHNICAL ENGLISH
I
LESSON 1
INTRODUCTION TO POLICE REPORT WRITING

I. INTRODUCTION

Writing is one of the most indispensable skills that a learner should develop to be able to express his or
her ideas effectively. It is a Skill that every student should master for efficient expression of ideas
Similarly, this skill is needed in all types of professions and jobs especially because communication is a
vital component of any endeavour.

Proficiency in writing is required not only of civilians but also of uniformed personnel such as police
officers who are considered the premier law enforcers in the country. They write police reports during
their day-to-day activity. it is imperative then that they master writing to come up with an effective
police report considered the life blood of police work.

Police report writing is a regular part of an officer's job. Complete, factual, accurate, and detailed
reports can speed up an investigation while incomplete opinionated, inaccurate, distorted, or
misleading reports can impede it or even get it dismissed in the court on the basis of a technicality,
regardless of the facts. Police reports can make the difference between conviction and acquittal. Just
like any other skill in police work, writing effective police reports is a skill that must be learned and
practiced.

During the Test Construction and Development Seminar held at the Institute Training Group. Police
National Training Institute, Camp Gen. Vicente P. Lim, Calamba City on November 7, 2013, the Vice
President for Academics, PSUPT AMADOR B. NAVARROZA (Ret), MAED of the Philippine Public Safety
College revealed that police report writing in the PNP is problematic. Police officers write
ungrammatical, incorrect, incomplete, inaccurate, and distorted police reports. To be able to address
this concern in the PNP and other public safety agencies and to become instrumental in improving the
writing proficiency of police officers and public safety officers in the country, a study was conducted by
the author in March 2015 at the Institute Training Group entitled "Process Writing and Writing
Performance of Police Trainees in a Large Class Setting" Hence, this Police Report Writing (A Handbook
for Police Officers, Trainees, and Public Safety Students) was conceptualized based on the results of the
said study.

Since not all police officers and trainees who are accepted in the PNP are criminology graduates and
because even criminology graduates lack writing proficiency it is imperative that they are provided
training on how to write effective police reports. Language professors of the Philippine Public Safety
College (PPSC) including higher education institutions (HEls) should take this as a challenge. However,
for them to be successful in helping police officers and trainees become effective police report writers,
these language teachers should cho0se an effective writing strategy that will cover the major steps in
writing and provide learners with ample opportunities to write the various types of police reports. It is
also important to enrich their writing repertoire by providing them comprehensive lectures on what
police report writing is, its different types, elements, characteristics, and uses, among others and
provide them with different types of actual police report writing activities to harness their writing skills
to the fullest

EZRA RIZLE L. GRAMAJE

EZRA RIZLE L. GRAMAJE
II. LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

 Discuss the importance of police report writing
 Explain the different types of police report

III. COURSE
CONTENT
LESSON 1.1
DEFINITION OF POLICE REPORT WRITING

According to the Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary (as cited by Gammage, 1961), a report is
an account of some subject specially investigated or an official statement of Facts. A police report is a
chronological or step-by-step account of an incident that transpired in a given time (Soriano, 2005).

Police reports may be written or oral; detailed or brief, simple or complex. They may be prepared by
anyone in the department from the chief to the patrolman on the beat. in any event, police reporting
has become one of the most significant processes in modern police operations. Reports result from
the fact that someone has asked for them and needs them for immediate or future use. They are
made to be read and used(Gammage, 1961).

Among the several methods of writing, narrative report writing is effective in writing police reports
where it presents the facts what actually occurred. The chronology of actions is properly arranged
according to the order of events. The report writer should follow the standard format prescribed by the
PNP.

Police officers, trainees, and students should be exposed to the different types of police report writing
to become abreast with the required competencies and standards of the PNP. Aside from the usual
police reports which they usually write, police officers, trainees, and students should also learn other
challenging forms of police report writing which will allow them to analyze places of evidence and
validate authenticity of information in order to prosecute offenders. One type of writing which allows
the police officers, trainees, and students to use higher-order thinking skills to transmit information is
police report writing

LESSON 1.2
PURPOSES OF POLICE REPORT WRITING
Just like other written public documents, police reports should be written efficiently because it has
the following purposes (PNP Standard Operating Procedure No. 2012-01):

1. To serve as the official document and permanent record of incidents in the community

2. To compile statistical information and identify problems in the community

3 To facilitate investigations, prepare and defend court cases including prosecution of offenders; and

4. To ldentify training needs of the members of the Philippine National Police.

LESSON 1.3
IMPORTANT USES OF POLICE REPORT WRITING

Just ike other forms of writing. police report writing has the following important Uses (Soriano, 2005):

1. Serve as records for police administrators in planning, directing. and organizing the unit's duties
and functions;

2. Use as legal documents in the prosecution of offenders;

3. Use as basis by law enforcement agencies and other government and private organizations.

4. Provide information to the media which need access to public documents

EZRA RIZLE L. GRAMAJE

5. Be a basis for research; and

6. Reflect the competence and personality of the police writer regarding his written work.

LESSON 1.4
CHARACTERISTICS OF AN EFFECTIVE POLICE REPORT WRITING

1. Accurate and Specific-Police reports should be accurate and specific. Accurate means not only being
exact, but also non-commission oft errors. Words presented must be precise and correct. The report
must be tree from mistakes Or errors.

Akin to accuracy is specificity. The use of specific words in conveying ideas most clearly to the readers is
very important.

In order to achieve accuracy and specificity, all forms of correspondences and reports should be
thoroughly edited in spelling, punctuation , standard format, sentence structure, mechanics, and
grammar, and among others.

2. Brief and Concise- Police reports should be brief and concise. This means that reports should be
short or economy of words. Use necessary words only as you retain the natural tone of your sentences.
Superiors are always busy and they do not have the luxury of time reading wordy and long reports.
Conversely, being brief and concise does not mean deleting important words to make your report
short, but write forcefully when using three or more words where only one word is sufficient Good
writers impress their readers with ideas, not words. In order to make your reports brief and concise,
avoid the use of redundant or superfluity, jargons, triteness, and misleading euphemisms, among
others (See Module 2 for reference).

3. Clear and Complete- Police reports should be clear and complete. This means that the report is free
from Conclusion and ambiguity, and is easily understood. The report should include all necessary
information such as the 5Ws and 1H (Who, what, when, where, Why, and how) report including
attachments, enclosures and results of medico-legal and other examinations released by the PNP Crime
Laboratory and other PNP recognize hospitals and organizations.

Moreover, this also means that the idea in the mind of the sender should correspond to the idea
formed in the mind of the message receiver. any incongruence in the interpretation of the message
between the sender and the receiver results to miscommunication.

In order to achieve clarity and completeness, use simple words to assure understanding. Avoid also the
use of general words, abstract words, weak phrases, gender-biased words, unwittingly language
transference, colloquialism, and slang. among others. Finally, provide the necessary information and
pertinent documents required to support the facts.

4. Factual and Objective

Police reports should be factual and objective. The report contains only facts, not hearsays. A fact is a
thing that has actually happened or that is really true. Being objective is not injecting his/her own bias
or prejudice into the report. The police writer should be fair and impartial in conducting Investigation
and gathering facts and pieces of evidence. To do this, the police writer may properly quote statements
from sources without adding prejudices and conclusions.

In order to be factual and objective, focus on the facts. Avoid getting opinions and personal judgments
in order not to be partial and subjective.

5. Well-organized and Grammatically Correct

Police reports should be well-organized and grammatically correct. Chronological order is usually used in
organizing and writing the facts in police

EZRA RIZLE L. GRAMAJE

Reports. It is also important to follow the standard format and required specifications prescribed by
the PNP Such as official font style which is Arial and font size is 12 including quality paper, proper and
clean printing, format, spacing margin, and indention, among others.

Police reports, on the other hand, should also be grammatically correct. Aside from the fact that the
report is written using the proper form and arrangement of words and sentence structures, It should
also be edited before submitting to the higher authorities. Avoid also the use of full uppercase or full
lowercase all throughout the document especially IT t is not necessary to do so.

In order to achieve that, follow proper rules in police report writing including standard format
specifications. Before you submit your report, you let someone check the grammar, sentence
structures, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and content of the report, among others.

LESSON 1.5
TYPES OF POLICE REPORT

This provides the most common types of Polico Reports used in the PNP.

Police Blotter

Police Blotter refers to a logbook that contains the daily registry of all crime incident reports, official
summaries of arrest, and other signicant ovents reported in a police station (PNP Police Operational
Procedures 2013).

Spot Report

Spot Report refers to the initial report written by a police officer after an important incident and
submitted immediately to higher authorities for further investigation and appropriate action.

Progress Report

Progress Report refers to a folloW-up report submitted by a police officer after conducting further
investigation of a paricular incident Progress report can simply be an accomplishment report which may
be analytical and may be comparatively longer than a spot report.

Final Report

Final Repot refers to an accomplishment report written by a police officer after the investigation is
completed and the case has been filed against the suspect/s. In some cases, progress report can also be
the final report especially if the investigation has been terminated at that level.

After Operation Report

After Operation Report refers to a report that may be rendered after any successful police operation
that leads to the arrest of any member or some members of syndicated crime group (PNP DIDM
Criminal Investigation Manual 2011).

Investigation Report

Investigation Report refers to a report such as in criminal investigations. The arrangement of the parts
follows a specitic pattern to be easily found and read.

The format is similar to a memorandum format except the text or body should have the following parts:
AUTHORITY, MATTERS INVESTIGATED, FACTS OF THE CASE, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS, and
RECOMMENDATIONS. The parts are capitalized followed by a colon (). Paragraphs are numbered
consecutively using Arabic numbers such as 1, 2, 3, and 4, among others.

The investigator signs the report. On top of the letterhead and on the lower fold of the paper, the word
CONFIDENTIAL is typed or stamped (Soriano, 2005).

EZRA RIZLE L. GRAMAJE

 Situational Report

Situational Report (SITREP) refers to a report which is done on a need basis. it contains the actual
situation on a particular incident or incidents which are on public interest This is primarily addressed to
the commander or chief for him to know the actual situation before the media and the public is
informed.

A SITREP may be done every hour, every 6 hours, or every 8 hours depending on the situation. During
peaceful and ordinary days, a SiTREP is not necessary.

Beat Inspection Report

Beat Inspection Report refers to a report that is submitted daily by any duty officer after his/her routine
check on foot.

After Patrol Report

After Patrol Report refers to a report which is submitted by assigned sector using official vehicles and is
signed by the team leader.

A. ASSESSMENT
ESSAY: Read each question very carefully. Answer legibly, clearly and concisely. Write
your answer on a yellow pad paper. (30 POINTS) Do not write anything at the back of
your answer sheet. You may use another sheet of paper until completed. Submit it
personally to the CJJE OFFICE/FACULTY on FEB.5, 2022. or contact me in my
messenger account @ EZRAGRAMAJE98@GMAIL.COM if you have a question. Good
luck!
1. As a future police officer or public safety officer, in not less than 150 words discuss the
importance of report writing in your career and create a title for your essay?
2. Pass an example of at least 5 types of police report from the internet or from the police station
in your area?

B. REFERENCES
 PALIGAT ERIC P. “Police Report Writing (a hand book for Police officers, Trainees, and
Public Safety Students)” FPR Publishing, 2015

EZRA RIZLE L. GRAMAJE

 St. Louis College of Bulanao
Purok 6, Bulanao, Tabuk City, Kalinga 3800

This module is a requirement of the St. Louis College of Bulanao in response to the
implementation of the Blended Learning way of Instruction.

This Learning Material is a property of the College of Criminal Justice Education – St.
Louis College of Bulanao, Tabuk City. It aims to improve students’ performance specifically in
the Criminology Education.

Date of Development : January, 2022

Resource Location : Bulanao, Tabuk City
Learning Area : CDI 13 (TECHNICAL ENGLISH 1)
Learning Resource Type : Module1

General Instruction/s:

The module introduces what Police Report, purposes of police report writing, important uses of
police report writing, and characteristics of effective police report writing. Series of activities
will encourage you to explore and learn about the topic. Through this module, the following
instruction/s should be followed.

1. This module is exclusively for SLCB students only.

2. Reproduction and use of this module for any purpose is strictly prohibited, unless with
the written permission from SLCB.
3. You may use this module for any acceptable purposes.

EZRA RIZLE L. GRAMAJE