ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
FOREWORD (by Margery S. Bronster)
FOREWORD (by Roger Fulton)
INTRODUCTION
Section One-The Nature of Report Writing
Chapter 1: The Why and How of Report Writing
Why Do You Write Reports?
Law Enforcement Reports
Security Reports
Corrections Reports
Probation and Parole Officers Reports
How Do You Write Reports?
Writing the Log
Do Not Copy Randomly Chosen Models
How Do You Get Started?
What Kind of Notebook Should You Use?
How Much Should You Record in a Notebook?
Investigate, Don't Just Record
Don't Use Legalese or Old-Fashioned Terminology
Should You Use Abbreviations?
Add Sketches, Photographs, and Diagrams
Evidence for Law Enforcement
Evidence Collected for Security
Evidence Collected for Probation and Parole
Need for Documentation
What Should be Documented?
The ABCs of Report Writing (Whatever Your Field)
Summary
Chapter 1-TEST
Chapter 2: Starting to Write
Planning Your Writing
Completing the Face Page
Review Your Notes
Make a "Shopping List"
Place Information in Groups
Label the Groups
Place Groups in Order
Writing the Report
Subheadings
Proofreading and Revisions
Sample Writing Exercise Using the Shopping List Method
Creating a Shopping List from Notes
Grouping the Shopping List
Labeling the Shopping List
Placing the Labeled Shopping List in Order
Final Report
Basic Recommendations for Writing Reports
Spelling, Jargon, and Abbreviation
Verb Tense
Active versus Passive Voice
Pronoun Agreement
Third Person versus First Person
Gender-Neutral Language
Superfluous Words or Legalese
Accurate and Factual Reporting
Conciseness
Promptness
Summary
Chapter 2-TEST
Chapter 3: The Face Page
UCR Crime Definitions
Methods of Gathering Information
Correct Abbreviation and Capitalization
Dealing with Names
Writing a Good Synopsis
Keeping Up with Trends
Summary
Chapter 3-TEST
Chapter 4: The Narrative-The Continuation Page and Follow-Up Report
Continuation Page, Follow-Up Report, and Supplementary Report or Material
What is Your Purpose?
Who are Your Readers?
Chronological Organization
Using Military Time
Headings and Subheadings as a Way of Organizing
Creating Visual Impact and Ease of Reading
Avoiding Repetition and Meaningless Material
Getting Rid of Stereotyped Fillers
Summary
Chapter 4-TEST
Chapter 5: Habits that Make for Speedy Writing
Writing About People
Yourself and Fellow Employees
Describing Other People
Writing About Property
Writing About Places
Specific Parts of a Location
Describing MOs and Trademarks
Definitions of MO and Trademark
Avoid Being Called on Your Time Off
Summary
Chapter 5-TEST
Chapter 6: Other Types of Writing
Learning from the Short Memo
Writing a Letter
Faxing and Other Technological Advances
Recording Minutes of a Meeting
The Presentence Investigation Report (PSIR)
Research and Other Reports
Summary
Chapter 6-TEST
Chapter 7: Reading and Correcting Reports
Common Problem Areas
Use of Word Processors
Improving the Agency by Helping the Individual
Summary
Chapter 7-TEST
Section Two-The Mechanics of Report Writing
Chapter 8: Simplified Study of Grammar
Identifying Parts of Speech
Using One Word in Several Ways
Using Verbs in the Past Tense
The Sentence
Direct Objects versus Indirect Objects: Learning the Patterns
Identifying Active and Passive Verbs
Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses
Recognizing Prepositional, Participial, and Infinitive Phrases
Using Phrases as Adverbs, Adjectives, and Nouns
Using Prepositions in Your Report
Summary
Chapter 8-TEST
Chapter 9: Avoiding Errors in Sentence Structure
The Run-On Sentence-Source of Many Errors
Block Method of Visualizing Sentence Structure
Punctuation Problems
Subject-Verb Agreement
Noun-Pronoun Agreement
Dangling Participles
Sentence Fragments
Summary
Chapter 9-TEST
Chapter 10: Making Punctuation Work
The Comma
The Semicolon
The Colon
The Apostrophe
The Ellipsis
Parentheses
Quotation Marks
The Dash
Underlines
Summary
Chapter 10-TEST
Chapter 11: Breaking the Spelling Jinx
Take Special Care with Names
Learn Words Commonly Used in Report Writing
Study Common Problem Areas
Clearing Up the "-ing" Confusion
Learning Words with Tricky Letter Combinations
Forming Plurals
Dealing with Other Complexities of the English Language
Strengthen Your Overall Writing Ability
Developing Proofreading Techniques
Summary
Chapter 11-TEST
Chapter 12: Using or Abusing Words
Biases
Slang and Dialects
Don't Use Legalese
Avoid Using Words or Phrases That Draw Conclusions
Improve Your Vocabulary
Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homonyms
Jargon
Avoiding Sexism
Avoiding Racism
Considering Ageism
Semantics
Nonverbal Communication
Developing Your Vocabulary
Summary
Chapter 12-TEST
Chapter 13: Abbreviating and Capitalizing
Abbreviating to Save Time and Space
Numbers and Codes Used for Abbreviation
Clarify Abbreviations
Abbreviations of Latin Terms
Changing Rules
Be Consistent
Postal Abbreviations for States and Territories
Capitalization
Don't Over-Capitalize
General Rules for Capitalization
Capitalizing and Indenting for Brevity and Impact
Summary
Chapter 13-TEST
Section Three- The Modernization of Report Writing
Chapter 14: Innovations and Predictions in Criminal Justice
Identifying Criminals
Identifying Trends
Improving Ways of Sharing Information
Innovations
Translated Forms
Automation of Report Writing
Dictation of Reports
Computer-Aided Dispatching Systems and Records Management Systems
Facsimile Machines, E-Mail, and the Internet
Word Processing
The Crime Lab
Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)
Use of Computers and Television
Looking Toward the Future
Appendix A: Model Reports
Appendix B: Examples of Agency Instructions for Completing Report Forms
Appendix C: Selected Readings
Index
Permissions
About the Authors
