Report Writing and Case Preparation
What this domain tests
Whether your report and affidavit can survive cross-examination and support a conviction without you present.
Core rules
- Answer who, what, when, where, how, and why. Write chronologically in first person, past tense, active voice.
- Separate observation from conclusion. Instead of disorderly conduct, describe the conduct: shouting, obscenities, the crowd that formed, the refusal to stop.
- Record exact words in quotation marks when they matter, and note who said them to whom.
- The affidavit of probable cause states facts, not conclusions, and must give the magistrate enough to find probable cause on its face.
- Correct errors with a dated supplemental, never by alteration of the original.
- Document chain of custody, evidence numbers, photographs, and medical aid in the narrative.
- Prepare for testimony: reread the report before the hearing, bring nothing you did not review, and answer only the question asked.
Worked example
Original line: The subject was disorderly and combative. Revision: The subject stood in the roadway at 12th and Main, yelled you cannot touch me at passing cars, and pulled his arm away when I took his wrist, twisting free twice. The revision supports the elements and gives the defense nothing to impeach with adjectives.
Traps
- Writing opinions instead of observations.
- Omitting the facts that justified reasonable suspicion or probable cause.
- Altering a report after submission instead of writing a supplement.
- Copying another officer's narrative verbatim.
- Failing to document exculpatory statements; Brady obligations run through you.