TECHNICAL ENGLISH 2

Basics of
Investigative
Reporting
 WHAT IS CRIME?

► Crime is an ACT OR OMISSION punishable by law.

Understanding Crime
Understanding the Elements of Crime

“For any crime to happen, there are three (3) elements or ingredients
that must be present at the same time and place. These are MOTIVES,
the INSTRUMENTALITIES and the OPPORTUNITIES.

1. The MOTIVES are the reasons or causes why a person or group

of persons perpetuate to a crime. Examples are disputes, economic
gain, jealousy, revenge, insanity, and thrill. Intoxication, drug
addiction and may others.
 Understanding Crime
Understanding the Elements of Crime

2. The INSTRUMENTALITIES are the means or instruments used in the

commission of the crime. It could be firearm, a bolo, a fan knife, an icepick, poison
or obnoxious substance, a crow bar, a battery-operated hand drill for carnapping,
motor vehicle, etc. Both the motives and instrumentalities belong to and are
harbored and wielded respectively by the criminal.
3. The OPPORTUNITIES consist of the acts of omission and/or commission by a
victim which enable another person or group of criminals to perpetrate the crime.
Illustrative examples include leaving one’s home or car unattended for a long time,
walking all alone in a well-known crime prone alley, wearing expensive jewelries in
slum area, readily admitting a stranger into one’s residence and the like.
Opportunity is synonymous with carelessness, acts of indiscretion and lack of crime
prevention on the part of the victim.
 Understanding Crime
Understanding the Elements of Crime

► Whether the crime incident would happen or not, it will depend on the presence
and merging of MOTIVES, INSTRUMENTALITES, and OPPORTUNITIES
at the same time and the same place. The absence of any one ingredient, out of
the three, will mean that there shall be no crime. The most that could happen is
an accident arising out of reckless imprudence; since there are no motive. A
freak crime incident shall occur when all the three elements are present and
merged at the same time and the same place; but the victim is not the intended
one, due to mistaken identity. A Theory of Crime Problems
CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

► It is a collection and analysis of facts/truth about persons, things,

places, subject of a crime to Identify the guilty party, locate the
whereabouts of the guilty party, and provide admissible evidences
to establish the guilt of parties involved in a crime.
GOALS OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

The criminal investigator must not forget and bear in mind the
goals of why he/she is investigating, namely:

a. To determine if crime has been committed;

b. To legally obtain information and evidences to identify persons
responsible;
c. To arrest suspects;
d. To recover stolen property, and
e. To complete presentation of case to appropriate authority
Cardinal Points in Investigation
5Ws and 1H

► WHAT offense has been committed?

► WHERE was the offense committed?
► WHO committed the offense?
► WHEN was the offense committed?
► WHY was the offense committed?
► HOW was the offense committed?
 WHAT ARE THE TOOLS OF AN
INVESTIGATOR IN GATHERING FACTS?

1. INFORMATION- data gathered from other persons, the victim

and from other records such as public records, private records.
Modus operandi file.
2. INTERROGATION- skillful questioning of witnesses and
suspects.
3. INSTRUMENTATION- scientific examination of real evidence,
application of instruments and methods of the physical sciences in
detecting crime such as microscope, dactyloscopy, ballistics,
photography, polygraphy and others.
What is Police Report ?

► Any written matter prepared by the Police involving their action

with the community. An exact (chronological or step-by-step)
narration of facts discovered during the course of crime
investigation which serves as a permanent written record for future
reference.
PURPOSES OF POLICE REPORTS

1. To serve as the raw materials from which record system are made.
2. 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. To guide police administrators for policy formulation and decision making.
4. To serve as a gauge/yardstick for efficiency evaluation of police officers.
5. To guide prosecutors and courts in the trial of criminal cases investigated
by the police.
 CRITERIAS TO BE CONSIDERED IN
REPORT WRITING
1. Clarity-The police report must be clear and it should be written directly and
easy to understand.
2. Accuracy-The police report must conform with the established rules of syntax,
format, spelling and grammar. The data presented must be precise and the
information given must be factual.
3. Brevity- The police report must be short, with simple sentences, common words
and easy to understand.
4. Specificity- The police report must be specific by using concrete examples: A
good descriptive narration gives life to the written words through particular
terms that project hues, movements, quantities and shape.
 CRITERIAS TO BE CONSIDERED IN
REPORT WRITING
5. Completeness- The police report must be complete by using the 5W’s and 1H.
6. Timeliness- The police report must be submitted on time. As much as possible
immediately after the incident has happened.
7. Security- the report 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
documents.
8. Impartiality- report 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.
 TWO TYPES OF POLICE REPORT

1. Informal report- usually is a letter or memorandum or any one of many prescribed

or used in day-by-day police operations. It customarily carries three items besides
the text proper; date submitted, subject, and persons or person to whom submitted. It
may, however, contain many items of administrative importance along with the
subject matter of the text. Actually, most police reports may be placed in this
category.
2. Formal report- suggests a full-dress treatment, including cover, title page, letter of
transmittal, summary sheet, text, appendixes, and perhaps an index and
bibliography.
HOW ARE THE POLICE REPORTS
CLASSIFIED?

1. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
Deals with the routine functioning of the department or agency. Such
reports may cover proper uniform, reporting procedures, and grievances.
2. 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.
Operational Reports are written in narrative form and are important
documents in the administration of justice as they are used in the
prosecution of cases before the court of justice.
 OPERATIONAL REPORTS

1. Patrol report
2. Arrest report
3. Preliminary investigation report
4. Supplementary Progress reports/ Follow-up reports
TYPES OF REPORT TO BE PREPARED

► Initial or Preliminary Report – This is done as soon as complaint is

received. Reporting process begins when officer completes
preliminary investigation report referred to as case report. o Case
Report – Refers to the initial detailed listing of the facts of the case.
 THE PRELIMINARY REPORT CONTAINS THE
FOLLOWING:

• The offense/crime committed

• Current date/time
• Date and time when the crimes were committed
• Identification date pertaining to victim or other reporting party
• Location of offense
• Method of operation
• Identification data pertaining to suspect(s)
• Identification of officer(s)
TYPES OF REPORT TO BE PREPARED

► PROGRESS REPORT – This describes the progress of the

investigation from time to time and ensures constant follow up. It
contains: identification of evidences noted, accurate and pertinent
other facts
TYPES OF REPORT TO BE PREPARED

► FINAL INVESTIGATION REPORT – It is a report rendered when

the case is completed, that is complainant(s), witnesses, sufficiency
of evidence and perpetrators are identified so as to warrant filing of
case and/or termination of investigation due to circumstances listed;
This shows the complete, more detailed report, which contains
sufficient evidence noted, identity of perpetrators, which warrant
the filing of the case to court
Police Blotter

► The Police Blotter is a record of daily events occurring within the

territories and jurisdictions of a given police unit or command. It
contains material details concerning the event for legal and
statistical purposes. The front cover of the blotter shall contain the
name or designation of the police force and particular police district
or station, together with the designation of the specific police unit
or sub-station, the volume or book number, the series number and
the period covered.
Police Blotter

► Police Blotter contains information used for statistical data on

crime incidents or to identify problems in the community.
Moreover, reports contained in the blotter logbook are used to
launch investigations, file appropriate cases, and/or used of
evidence in court or judicial proceedings. Shown below is an
example of police blotter excerpt.
 Police Blotter

Contents - The entry in the police blotter answers the 5Ws and 1H questions: who – what - why –
where – when – how. In answering the 5W’s and 1H questions, and the case disposition, all details
about the event must be included such as:

a. name of the suspect g. significant circumstances that aggravate

or mitigate the event
b. name/s of the victim
h. identity of the officer
c. eyewitnesses, if any
i. to whom the case was assigned
d. nature of the action or offense
j. officer-on-the case
e. possible motive
k. status of the case
f. place, date and the time of
occurrence
 Incidents or transactions for police blotter

a. Violation of laws and ordinances reported and g. All personal injuries, bodies found, and suicides;
recorded;
h. Damage to property;
b. All calls in which any member of the PNP is
dispatched or takes official action; i. All cases in which a police member is involved;
c. All fire alarms, report and information received by j. All arrests and returns made; and
the stations;
k. Miscellaneous cases, general and special orders,
d. Movements of prisoners with corresponding violations of rules and regulations,
notations on the authority for such movements; l. Any other reportable incident that the substation,
e. Cases of missing and found persons, animals and station commander, or higher authority desires to
property; be recorded.
f. Vehicular and other types of accidents which
require police action;
SAMPLE OF POLICE BLOTTER