Written Communication and Report Writing
This domain tests whether you can write clear, concise, objective and accurate reports. It assesses structure, grammar, tone, chronology and the ability to separate observation from opinion. Police reports must be readable by colleagues, supervisors and courts, so ambiguity and emotive language are costly.
Core rules
- Use plain English and short sentences.
- Record time, place, people, action and outcome.
- Write in the past tense for events already observed.
- Identify people by role or full name consistently.
- State what you saw or heard; label inference as inference.
- Avoid jargon, unexplained abbreviations, hearsay and emotive terms.
Worked example
Original note: 'Lad acting dodgy near cars so I nicked him.' Revised: 'At 14:05 on 3 May, I observed a male, approximately 20 years old, repeatedly looking into parked vehicles. I approached and spoke to him; his account was inconsistent with the information I had received.' Reasoning: The revision gives time, place, observable behaviour and a factual account of the interaction. It removes 'lad', 'dodgy' and 'nicked', which are vague, judgemental or informal. It does not invent a legal power or an outcome that is not in the note.
Traps
Writing opinion as fact; using 'obviously' or 'clearly' without evidence; omitting times; changing names or roles mid-report; using passive voice so the actor disappears; copying informal notebook slang into a formal report.