 |  Criminal Investigation, 8/e Charles R. Swanson,
University of Georgia
Neil C. Chamelin,
Assistant State Attorney, Second Judicial Circuit
Leonard Territo,
University of South Florida- Tampa
Field Notes and Investigative Reporting
Chapter OutlineI. FIELD NOTES A. The Importance of Field Notes (See Slide 5-2) Field notes are the shorthand written record made by police officers from the
time they arrive at the scene until the assignment is completed. The following
factors form the importance of field notes. 1. Field Notes are More Reliable Than an Officer’s Memory It only takes a short period of time for some important details to slide away
from your memory and the only way to combat this potential loss of information
is to rely on field notes which you previously prepared. 2. Field Notes are the Primary Information Source for the Incident/Offense
Report Because the first-responding officer is usually the person who writes any incident
report which is required by the situation, field notes are important because
they represent the information which forms the content of the incident report. 3. Detailed Field Notes May Reduce the Need to Re-contact the Parties Involved Once in a while, victims and witnesses get annoyed and even angry when they
are re-contacted by an officer who obviously did not take good field notes when
he/she talked to them earlier and therefore cannot complete the incident report
without additional information. 4. Field Notes Can be Used to Defend the Integrity of the Incident/Offense
Report During courtroom testimony you may refer to field notes to refresh you recollection
of the events. B. Guidelines for the Note Taking Process It is important to state the guidelines for the note taking process. 1. Equipment. Officers typically use loose leaf and spiral-bound smaller notebooks and by
experience learn which sizes and types best suit the way they work. Most officers
use a ballpoint pen to make their notes. 2. Basic and primary questions (see Slide 5-3 and 5-4). a) In terms of the incident report, the basic questions which the first-responding
officer to a crime scene needs to find answers for are the blank spaces on the
face of an incident report. Typically this includes information about who the
victims and witnesses are and how to contact them, the specifics associated
with the crime, and descriptions of the suspect. b) There are also numerous other questions which must be asked called primary
questions. These include: what, when where, who, how, and why. Although no single
set of questions can meet the needs for investigating all types of crime, there
are six primary questions which have long be recognized in the field for being
very useful. II. THE IMPORTANCE AND USES OF INCIDENT REPORTS Incident reports are important to the police agency for a variety of reasons
and have many uses as lists. III. FORMATS FOR INCIDENT REPORTS (See Slide 5-6) A. Basic Incident Reports While the exact layout for incident reports typically varies from one jurisdiction
to another, they all have a "face" with blanks into which the officer
conducting the preliminary investigation enters basic case information. These
blanks require information about the type of crime committed, the complainant,
victim, witnesses, and offenders, and other details. Additional investigative
information is written in the blank space available on the reverse of the face
or on a page which may be referred to as "continuation." Less commonly,
the procedures of an agency may require that the narrative is written in a particular
format with the following kinds of headings and content. 1. Suspects: Additional information about suspects. 2. Witnesses: Information from witnesses, including their descriptions of
events and things as they experienced them through their four senses. 3. Evidence: The evidence seized, how it was marked, the chain of custody,
and numbers assigned by the property or evidence control room is recorded. 4. Interviews: All persons with whom the investigator talked during the
course of the inquire should be identified, even if they could not provide information
at the initial contact. 5. Investigation: A short description of the crime scene may be given to
permit a basic conceptualization of it by persons to whom it is unfamiliar. 6. Reconstruction: The reconstruction is a narration of the probable manner
in which the crime was committed, based on interviess, evidence and examination
of the scene. B. NIBRS — Complaint Incident Report Forms (See Slide 5-7) For roughly a decade, there has been a voluntary program underway which is
moving police departments away from the basic incident report format and toward
a detailed format which collects much more data about an offense. This program,
the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), is administered by the
FBI. C. Aids to Information Gathering for the Incident Report (See Slides 5-8
and 5-9) Whenever there are witnesses to a crime, even the most conscientious investigator
may fail to elicit all information available. For example, a form for collecting
all personal-description information from witnesses may be used. D. Mobile Data Terminals and Incident Reports The use of computers in cars is not a new development. By the 1980s, many police
cars were equipped with mobile data terminals (MDTs). 1. The continued development of wireless technologies has created new options
and possibilities for the use of technology in police cars. 2. In addition to using MDTs, some agencies are using Personal Digital Assistants
(PDAs). These small hand-held units are particularly useful in traffic enforcement.
E. Handwritten Reports Although there are many MDTs in use nationally, there still is a very sizeable
number of officers who write all of their reports by hand because their jurisdiction
cannot afford to acquire MDT technology, it is not a priority in their budget
process, or the expenditure to acquire the technology is seen as more costly
than benefits created. F. Supervisory Disposition of Incident Reports (See Slides 5-10 and 5-11) After approving an incident report, the supervisor must make some disposition
of it. The following dispositions may be made by the supervisor. The case may
be retained for further investigation by uniformed officers; it may be unfounded,
which means the complaint is false; the case may be inactivated due to the lack
of leads; or it may be referred to plainclothes investigators. IV. COMMON ELEMENTS OF INCIDENT REPORTS (see Slide 5-12) A. Race, Ethnicity and Sex Race or ethnicity extraction should never be documented in such a manner as
to cast aspersion on a person. B. Age On entries requiring only a person’s age, it should be indicated as of the
last birthday. C. Physical and Email Addresses Physical and email addresses are particularly important because it helps investigators
to find people for additional interviews or related procedures. D. Telephone/Pager/Wireless Numbers Telephone/pager/wireless numbers of an individual should always be obtained,
including area code, residence number, and business number, including any extension
number. E. Personal Descriptions A model form for gathering personal descriptions is shown and discussed later
in this chapter. F. Property Description Elements useful in describing property are make, model, serial number, color,
and type of material from which constructed. G. Occupation The occupation of a person may be of some importance to an investigation. H. Value The value of property stolen may determine whether the offense is a felony
or misdemeanor. I. Date As a result of Y2K problem, police department abandoned the use of a six-digit
format to record dates (MM/DD/YY, e.g., 10/22/98) and adopted an eight-digit
format (MM/DD/YYYY, i.e., 10/22/2000) for the same purpose. J. Time For all official business, excluding general public and related information,
most police agencies use the military system or 24-hour clock. V. WRITING EFFECTIVE REPORTS (See Slide 5-13) A. If incident reports are going to serve the many uses to which they can
be put, they must meet certain standards. 1. Fill in all of the blanks on the incident report unless the information
is not available or it is refused to the officer. 2. Write the report it eh first person, using "I arrived at the scene
at 1645 hours." 3. Avoid unnecessary technical or legalistic jargon such as "hereinafter,"
"point of fact," or "thereof." 4. Write short sentences because they are less likely to be confusing or
to be misunderstood by the readers. 5. Use shorter paragraphs for the same reason as those for writing shorter
sentences. 6. Support any conclusions you express with details. 7. Don’t repeat facts more than once. 8. Check your spelling. 9. Edit what you write. VI. THE FOLLOW-UP INVESTIGATION AND SUPPLEMENTAL REPORTS (See Slide 5-14) A. Periodically during the follow-up investigation supplemental reports
must be initiated, B. The purpose of writing follow-up reports is to keep the file current
as new or corrected information is gathered. Additionally, specific acts or
accomplishments might require individual supplemental reports, such as issuing
a BOLO. Other times a supplemental report may be required including: 1. When the offense is unfounded. 2. When it is exceptionally cleared. 3. When the case is inactivated. |
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education