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Copyright 2011 Curriculum Technology, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Report Writing Activities for

the Criminal Justice Student

A Supplement to Curriculum Technology’s

CJ Communications in the USA

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Table of Contents

Objective vs. Subjective Writing 3

Using Active Voice in Police Reports 6

Chronological Writing in Police Reports 9

First Person Narrative and Other Pronoun Issues 13

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Objective Writing vs. Subjective Writing Key Activity Objectives

• Discern the key differences between objective and subjective writing • Understand when subjective language is acceptable • Provide an objective report for a diverse audience

Introduction Report writing must “tell a story” that complies with certain requirements that are not found in creative writing. One of the most important conditions is that the reporting officer must be “objective,” rather than “subjective,” in his reports.

Subjective writing is characterized by the author expressing opinions, feelings and, even in some cases, judgments. In objective writing, the author relates facts without imposing his own feelings or opinions into the narrative. When writing an official report, the author needs to be objective, without expressing any personal or professional opinions. Subjective writing has no basis in report writing, be it a news article or a police report, because the audience expects an unbiased account of events. Emotions affect our ability to think and make conclusions rationally. We may hold firmly to how people should be treated when they do something wrong, but when it directly affects us, our opinion of how serious the situation is, or how best to handle the situation is markedly different. Therefore, law enforcement reports in particular must communicate only the facts.

Sometimes it may be appropriate to be subjective and objective in a piece of non-­‐fiction writing. If the author is writing an editorial piece about the effects of war, he may communicate objective information by providing statistical information concerning the cost of war in terms of money and lives. To make or emphasize a point, the editorial author may be subjective in adding how war had a devastating emotional effect on him or someone he knows. However, an editorial piece is, by design, based on one person’s opinion and/or experience, and is not held to the same factual standards of a news or police report.

For the purposes of report writing, individuals in the criminal justice field are expected to provide facts while withholding emotion. This allows the reporting officer to effectively provide others with the facts so that they can take the appropriate action.

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Example: A retired detective is accused of sexual assault. The investigating officer taking the initial report “filtered” out some information or down played the significance of information provided. The actions of others, i.e., supervisors, district attorneys, and judges rely on the information provided to them in reports to help determine that the most appropriate action is taken. If the initial information is faulty, the decisions based upon that information is faulty, and justice is not served.

Sometimes an author may not realize that they are being subjective in their reports. This usually happens with the author makes conclusions based upon observed behavior or information provided. Example:

During the interview, Ms. Wilson did not maintain eye contact and was constantly moving around in her chair. When asked if she could describe the person she saw take the money from the cash register, Ms. Wilson hesitated, took a couple of seconds to respond, and said she doesn’t think she can identify the person. When asked if she had seen the person before, Ms. Wilson looked away from me and in a soft voice said, “No.” It was very obvious that Ms. Wilson did not want to be talking to me about the crime and was very uncomfortable. When Ms. Wilson was asked to describe the person she saw take the money from the cash register, Ms. Wilson was evasive and lied to me when she said she could not identify the suspect. It was also obvious that Ms. Wilson knew the suspect because of her reaction when I asked her if she had seen the person before.

When we examine the example, the author is being objective in the first part of the report. He is reporting facts about the physical actions and the subject’s responses. But in the second paragraph, the author becomes subjective by making conclusions as to what those physical actions and responses mean. In such situations, the author should describe the facts relating to the subject’s actions and verbal responses, and allow the reader to conclude what those facts mean. There are a couple of key concepts to keep in mind when trying to ensure that the report is objective.

• Avoid making conclusions or inferences • Do not address emotions, thoughts, or feelings. Stay with the facts.

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• Don’t try to convince the reader of anything. Let the reader make conclusions based upon the facts in the report.

Report writing is not the place to be creative or make an emotional plea. Only by being objective can we have the best chance of rational, fair decisions being made. Sample of an Objective Report:

I bought a puppy yesterday. He is a purebred American Eskimo. He is only seven weeks old and has very white fluffy hair. When we first brought him home, he spent the first couple of hours lying in one of the corners of the kitchen. After that, he jumped on the couch and lied next to my wife and fell asleep.

Sample of a Subjective Report: I bought a puppy yesterday. When we went to look at the litter, the one I picked out had a fantastic personality. He ran up to me and acted as if we were long lost friends. When I got him home, he was a little afraid and spent the first couple of hours shivering in one of the corners of the kitchen. It was obvious that he was afraid and uncertain of his new surroundings. I had no doubt that he would become comfortable in a short period of time. Sure enough, a couple of hours later he jumped up on the couch and lied next to my wife. He was so content he fell asleep on her lap. He is going to be a fantastic dog.

Activity

Go to “YouTube” and type in “Job Interviews.” Click on the link for “Two Sample Interviews.” Review one of the interviews and write two summaries of the interview you watched. One report should be objective and the other should be subjective. Remember, in the subjective report, you are free to use emotions, conclusions, and opinions, while the objective report contains facts. In class, be prepared to discuss which of the two styles was easier to write and what made the other style harder. Present what you did in the objective report to lead the reader to a specific conclusion or if you simply reported the facts.

Discussion Questions

1. What are some consequences that may result from a subjective report? 2. What are some situations, if any, in which the author can make conclusions in an

objective report? (Example: Expert witness) How is this different from being subjective?

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3. Are there any situations in which a subjective report is appropriate to be used in an investigation, administrative case, private investigation’s report, or a probation report?

Using Active Voice in Police Reports

Key Lesson Objectives:

• Understand the importance of clear, concise writing • Develop basic report writing skills • Demonstrate the ability to write incident reports using active voice

Introduction Police officers and security personnel write reports for many types of events, from non-­‐ emergencies to violent crimes such as homicides. Whenever an officer is dispatched to a scene, a clear, concise, accurate incident report must be completed and filed, because the report may be used as evidence in the future. If used as evidence, lawyers, judges and juries will review the officer’s writing as part of a case. Therefore, the report must be immediately accessible and easy for civilians to understand. Many CJ students are uncomfortable with writing; after all, they are looking for a career in criminal justice or security, not journalism or publishing. Frequently, these students write long, expressive sentences with a high word count because they think it makes them look “smarter.” This is usually not the case; in fact, longer sentences that mix verb tenses and use unnecessary vocabulary are simply harder to follow and make the writer’s point vague and awkward. This is especially true in police reports. No matter what type of incident is reported, whether criminal or civil, it is essential that report writers use active voice. The use of active voice helps to make a report clear and concise, which is beneficial in the long run.

Reports that use proper, active verb tenses and that clearly describe subjects and actions lead to less confusion during the investigations process and ultimately at trial. Use of active verbs is called using “active voice.” Once you get into the habit of using active voice in your writing, it will become second nature to use it in your reports.

As writers, when we use active voice, we make the subject (in the case of police reports, a person) the main actor in the situation. This means we make the subject the focus of the sentence. In short, active voice tells you “who” did “what.” In a police report, this subject (“who”) may be the officer, suspect, victim or witness. The verb (“what”) is often, but not always, in the present tense, and indicates some form of action or movement. For instance, the following sentences use active voice. The subject is underlined, and the action is italicized.

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• “The witness saw the accident.” • “The victim answered all our questions.” • “Mr. Jones drove the car that night.” • “I spoke with the witnesses and took their contact information.”

Passive voice can make a sentence longer, but that does not necessarily make the sentence better. In fact, passive voice makes a sentence weaker, because the subject is acted upon, putting more importance on the act than the person. In fact, in some cases, the subject of the sentence is not even revealed, as in “Two kids were seen spray painting the wall of the city library.”

An easy way to recognize use of passive voice is to look at the content of the sentence itself. Instead of using verbs that denote some sort of action, passive voice usually use some form of “to be,” such as “are,” “is” “was” or “were.” Compare the following statements, as written in passive voice, to the ones written above. Again, the subject is underlined, and the action is italicized.

• “It was stated by the witness that she saw the accident.” • “Questions were answered by the conscious victim.” • “The car was driven by Mr. Jones that night.” • “The witnesses were spoken to and their contact information was taken by

me.”

Sometimes the passive voice is unavoidable; for instance, you may take a quote from a witness who is speaking in passive voice, and you must directly relate what she said without changing her words. However, use the active voice whenever it is within your control. When compiling your incident report, remember that less is more. Try to analyze your writing for situations where the active voice is more appropriate for your purposes than the passive voice.

Sentences using active and passive voice are listed below.

Examples of Active Voice Examples of Passive Voice “I interviewed Mr. Smith” “Mr. Jones was interviewed by me.” “Laura obtains statements quite easily.” “Statements are obtained quite easily by

Laura.” “He cooperated fully with our investigation.”

“He was cooperative with our investigation.”

“The suspect denies any wrongdoing.” “Wrongdoing is denied by the suspect.” “The officers canvassed the neighboring houses for information.”

“The neighboring houses were canvassed by officers seeking information.”

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