Report Writing and Documentation
Write it once, write it right
Reports are the product. Write in the first person, past tense, chronologically, with a case number, report date, author, and page numbers on each page. State facts, not conclusions: "the subject walked with a limp favoring the right leg" beats "the subject appeared injured"; "I observed no vehicle at the address between 0800 and 1200" beats "nothing happened."
Include the negative observations, because they establish continuous coverage, and include the limits of your observation ("view partially obstructed by a hedge; subject's face not visible"). Quote speech verbatim inside quotation marks; paraphrase outside them and label it as paraphrase. Use 24-hour time or clearly labeled AM/PM, and never mix conventions in one report. Attach photographs and logs as exhibits referenced by item number.
Field notes are the source document. Keep them, date them, and never destroy them - a report that cannot be tied to notes invites a credibility attack. Correct errors with a single line through the entry plus date, time, and initials. No whiteout, no re-typed "clean" version, and no editing a report after submission.
Traps: opinion words ("suspicious," "nervous," "obviously"), conclusions of law ("the subject committed fraud"), passive voice that hides who saw what, and reports written days later from memory.
Rule of thumb: a report should let a reader who was never there reconstruct exactly what you did, when you did it, and what you could and could not see.