Incident Report and a Competency Answer
At 14:12 in the exercise yard you see prisoner B strike prisoner C once with a closed fist; C falls against a bench. You are 15 metres away with 40 prisoners in the yard and one colleague at the gate. By the time you reach them, B has walked away and C says 'nothing happened, I fell'. Two prisoners say B punched C; one says C swung first. The yard camera covers the gate but not the bench area. C has a graze to the left cheek and refuses to see the nurse. At 14:30 you hand over to the evening shift; the Governor wants a written report by 16:00.
1. Draft the factual body of the report (5–8 short lines). Separate what you saw, what you heard, and what you were told, and flag the evidential gap.
Read the worked answer
Model report body
At approximately 14:12 on [date] I was on duty in the exercise yard with 40 prisoners present and one colleague at the gate. From approximately 15 metres away I saw prisoner B strike prisoner C once with a closed fist. I saw prisoner C fall against a bench. I did not see what happened immediately before the strike.
I reached the bench area within seconds. B had walked away. C stated to me, 'nothing happened, I fell.' Two prisoners stated to me that B had punched C. One prisoner stated to me that C had swung first. I record these as accounts given to me, not as findings.
C had a graze to the left cheek. C declined to see the nurse. I informed [ACO name] at [time]. The yard camera covers the gate area but not the bench area, so there is no camera record of the strike.
Why this shape: chronology first, then direct observation, then hearsay clearly labelled, then injury and refusal of treatment, then the camera gap. The camera point is not a detail - it tells the Governor where the evidential hole is before anyone builds a case on the footage.
2. A colleague's draft contains: (a) 'B is a known bully who clearly started it'; (b) 'C was too frightened to tell the truth.' Explain the problem and rewrite each.
Read the worked answer
The problem: both sentences are conclusions dressed as facts. 'Known bully' is character evidence and unproven; 'clearly started it' is an inference from a single observed punch; 'too frightened to tell the truth' attributes a motive to C that you cannot observe and that contradicts his actual words. In a report these sentences invite challenge, can prejudice the adjudication, and can be used to discredit the whole document - including the parts that are accurate.
Rewrites:
- (a) 'I saw prisoner B strike prisoner C once with a closed fist. I did not see the moments before the strike. Prisoner D stated to me that B approached C first.'
- (b) 'C stated to me, "nothing happened, I fell." C declined to see the nurse. C made no complaint against B.'
Rule to apply: if you could not see it, hear it on the recording, or have it said to you by a named person, it does not go in the report as fact. Interpretations go in a separate note to the Governor, if at all - never inside the factual account.
3. Competency question: 'Describe a time you acted on incomplete information.' Outline the answer structure and the evidence markers assessors look for.
Read the worked answer
STAR structure, using this incident:
- Situation: 40 prisoners in the yard, one colleague, no camera coverage of the bench area, 18 minutes to handover.
- Task: make the area safe, get the injured prisoner treated, and produce a defensible account before 16:00.
- Action: attended to C first and checked for injury; separated B from the group without accusation; asked the gate colleague to hold the yard count; took brief accounts from the three prisoners separately, noting who said what; informed the ACO immediately rather than at handover; wrote the report from my notebook, marking observation, hearsay and gaps; flagged the camera limitation rather than implying full coverage.
- Result: C was assessed, no further incident occurred, the report was submitted on time, and the ACO was able to request the camera footage before it was overwritten.
Evidence markers assessors score: a specific, first-person situation (not 'we'); a clearly stated task that names the constraint; actions that show sequencing and prioritisation; one honest limitation and what you did about it; a result that is verifiable rather than self-praise; and reflection - what you would do differently, such as asking for a second officer before the yard opened. Avoid generalities ('I am good under pressure') with no example attached.