The Missing Laceration in a Use-of-Force Narrative
You are a field training officer reviewing the use-of-force narrative your trainee, Officer Reyes, prepared after a 2130 disturbance call at 44 Haskell Street. The narrative states the subject "pulled away and was guided to the ground" before being handcuffed. You were present. Your body-worn camera shows the subject, already handcuffed and seated, striking his head against the cruiser's door frame as Reyes guided him into the back seat. The medical log at 2205 records a 2-cm laceration above the subject's left eye and the subject's refusal of EMS. The narrative mentions none of this: not the laceration, not the door frame, not the EMS refusal. Reyes says the injury "isn't a big deal" and that adding it will "make it look bad." Shift ends in 45 minutes, the sergeant is tied up on another call for at least 30 minutes, and the report is due at end of shift.
1. What do you do, in order, before end of shift?
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- Do not edit his narrative. The narrative is his statement under his signature. Changing it yourself converts a documentation error into a falsification issue for both of you.
- Tell him directly, once, what is missing - the door-frame contact, the laceration, the 2205 medical entry, and the EMS refusal - and that it must be in his narrative because it is a use of force with a documented injury. Frame it as accuracy, not optics: an injury that surfaces later in a complaint or a civil claim with no report entry is what "looks bad."
- Preserve the evidence now. Flag and tag the body-worn camera footage to the incident number, and attach or reference the medical log entry. Do this before end of shift regardless of what he writes.
- Notify the sergeant before the shift ends - by phone or radio if needed. The sergeant's availability does not extend your deadline; a message left at 2150 is not notice.
- Write your own supplemental report before leaving, so a complete account exists in the file even if his narrative is never corrected.
2. What belongs in your supplemental report, and what does not?
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Belongs:
- Your identity and role (FTO, present for the entire encounter).
- What you personally saw and heard, in first person and past tense, with times: the handcuffed subject's head contacting the door frame at approximately 2135, the laceration observed above the left eye, the medical evaluation at 2205, the EMS refusal.
- The objective facts of his narrative review: that his draft did not include the injury, that you raised it with him at a stated time, and what he said in response - quoted, not characterized.
- Evidence references: BWC tag numbers, medical log entry, names of anyone else present.
Does not belong:
- Conclusions about whether the force was justified, reasonable, or a policy violation. That is the supervisor's and the review board's determination.
- Statements about Reyes's character, motives, or attitude.
- Anyone else's account restated as if you observed it.
- Recommendations about discipline.
Keep the distinction clean: your report is a factual record of what you saw and did, not an evaluation of your trainee.
3. Reyes refuses to add the injury and submits the narrative as written. What are your obligations, and what must you avoid doing?
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Obligations:
- Escalate immediately, not at end of shift if that means the report is filed first - contact the sergeant or the watch commander directly.
- Ensure the file is complete: your supplemental report goes in regardless; the BWC footage is tagged and preserved; the medical log is referenced.
- Do not sign as a reviewing or approving officer on a narrative you know to be incomplete. If a signature block requires your attestation, decline in writing and state why.
- Preserve your own record - a contemporaneous memo of the conversation, with times and exact words, written before you go home.
Must avoid:
- Altering, adding to, or rewriting his statement.
- Signing off to keep the peace or to protect him.
- Coaching him toward a version of events he did not experience.
- Discussing it with other officers on the shift, which both contaminates their statements and exposes you to a retaliation or rumor complaint.
The short version: your duty runs to the accuracy of the record, not to your trainee's comfort and not to the end of your shift.