Observation and Documentation
Perception is not recording
Observation is filtered by lighting, distance, noise, stress, expectations, and bias. Two guards can see the same event differently. Good documentation separates what you saw, what you heard, what you were told, and what you concluded-and labels the last one carefully.
Report elements
A complete report answers who, what, when, where, why, and how, in chronological order, with names, descriptions, times, actions, and disposition. Write in plain, objective language; use first person; identify the source of every fact. Include injuries, witnesses, evidence, and whether police were called. Notes and evidence must be preserved; chain of custody matters if an item is held.
Traps
Question writers flag opinions and labels: 'suspicious,' 'obviously drunk,' 'violent type,' 'he was nervous.' Replace them with observable behavior. Another trap is putting hearsay in as fact instead of 'Witness A stated...' Late reports, erased notes, and after-the-fact edits also draw criticism. If you must correct a report, write a supplemental report rather than rewriting history.
Rule of thumb
Write what a camera could have recorded. If a statement cannot be seen or heard on video, attribute it.
Example: instead of 'subject was nervous,' write 'subject's hands trembled, he looked toward the exit four times in about a minute, and his voice cracked when he gave his name.'