the 10 best tips for better police reports
DESCRIPTION
These tips will help you avoid common errors in your police reports - and make your writing more professional and efficient.TRANSCRIPT
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The 10 Best Tips for Better Police
Reports
by Jean Reynolds, Ph.D.
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Writing plays a major role in your law-enforcement career.
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Here are 10 writing tips that many officers have found useful.
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1. Today’s technology can help you avoid many writing problems.
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Use your computer’s spelling and grammar features to check everything you write.
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If your laptop software doesn’t check grammar and spelling, write your reports in Word, and paste them into your laptop.
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2. Start most sentences with a person, place, or thing. Simple, consistent sentences help you avoid usage errors and syntax problems.
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Avoid empty “fillers” like “upon hearing this” or “in response to my question….”
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Compare these sentence pairs:
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3. For clarity and efficiency, use plain English words. Avoid jargon and outdated language.
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Compare the sentences below. Simpler is better!
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4. Know how to identify and fix the most common usage errors.
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5. Keep a small notebook handy to take notes in an emergency.
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Save a few pages in the back for place names and words that you find difficult to spell.
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6. Use apostrophes for contractions (can’t, don’t) and possessives (Mary’s car).
Notice the apostrophe: a woman’s problem
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Apostrophes DO NOT mean “more than one.”
These are keys: No apostrophe.
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7. Use active voice. Passive voice can lead to sentence errors: “When Fowler was question about the missing money, he refused to say anything.”
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Passive voice doesn’t tell who did what (“Fowler was arrested” – which officer made the arrest? That might be important in court in six months.)
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8. Most sentences require only three comma rules.
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9. A semicolon is like a period. (Semicolons are always optional.) Lower-case the next letter after a semicolon unless it’s “I” or a name.
I questioned Parker; my partner called for a backup.
Fido started barking; Joe ran to the window.
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I asked her to attend the meeting.I asked Clayton and her to attend the
meeting.
Carter told me about the new laptops.Carter told Sheldon and me about the
new laptops.
I don’t have to work this Sunday.Gephardt and I don’t have to work this
Sunday.
10. Shorten a sentence to choose the correct pronoun. This trick works 100% of the time!
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You can learn more report-writing tips at www.YourPoliceWrite.com.
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All the resources there are FREE: www.YourPoliceWrite.com.
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Criminal Justice Report Writing is available at www.Amazon.com for $17.95. View a free sample online.
“A valuable reference” – Mark Gallo, Oakland County Sheriff’s Office (retired)
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An e-book edition is available from www.Smashwords.com for $11.99.
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A free Instructor’s Manual is available to instructors and administrators.
Send an e-mail to jreynoldswrite at aol.com.