Report Writing and Incident Documentation
Report writing and incident documentation tests whether your notes and reports would survive scrutiny in a courtroom or disciplinary hearing.
The standard
A report is a factual record. Write in the first person, past tense, in time order, covering 5W1H: who, what, when, where, why, how. Use 24-hour times, exact names and NIC or vehicle numbers, and put spoken words in quotation marks.
Rules
- Facts, not opinions: write "smelt of alcohol, slurred speech, unsteady on feet", not "was drunk".
- No blanks: draw a line through unused space.
- Corrections: one line through the error, then initial and date; never overwrite or tear out a page.
- Timing: record in your notebook at the time or as soon as possible.
- Include your own actions: who you informed and what you did not do.
- Confidentiality: personal data stays with authorised people.
Worked example
A laptop is missing from an office. Reasoning: a defensible entry reads - "At 14:05 on 12 March 2024 Ms N. Perera of office 3B reported her laptop missing from her desk. I attended at 14:07. The window catch was broken; I did not touch it. I informed the duty manager at 14:10 and police attended at 14:40." That gives time, source, observation, action.
Traps that cost marks
- Conclusions such as "he obviously stole it".
- Vague times like "around lunchtime".
- Writing the whole report at the end of shift from memory alone.
- Leaving out what you did or failed to do.