DiscoverBlue Grit Radio: the Police Performance Podcast: Mindset, Wellness, Leadership252: The Need to Know for Police Report Writing, for Trainers, Bosses, Court and Beyond
252: The Need to Know for Police Report Writing, for Trainers, Bosses, Court and Beyond

252: The Need to Know for Police Report Writing, for Trainers, Bosses, Court and Beyond

Update: 2025-09-18
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Great trainers will recognize that every significant action police take, or don't take, gets reviewed and evaluated in the eyes of the court.  We do a lot, risk a lot, and have to write a lot of our experience, insight, evidence, and perceptions... to make sure our arrests get prosecutable, and/or our actions don't get us sued.. or worse.  

Back in the day we heard about the "red pen" where Sarges would mark up police report errors. These days, it's kicking them back for more details, more articulation.  I definitely was known for being rigid in my early sergeant days.. trying to save my officers from the defense attorney's tactics that I subjected myself to in earlier years.

In this episode, I share tips from Lt. Smith's article in Police 1 (The 7 deadly sins of report writing); and I offer some of my own takes and examples to help new recruits, officers, and ways that trainers and supervisors can help illustrate the impact of this critical skill in policing.

https://www.police1.com/police-products/police-technology/software/report-writing/articles/7-deadly-sins-of-police-report-writing-FRy5EMai7H29O1dA/

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*the opinions expressed in all episodes of this podcast and related materials do not reflect on any departments agencies.


music credit: Drive by AShamaluevMusic

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252: The Need to Know for Police Report Writing, for Trainers, Bosses, Court and Beyond

252: The Need to Know for Police Report Writing, for Trainers, Bosses, Court and Beyond

Eric Tung