Report Writing

for
Security Officers
 Important Notice
This training material has been
prepared by the State Police
Private Detective Unit pursuant to
the Security Officer Registration
Act, N.J.S.A. 45:19A-1 and
N.J.A.C. 13:55A-1.1
 Objectives
• Learn how to write a professional
report
• Refresh recollection of writing basic
writing skills
• Provide management &
prosecutors with needed
information
 Purpose of a Report
• Permanently record information for
management & stockholders
• Communicate information to others
about what occurred
• Refresh officer’s recollection if
required to testify in court
 Types of Reports
• Administrative -- routine company
procedures
• Operational -- security duties
 Who Reads the Reports?
• Supervisors & management
• Company attorney
• Police & prosecutors if criminal
charges filed
• Defense attorneys
• Case of the missing pet

• Correct the report

 Field Notes
• Good reports begin with good note
taking - field notes
• Written impressions & facts
• Serves as factual foundation for
written report
 Asking Questions
• Avoid asking leading questions,
such as
Did you see the red car go
through the stop sign at 4 p.m.?
• Instead, ask:
Please tell me what you saw at 4
p.m.
 To Quote or Not To Quote
• Only put statements in quotation
marks if a direct quote by a person,
or
• Show that person said a certain
word
To Quote Or Not To Quote
• Example showing person said a
certain word:
Jerry Small said George Snail
was “pissed off.”
• Example of indirect quote:
Jerry Small said that George
Snail was upset.
 Building Blocks of Report
Writing
• Can serve as a working outline
when obtaining the facts
• Note: not all building blocks will be
relevant in every case
Identify All Relevant Parties:
Who
• Is the victim?
• Is the suspect?
• Are the witnesses?
• Made statements or gave
information?
• Were also involved in the incident
or investigation?
 Specify Events & Evidence:
What
• Occurred? Damage to property:
Theft of Property? Injury to
persons?
• Action did security officer take?
• Evidence was found at scene?
• Statements were made?
 Specify Time When Each
Event Occurred: When
• Did it happen?
• Was it discovered?
• Did security officer arrive at scene?
• Was victim last seen?
• Was subject observed at scene?
• When did victim arrive at scene?
 Identify Location of Each
Event: Where
• Did it happen?
• Was it discovered?
• Where was victim last seen?
• Was subject last seen?
• Was evidence obtained?
 Specify Methods Used in
Committing the Acts or
Offense: How
• Did incident occur?
• Was offense committed?
• Did victim get to scene?
• Did officer obtain evidence?
• Did officer detain or apprehend
subject?
 Specify Motives of Parties:
Why
• Did incident occur? Did suspect
use particular tools or weapons?
• Did suspect injure victim?
• Was a witness at scene?
• Was witness eager or hesitant to
give information?
 Before Writing Report,
Consider:
• Who am I writing for?
• What is my purpose?
• What action do I want the reader to
take?
• What is in it for the reader?
 Report Format
• What information did I receive?
• What I did with the information?
• What I did with the new
information?
• What I did regarding this matter?
 Write in Past Tense
• Problem: Peter Jones tells me he
sees a man smashing the car
window
• Solution: Peter Jones told me he
saw a man smashing the car
window
 Write In First Person
I checked the parking lot for the lost
ring
• Don’t write in third person, such as:
This officer checked the parking lot
The undersigned officer ...
 Write in Chronological
Order
• At about 3:10 p.m. on June 27, 2006, I
received a telephone call from Peter
Jones, a company employee, to go to
parking lot B to investigate a possible
break-in of a car. Jones said that he
saw that the passenger window of a
white Ford sedan in row B-2 had been
smashed and it appeared that the car’s
interior had been ransacked.
 Don’t Include Your
Questions
• Problem: I asked Mary Smith what
happened. Smith said some one
stole her purse from her desk when
she was out of the office
• Solution: Mary Smith reported that
some one stole her purse from her
desk when she was out of the office
 Exception to the Rule
• When I asked Roger Brown if he
stole Mary Smith’s purse, he smiled
and said, “No comment.”
 Basic Rules of Report
Writing
• Write in plain English
• Avoid using police jargon or
legalese
• Write in short, concise sentences
• Write in short paragraphs
 Basic Rules of Report
Writing
• Do not write using abbreviations
except for commonly recognized
abbreviations
• Describe in detail the facts; avoid
unsupported conclusions
 After the First Draft
• Print a hard copy
• Edit, edit & edit
• Focus on sentence construction
• Some common problems:
 Missing Times and Dates
On Nov., I saw ...
• When did this occur?
 Unsupported Conclusions
On Nov. 10, 2006, at 3 p.m. I saw a
man tampering with the lock of a
parked car
• How does the officer know the man
was tampering with the lock?
• Officer should describe what the
officer saw
 Avoid Legalese
”Specialized Language of the legal profession”

Sally Smart said she was

assaulted by Ralph Holder.
• Problem: “assaulted” is a legal
term. What does it mean?
• Solution: Sally Smart said she was
punched in the face by Ralph
Holder.
 Watch Those Missing
Commas
The securing officer reported that
the suspect who assaulted a
woman in the parking lot was a 6-
foot tall, white male with a beard
weighing approximate 225 pounds
• Did the man’s beard weigh 225
pounds?
 Watch for Dangling
Modifiers
The security officer called out for
the man to stop two or three times
• Did the officer call out two or three
times or did the officer tell the man
to stop two or three times?
 Eliminate Redundancies
The car was blue in color
• Redundant: blue is a color
• Instead write:
The blue car
 Exception to the Rule:
The gold colored bracelet
• To write the gold bracelet would
mean that the bracelet was made
of gold
 Watch for Pronoun
Problems
• A pronoun is a word substituted for
a noun
• A personal pronoun refers to
specific persons or things: my,
mine, your, yours, her, hers, his, its
• Plural personal pronouns: our,
ours, your, yours, their, theirs
Pronoun and Antecedent (a word

Must Agree
or phrase replaced by another)

• Problem: Everyone performs at

their level
• [Pronoun is singular; antecedent is
plural] Re-write:
• Solution: Everyone performs at his
or her level
 Use Compound Words for
Emphasis
• Problem: Myself and Security
Officer Jones were directed to stop
the suspect
• Re-Write:
Security Officer Jones and I were
directed to stop the suspect
I, myself, will stop the suspect
 The Final Edit
• Now check spelling
• Don’t rely on computer spell check
 Reports Send Two
Messages
• First message about subject of
report
• Second message about the
security officer and officer’s
professionalism or lack of it
• Before signing report, check it
again
 Report Checklist
• Is this information important?
• Is there too much detail or is more
detail needed?
• Are the sentences too vague?
• Is this information relevant?