Common Mistakes in

Police Reports

by Jean Reynolds, Ph.D.

Here are 10 common
mistakes that turn up
in police reports.
1. Placing periods
and commas
outside quotation
marks. They
should go inside.
2. Using jargon
instead of normal
English words.
You dont use words
like ascertained and
abovementioned
when youre
talking, right?
So why would you
put them into your
reports?
If someone tells
you something,
dont write that
she advised
you.
If youre dispatched to a house for a
call, dont write that you went to a
residence.
3. Writing in
passive voice.
Whats wrong with passive voice?
It omits essential information: Who did
what.
This sentence doesnt tell who
handcuffed the suspect and drove him
to jail.
A defense attorney
might ask for that
information in court.
Active voice clearly states who did
what.
4. Misusing capital letters.
If youre writing directions, lower-case
north, south, east, and west.
The West is a
region in the US. If
you mean the
direction west, use
lower-case.
Family words (like
mother, father,
sister, brother) are
usually lower-case.
Use a capital letter
only when youre
naming a person:
Sister Mary
Alice.
5. Misspelling common words.
Use a dictionary or
spellchecker to make
sure every word is
correct.
Many officers make
mistakes with these
common words. Are
you careful to get
them right?
6. Omitting the results
of an investigation.
If you write I looked for latent
fingerprints, be sure to record
whether or not you found any.

If you write, I looked for the point

of entry, be sure to note whether
or not you found it.
7. Ending a sentence with a comma
instead of a period.
Its embarrassing to
have someone come
after you and fill in
details that you forgot
to include in your
report!
8. Writing unnecessary
words.
 Unnecessary words
waste time.
They make reports
harder to write.
They make your
writing sound
outdated and
unprofessional.
9. Writing vague
generalizations instead
of facts.
Monica was
uncooperative is a
generalization.

Better:
Monica was silent
when I tried to
interview her. She did
not respond to my
questions.
Describe
exactly what
you saw.
10. Making assumptions.
Its okay to
describe clothing,
words, and
behavior.
But dont pretend
you know what
was going on in a
persons mind.
Beware of statements
like these:
I could tell that he
was looking for
trouble.
In the same way, dont assume that an
older person is frail, confused, or
forgetful.