Need help with something technical

[Jessica]

This is mostly for the Americans in the forum (though I'd love to hear from Aussies, Brits and Kiwis as well) because I need help with a technical aspect of American police procedure.

I was wondering if anybody knew how police reports are formatted? Do they have sub-headings like 'Nature of the offence' and 'Officer taking statement' or anything like that? I'm writing about a private investigator who has to read a bunch of police reports and I have no idea what they look like or what is supposed to be included in one! If someone were reporting a kidnapping, for example, would that be a different form to the regular police statement?

I'm Australian, so unfortunately I can't just wonder over to the station and ask the cop at the desk. I figure, like most things, the American forms would be different from the Aussie ones. If anybody could give me a hand or point me in the direction of what I'm after, that would be great!

Cheers, Jess

[John Dishon]

There's no standard format the entire country uses. For some examples of some, do a google image search.

Whether there are different forms for different crimes, I have no idea, but I know in my city there is a separate sheet for vehicle accidents as well as an illustration (computer-aided) of the accident scene.

[Eric Christopherson]

Right, police departments are highly decentralized in America. Quite a lot of variation in many things.

[Jessica]

I figured that would be the case, but I was hoping there'd be some kind of generic form...

[Jessica]

Thanks, I didn't think of that!

[James Sollenberger]

Jess,

I had been a municiple police officer for about 14 years in South Central Pennsylvania. These reports vary from state to state, even department to department. But generally they cover the same information.

In my department, there was several types of reports. SCIR (Service Call Informational Reports) for any call that was not a crime (anything you do where no one gets charged), Accident Reports (Reportable Accidents and Non-Reportable), even reports for unlocking someone vehicle when they lock their keys in the car. It seemed we had a report for every situation (at least it seemed like there was).

The "Incident Report" is the basic report where a chargable crime occurs. In it, you have the basics (location, time, date, victim's name/address/contact info, etc) information. Then there is the section with the crime that occurred. There is generally a narrative block where you describe how you were contacted, where you went to meet the complaintant/witness(es), what they told you, your observations of the crime scene, any evidence collection at the scene, possible suspect(s), witness info, and alot more. At the end of the report, you add your info as the reporting officer.

There are "Continuation," :Follow Up." and "Supplemental Reports (reports that add information after the initial Incident Report), "Evidence Collection Reports (photos taken, where evidence was found, how it was collected, how is was preserved,...), and other reports.

Generally, your local police will have the same information collected, just the reports will be called something different and they will be arranged another way. But the info is going to be very similar.
I hope this helps. If there is anything I can help you with, let me know. I'm more than happy
to help.

Jim Sollenberger

[Jessica]

Thank you very much for the insider knowledge!

[B.R.Stateham]

Find books by Ed McBain on his 87th Precinct series. In the early books he actually put in New York City police forms (changing a few things, etc.,) I'm fairly sure they were NYC forms.

[Jessica]

I'm not familiar with him, but I'll try the library

[B.R.Stateham]

Oh My Gosh, Jessica! If you haven't read any of McBain's 87th Precinct series, especially the early ones, you're in for a hell of a treat! There's a large number of them. But you'll enjoy everyone.

[Jack Getze]

Lee Lofland is a member here, I think. He runs a website and blog about police procedure. He's answered every question I've had for him.

[Robert Kerins]

The other replies have given you a good picture. Remember, all these reports have spaces for identifying the victim(s), the property, the time, date, location, and finally the type of incident. It could be a crime or a domestic argument. Our reports needed 3/4 of the page for filling in these boxes, and a small space at the bottom for the narrative. If you needed more space to describe what happened, you used a supplemental report form. It had a heading that related it to your incident report, then the rest was all narrative space.
Since I retired, everything has gone on computer, so the report form may now have changed.

[Karyn J. Powers]

If you have the time and want to wade through the responses you can try posting your question on www.policepulse.com. It's a social network for law enforcement officers and the like.