Report Writing for Law Enforcement: A Hands-On Approach

While preparing a presentation on police report writing, I decided to purchase several books on the subject. This book was among them and was the least useful of those I bought. The overall length of the book was 45 pages. This alone was not a big issue, as all of the books I purchased were relatively short by design. The problem is, for reasons I am unable to detect, the first 15 pages were repeated twice. So, what I actually received for my $10 was thirty pages of material. Next, there is little of substance other than a skeletal format suggested for use by the author. There is nothing wrong with his suggested approach, but it doesn't offer much most officers wouldn't already know. Last, the author's opinion that narratives should be written in the third person is one I (and most others) do not share. I am aware some agencies require it, but it reads terribly and is generally only promoted because it makes it easier to copy and paste into affidavits and the like. I note the author is a detective, and he would likely benefit from this when he is submitting charging documents.

The material in the book follows the long/short form report writing style, which is broken into sections. This book is direct and no nonsense approach to that style. It is easy to follow and read. It gives plenty of examples and overall I enjoyed it.

The book was excellent though the beginning had a lot of repetition where the author kept attempting to hype up his book. Otherwise it was a great read and has helped me with my report writing.

Una muy buena aproximación inicial. Muy básico pero no por eso menos importante. Los ejemplos son muy acertados y reales.

This is an impressive book; it takes the principles of rhetoric and presents them in a direct, practical, and action-able fashion. Although it focuses on police reports, the ideas explained here are integral to any piece of informative writing.

As a 'rookie' police Officer, this book helped me understand some of the do's and dont's of professional police writing. Also, the book gave great examples of phrases and words that one can you use in everyday report writing.

I am a small town Police Chief, and proof read a lot of reports. This is now required reading for my officers. The improvement in their narratives is amazing, they don't get red marks on their reports, I spend less time with my Butt in the chair at my desk, the DA calls less to chew ass, we all are happy.

Not incredibly useful for my department being that it is written in 3rd person.