The Missing Radio Check
Officer Reyes begins a foot post at 2200 hours on a commercial block with four storefronts, a bank, and a parking garage entrance. Department policy requires a radio check every 30 minutes and a full status log entry at the top of each hour. Reyes checks in at 2200, 2233, and 2302. At 2315 a store owner reports a broken window at the bank's ATM vestibule. Reyes responds, calls it in at 2318, and requests a supervisor. The supervisor arrives at 2340 and asks for Reyes's timeline. The log shows: 2200 check-in, 2233 check-in, 2302 check-in, 2318 call for service, 2340 supervisor arrival. Reyes states the 2300 check-in was made but not logged because the radio was briefly on the wrong channel.
1. Using the Information Ordering domain, reconstruct the correct chronological sequence of documented events and identify which intervals violate the 30-minute check-in rule.
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Documented order: 2200 check-in → 2233 check-in → 2302 check-in → 2318 call for service → 2340 supervisor arrival.
Interval analysis:
- 2200→2233 = 33 minutes (exceeds 30).
- 2233→2302 = 29 minutes (within rule).
- 2302→2318 = 16 minutes (within rule).
The 2200→2233 gap violates the rule regardless of the later explanation. The claimed 2300 check-in is not documented, so it cannot be used to shorten the gap; the documented gap from 2233 to 2302 is still 29 minutes, which is compliant. The key point is that an undocumented claim does not retroactively fix the 33-minute gap between the first two documented checks.
2. Reyes's explanation is that the radio was on the wrong channel at 2300. Does that explanation resolve the compliance issue? Explain your reasoning.
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No. Two separate issues exist. First, the 2200→2233 gap of 33 minutes is a documented violation that the 2300 claim does not address at all. Second, even if a 2300 check-in had occurred, it is not logged, so the record still shows a 33-minute gap before it. A wrong-channel explanation might excuse a missed transmission, but it does not create a log entry and does not explain the earlier 33-minute gap. The supervisor should treat the log as the authoritative record and note the discrepancy between the claimed and documented check-ins.