CRIM-QF-01

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The premier university in historic
Cavite recognized for excellence in
the development of globally
competitive and morally upright
individuals
Republic of the Philippines
CAVITE STATE UNIVERSITY
Don Severino delas Alas Campus
Indang, Cavite
The Cavite State University shall provide
excellent, equitable and relevant educational
opportunities in the arts, sciences and
technology through quality instruction,
responsive research and development activities.
It shall produce professional, skilled and
morally upright individuals for global
competitiveness.

COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE

Department of Criminology

Lesson 1: Fundamentals of Report Writing

CDIN 5 – Technical English 1 (Investigative Report Writing and Presentation)
1st Semester, S.Y. 2021-2022

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this lesson, you are expected to:
• Understand the principles of Police Reports
• Articulate the Importance Police Reports
• Remember and Analyze the Criteria of an effective Police Reports

INTRODUCTION:

How do you view report writing? Why do we need reports at the first place? Let us
consider the following scenario:

Scenario

“Your writing is fit for the trash bin!” JINSP JUAN PENOL howls at JO2 Beejay Empi.
“Once I affix my signature in that report, it’s my name and the reputation of this jail
station that are at stake, not yours. Don’t make your superior look bad by churning out a
haphazardly written report. Look, you even misspelled the word bureau. How long have
you been in the service? Three? Four years? And you can’t spell the agency that has
fed your family all these years? And your grammar, my goodness, review it please. I am
fed up reading sentences with phrases like, to used and to inspected. Check your facts,
too. There are four Chinese escapees, not three as you have reported. And what about
the list of contrabands found inside their cells? You have not included any of them!
Damn it, jail officer. Get your report straight, otherwise, we will end up in the
newsstands tomorrow and get a beating from media men. Go, move it!”

“Yes, sir.” JO2 Empi answers softly as he picks up the two-page report from his
superior’s desk. Once settled in his chair, he runs his gaze over the draft which is now
“decorated” with winding arrows, reassures and scribbles in red ink. “I need to revisit my
grammar lessons,” he says to himself. As he pores over the writing, a paragraph in bold
letters catches his attention. He peers closer to read the note:

“THE JAILBREAK INVOLVES CONTROVERSIAL ALIENS WHOSE CASE IS

BEING FOLLOWED CLOSELY BY MEMBERS OF THE MEDIA. YOU KNOW THAT
THSESE ESCAPEES WERE AWAITING TRIAL FOR ILLICIT DRUG TRADE WHEN
THEY SLIPPED FROM OUR HANDS. UNLESS WE SUBMIT A CONVINCING, WELL-
WRITTEN REPORTN ON THE INCIDENT THAT WE DID OUR JOB, THEN WE CAN
EXPECT THE AX TO FALL ANYTIME NOW. WE CANNOT DEFEND OURSELVES
WITHOUT THE REPORT. BY REPORT, I MEAN A FULL ACCOUNT---COMPLETE
DETAILED AND ACCURATE—NOT SNIPPETS OR NUGGETS OF SCENES FROM
YOUR MEMORY.”

Wiping beads of sweat from his right brow, JO2 Empi opens his drawer and pulls
out a pocket-sized tickler where he takes down notes on every incident, he encounters
within the 1000-square meter jail facility. “I need to change this tickler to a bigger one,”
he mentally notes as he flips its pages. He could barely read his own handwriting. As he
examines his notes closely, he raises his brows:

Inmates – Amado Las, Amante Gok, Samantha Kas, and Maya Bingh

Jail Officer on Duty – JO2 Deovan Solas, JO2 Lance Itan, JO2 Frances Tapia

Items Found – 500 grams of shabu; 300 grams of Cocaine.

One, two, three, four. Check. Four Inmates. His superior is correct. Shaking his
head, JO2 Empi ruins his pen over notes. I need to go over the facts, or else…”

DISCUSSION:

FUNDAMENTALS OF REPORT WRITING

Report is an account of some subject specially investigated or an historical

statement of facts. According to this definition, police report maybe written or oral; they
may be detailed or brief; they may be 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.

In context of an organization, reports are considered a permanent record of

activities, events, or occurrences used by leaders and managers as basis of decisions.
Within the public safety organization, a report is a written account of an incident and the
inquiry or investigation of that incident which aims to inform readers of the facts, and to
recommend appropriate and practicable measures for decision makes to resolve the
subject of inquiry. It is a crucial document upon which operational activities are anchored.
It is the basis of police officers to investigate cases, arrest lawbreakers, prosecute
criminals and hunt fugitives. On the basis of existing reports, fire officers launch
information drives on fire prevention programs, and jail officers revisit correctional policies
and security measures.

Police Report Defined

1. Police report is any written matter prepared by the Police involving their interaction
with the community.
2. Police report is an exact narration of facts discovered during crime investigation
which serves as a permanent written record for future references.
3. Police Report is a permanent written record of police activities classified as
informal and formal which communicate important facts concerning people
involved in criminal activities.
Proof of Performance

A report is a proof that you are doing your job. Whether you do it well or not is
reflected in the – that is, in the accuracy, completeness and understandability of the
report which is what will remain long after the action is over. No one is spared from public
scrutiny and criticism; that is the fact that any public officer shall face. Unless you keep
notes, hit the keyboard, and maintain a file of your report, you may never be able to defend
yourself from people who are on the prowl to point out your alleged inactions,
shortcoming, or mistakes as you perform you job.

Public safety officer are not only expected to respond swiftly to a call or incident,
you are also expected to document clearly, accurately and completely your response to
the incident. Effectively public safety operations should be followed by effective
documentation. Conversely, undocumented action is tantamount to inaction. Unless you
prove, through your report, that you have done your job, defense lawyers of suspected
offenders can easily assail your credibility as a witness.

Report writing, therefore, is not a discretionary activity, but a necessity.

Documentation is as important as the actual job performance.

Purpose of report writing are to wit:

1. Written report to serve as the raw materials form which records system are made.
2. Written report to reveal as part of the component of the record system, the direct
relationship between the efficiency of the department and the quality of its reports
and reporting procedures.
3. Written report to guide police administrators for policy formulation and decision
making.
 4. Written report to serve as a gauge/yardstick for efficiency evaluation of police
officers.
5. Written report to guide prosecutors and courts in the trial of criminal cases
investigated by the police.
Important uses of Technical Report Writing
1. Reports serves as record for police administration in planning, directing, and
organizing the unit’s duties.
2. Reports can be used as legal documents in the prosecution of criminals.
3. Reports are utilized by other agencies.
4. Reports can be useful to tri-media for public information purposes.
5. Reports can be utilized for research purposes.
6. Reports improve the personality of the writer.
Uses of a Report

1. Basis for Prosecution – Police officers should have complete and accurate
record of an incident of a case as it will be useful once you are called to testify in
court. You cannot rely solely on memory, especially if you will be called to testify a
year after the incident, considering the pace of our justice system. Remember that
“a faintest scrawl is better than a sharp memory.” The report you have, if complete
and accurate, will serve as your memory bank which will help you pass the
credibility test of a competent witness.

2. Statistical Information – Reports are gathered to determine crime trends and

provide statistical information on crime incidents in a particular location in
consideration of other variables such as population, income class and standard of
living. Crime Statistics becomes the basis in police operational decisions.

3. Reference for Development of operational strategies, policy changes, and

training program formulation – Reports are reliable tool in management’s
decision to institute tactical changes, update policies and enforce more stringent
rules relevant to the public safety officer’s job. They also reflect operational
strengths and weaknesses which serve as basis in preparing training programs to
learn new competencies and enhance existing skills, whether in complex
operational procedures such as hostage and negotiation skills, firefighting in high
rise structures, management of rowdy inmates or as simple as field note taking
and data gathering.

4. Sources of Media – Police reports are an important source of news stories for
media men vying to grab tomorrow’s headlines. Accidents, shooting incidents,
robbery, kidnapping, grizzly crimes, destructive fires – these are the staples of
everyday news on TV, radio, Internet, and print media. Documentation of these
incidents is the role of the responding public safety officer.
 5. Basis for Performance Evaluation – A public safety officer will be judged by your
superiors by the quality of your submitted reports. It is not all the time that your
superior will be with you as you perform your job especially if you are in the filed
or in special operation missions. It is only through your reports that your superior
will know your activities, skills, and decisions. Being able to articulate well what
you have done will contribute to a positive appraisal of your performance.
Who will read your report?

1. Officer on Patrol – A report starts from the officer patrolling or responding to an

incident. He or she normally takes down the details of the event or occurrence at
the time of his or her response to the incident. The prewriting process begins at
this point.
2. Report Writer – Normally, the responding or patrolling officer who takes down
notes on a particular incident is the same person who writes the corresponding
report of the same incident. However, this is not usually the case in the Philippines.
The patrolling or responding officer hand over the information he gathered to
another public safety officer who takes charge in writing the report. This person
takes the place of an investigator or the officer-on-case.
3. Immediate Superior – After writing the draft of the report, the Section or Division
Chief reviews it before it goes to the station’s Chief of Police for his review and
signature. In some cases, the Chief of Police, owing to hectic schedules, signs the
written report in hast without verifying or ascertaining the contents of the report.
This trust, therefore, reposed by the Chief of Police to his subordinate who writes
reports with his name and signature on it, should not be broken. As in other
organizations, a superior expects that the report submitted by his subordinates is
error-free and can pass public scrutiny.
4. Station Chief – The Chief of Police is where the buck stops. The moment a
subordinate submits his or her report to the Chief of Police or any superior for that
matter, the report belongs to the Chief of Police and no longer belons to the
subordinate who wrote it. The Chief of Police assumes all the responsibilities from
the time he or she scribbles his signature in the final report.
5. Departmental Level – Cases viewed as sensational, scandalous, and shocking to
the sensibilities of the public, are possibly submitted to Provincial Director up to
the Regional Director and to the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and
Local Government. Similarly, when incidents of national magnitude catch the
attention of the Chief Executive, your report becomes the basis for such
information required by the Office of the President.
6. Congress – When a sensational crime hooks the attention of the public and such
atrocity or outrage is judge by influential groups such as religious and business or
civic groups, a copy of the police report is summoned by oversight committees of
both houses of Congress. The police report even reaches the plenary sessions of
the Philippine Congress.
7. National Prosecution Service – In criminal cases, the prosecutor or sometimes
referred as Fiscal, evaluates the written police report submitted to him or inquest
 and preliminary investigation. Based on the report, the Prosecutor decides whether
or not there is a probable cause that engenders the filling of a criminal information
against the responded or accused. If the police report is flawed, disorganized or
does not have sufficient evidence to support allegations that would establish a
probable cause, there is little possibility that the prosecutor may elevate the case
for trial.
8. Courts of Justice – Cases filed in any court of law has a written police report
attached as a vital supporting document of the allegation submitted before the
Department of Justice and the courts for trial. The police written reports are
important documents attached to any complaint, pleading, or proceeding in any
court of competent jurisdiction.
9. Prosecution and Defense Counsels – The same police reports may also be given
to counsels for the prosecution and defense, when both the complainant and the
respondent engage the services of counsels at the time the complaint is lodged
before any judicial body.
Criteria Considered in Report Writing

One of the basic considerations of report writing is the language used. Direct-to-the-
point words are essential to good police report writing. Use of specific words also
contributes to factual police reports. Every complete sentence must have at least one
subject and one predicate. Diction refers to the manner and style of expression in words.

It is almost always necessary to use a paragraph in any narrative report. A paragraph

is simply a warning to the reader that a change in thought is about to occur, or that a new
subject to be explored. The report should be complete, easily understood, brief and
accurate.
• Clarity – The police report must be cleared, and it should be written directly and
easy to understand.
• Accuracy – The police report must conform to the established rules and syntax,
format, spelling and grammar. The data presented must be precise and the
information given must be factual.
• Brevity- The police report must be short, with simple sentences, common words
and easy to understand.
• Specificity- The police reports must be specific by using concrete examples. A
good descriptive narration gives life to the written words through particular terms
that project hues, movement, quantities and shapes.
• Completeness- The police report must be complete by using the 5W’s and 1H.
• Timeliness- The police report must be submitted on time. As much as possible
immediately after the incident has happened.
• Security – The police must be considered classified, hence, transmission, handling
and access to these reports should be limited only to police personnel who are
granted by higher authority security clearance. It is a top-secret document.
 • Impartiality – The police reports must know what the receiving office needs to
know. Important data must not be omitted or added to conceal responsibilities, to
impute liabilities or to favor parties.
Classification of Police Report
• Performance report which contains information as to the status of an activities and
operations
• Fact-finding report which involves the gathering and presentation of data in logical
order, without an attempt to draw conclusions.
• Technical report which presents data on a specialized subject.
• Problem-determining report which attempts to find the causes underlying a
problem or to find whether or not a problem really exists.
• Problem solution report which analyzes the thought process that lies behind the
solution of a particular problem.

How are Reports Categorized?

a) Operational reports – include those relating to the reporting of police incidents,
investigation, arrest, identification of persons, and a mass of miscellaneous reports
necessary to the conduct of routine police operations.
b) Internal Business reports – relate to the reporting necessary to the management
of the agency and include financial reports, personnel reports, purchase reports,
equipment reports, property maintenance reports, and general correspondence.
c) Technical Reports – present data on any specialized subject, but usually relate to
completed staff work and add to the specific knowledge necessary to proper
functioning of police management.
d) Summary Reports – furnish intelligence information necessary to the solution of
crime accident, and police administrative problems.
In concluding his classification on the types of police reports emphasized that his
book-Basic Police Report Writing, is directed and centered only on the category of
operational reports; that these reports are the raw materials from which he believes
that the whole of the reporting process can be improved.

Notebooks, Fieldnotes and Journal Entries

The notebook is one of the basic piece equipment which a number of policemen
now a days fail to appreciate and utilize. The notebook shall be playing a significant role
as all subsequent actions expected of the Police Community Precincts Commander (and
even personnel from higher headquarters) will depend on matters recorded in the
notebook which eventually will have to be reflected in the journal.
Journals shall be maintained at each Police Community Precincts. While recording
matters in the journal shall be the individual responsibility of every Beat Policeman, taking
actions and reporting matters reflected therein shall be duly of the Police Community
Precinct Commander.
Entries in both the notebook and the journal shall answer the basic question of
WHAT, WHO WHEN WHERE WHY and HOW of an incident or problem encountered by
a Beat Policeman particularly those problems to be discussed as you get along with the
problems you encountered.

Guidelines in the Preparation and Classification of Department General Orders,

Special Orders, Circulars and Memoranda
• General Orders – orders and/or directives covering organizational set-up.
Functional duties, constitution of committees, including departmental
commendations for officers, members and civilian employees, General Orders are
prepared for signature of the Superintendent
• Special Orders – dealing on assignments, transfer, temporary duty or special
training of personnel. Special Orders (SOs) are prepared for signature of the
Deputy Superintendent under the correspondent line authority.
• Numbered Memorandum – is a department wide directions or orders prescribing
guidelines, standing procedures, policies, rules and organization which are
intended for compliance/implementation on permanent or continuing basis. These
orders are prepared for signature of the Deputy Superintendent under the usual
line authority.
• Memoranda (Unnumbered) – This is another form of dissemination of directives or
orders which are intended for compliance/implementation on temporary basis or
lasting only for a short period. Memoranda are also used for dissemination by
quoting therein informative purposes. They are prepared either for signature of the
Superintendent or the Deputy Superintendent depending on the importance of the
matter.
The Technical English discipline is a subject matter of writing within the general field
of science-basic police action and crime investigation.

REFERENCES:
1. Foronda M. (2020), Technical English 1: Investigative Report Writing and
Presentation