Most police actions require some form of documentation. There are many different types of reports that are filed by police officers. Since most of these reports are specific to certain types of events, many police departments have adopted specific forms to be filled out concerning a common occurrence The vast majority of good police work is supported by an officer's ability to present accurate, detailed and concise information in the form of the police report. A police officer must be able to accurately recorded information concerning the activities that took place during an incident and present it to those who were not there. There is the possibility that a large number of people will read these reports. Since police officers are generally the first responding officers to the scene of an incident. …show more content…
On follow up, investigators will determine what an officer has done in the case based on the information that has been presented in the report. These investigators will then have to decide what they will need to do next in order to continue the investigation and successfully bring it to a close. When it comes to court it will be up to the prosecutor to understand the full scope of the event simply by reading the police reports. They will then have to determine whether all of the elements of the crime have been presented in order to sustain the proper charge and ultimately prove the case. In addition to the prosecutor, Judges, other attorneys and juries will have to rely on information recorded in police reports to make a decisions about the guilt or innocence of the parties involved in the reported event. If the report is inaccurate, misleading or untruthful there could be damaging repercussions. An officer's integrity and credibility could be at
There are many forms of intercommunication that law enforcement officers’ use. One is the radio system that’s placed in their car, the writing on the car is even a type of communication, the dispatcher, and police reports, and these are just a few. Officers used their radio system to connect with each from car to car, so they can call for backup and described the crime scene to each other. The writing on a police car is almost a giant warning or a giant sign that law enforcement is near and ready to protect. The dispatcher as the name already says is the person who tells which officers to go to which citizen distress call or which crime scene. Police reports may be one of the most important though this can make or break a criminal case. They include evidence found, witnesses statements, assumed time of death
In contemporary society, there are various methodologies for collecting data (Linden 2012). That being said, there are pros and cons to each that are based on reliability and validity; where reliability is consistency of the statistics, and validity is a measure of how accurate the results are in accordance with the research topic. This ties in with how this paper will explore the Uniform Crime Report system (UCR); a measure of crime that is used the most. UCR statistics reflect the crimes that are reported to the police throughout the country. victimization and self-report surveys, which are statistics that reinforce the findings revealed by the UCR, will also be explored. Lastly, the issue of media coverage of crime news will be examined.
Myths are defined as stories that are made up by society that symbolizes values, ideologies and beliefs (Phillips, 2016). Myths are used by all cultures; myths are stories that are told to support social customs in societies. Crime myths are also created by telling stories (Victor Kappeler & Gary Potter, 2005). Myths about police officers have created false imageries of officers and their day-to-day jobs. Myths about the police have played an important role for decades now (Phillips, 2016). Majority of police myths are created by both the media and the police themselves. This paper will review Victor Kappeler and Gary Potters summary of police myths and outside sources will be used to support the myths listed by the authors.
Everyday law enforcement personal have the possibility to face dangerous events in their daily duties. In performing such duties a police officer could come by a seemingly ordinary task, and in a blink of an eye the event can turn threatening and possible deadly. When or if this happens to an officer they won’t have
Without them many of the reported complaints would have not been reported creating a higher number in the dark figure crime. Also reporting a complaint does not necessarily mean you will be creating a lawsuit against an officer. Each complaint goes through rigorous rulings and steps in order for it to be a serious offense or crime. Like any other crime, you’ll have to report a statement in person describing what has happened, where it happened and the description of the officer. Next they will asks witnesses about your account to make sure you’re telling the truth and to add evidence to your story. After the witness statements they will begin to gather evidence. Being that they have subpoena powers, they’re able to access many documents that authoritative figures can have including police department records. They will then conduct multiple interviews with the police officer who is likely to be charged and his/her witnesses. Like dealing in a court office, police officers must appear to the civilian review board to be interviewed and they have to be honest with answering questions. When they 've collected all their evidence and statements, the case is prepared by an investigator who then proceeds to give it to the board. Three board members review the case and decided whether the police officer was unjust or not. If they believe the police office was being unjust, the case is taken to the police
The Uniform Crime Report, which was developed in the 1930s, is commonly used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a record of crimes committed all across the United States. These crimes, which fall under two categories, Part I and Part II offenses, are reported by local police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation each year. Part I offenses are considered to be the more serious of crimes recognized by society. Such examples of this are homicide, forcible rape, robbery, arson, motor vehicle theft, etc. Part II offenses are those that are considered less serious, such as fraud, simple assault, drug abuse, gambling, stolen property, embezzlement, etc. Part I crimes can also be subdivided into what are known as violent crimes and property crimes. (Barkan, 2012). However, there are both some positive and negative aspects of this type of crime measurement. The following paper will explore the small amount of pros and numerous cons associated with the Uniform Crime Report.
As we may see on television, it may seem as if officers are always out in the field chasing down the criminals but there is more to their jobs than just that. Officer’s jobs also include plenty of documentation. They have to fill out reports about the arrests and the actions that lead up to the arrest. In the past officer used paper and ink pen or even a typewriter to fill out their reports. Now with all the new technology they are ab...
Report writing is a form of writing that gives it reader information a type of writing that explain what is taking place or what has taking it a recounting of events . Most newspapers use this type of descriptive recreation of events within their report writing they explain the circumstances of case, court proceeding, type of crime that occurred, etc. (Police reports and there purpose (n.d). Newspaper writer try to explain to the readers what took place and why it is or should be topics of concern police report writing follow the same guidelines. Having the ability to write reports is of extreme importance in police and correctional work daily. Report writing is one of the primary forms of communication within the field of law enforcement agency. Police reports are read by supervisors, police chiefs, fellow officers as well as other criminal justice professionals. Furthermore these documents are written to display the result of an investigation, crimes scene, incidents, and more so it is imperative that there is no grammar errors or misspellings with in the document. Police report writers paint the picture of the events that took place from the time they were called until, the time of their arrival to a crime scene or incident. It’s important that all reports submitted by correctional workers and police officer be well-written with factual information giving step by step details of everything that transpired in chronological order also being very specific about every detail. The reason this is of high important is because this report can assist prosecutor in obtaining a valid conviction of the proper suspect accused (Police reports and there purpose (n.d). Whereas if the police report is poorly written the defense can argue against the finding and may use the discrepancies against the prosecuting state. When poorly written reports are enter into evident for juries to deliberate on it a huge possibility that the report may cause jurors to call into to question whether the officer who wrote it is as careless in other aspects of their police work. as noted by (Police reports and there purpose (n.d). Another issue that will occur if reports are not properly written is miscommunications or misunderstanding. For example a police officer submits a document with only one misspelled words to his police chief, the chief read the report from the officer he put decrease instead of the deceased and cause the chief to send the report the wrong department.
When an individual enters the criminal justice system, it always begins with the police. So in order for police to be involved in any situation, there has to be a crime committed or violation of any law which has been put in place by the government. As the police act as the enforcement agents of these laws, they are the first ones to be involved. There are four steps that police follows when there is a crime – the crime itself, the report of the crime, the investigation of the crime, and the arrest to finish this process – these are the very basic avenues which police follows.
The criminal justice system responds to crime differently according to which region a crime occurred. A law enforcement officer responds to crimes which have been witnessed or reported. Following the report, the police officer investigates the crime and gather as much information as possible to hold someone responsible (Bohm & Haley, 2011).
This is where the crime scene unit (CSU) comes in to play as well as the detectives. Once the detectives arrive on the scene they will be looking for a suspicious individual or individuals and speak to witnesses and take their testimonials or story, they basically tell the investigator what they observed. On a crime scene investigation packet it states "when seeking for witnesses and taking their testimonials it is best to separate them so no individuals have identical stories." Once this has been done and the investigator takes the testimonials they must determine if a crime took place. For example if a person was stabbed in the abdomen and first responders arrived and trying to help the victim and he dies then the crime that took place was a aggravated battery but turned into a homicide. If a person was sexually molested and beaten while being molested then the crime that occurred is a sexual battery and rape. Once this is completed then the investigator will determine the nature of the crime. What this means is that if it is a violent crime, a website
Good communication is essential to how well police officers interact with the public because it influences how the public responds to officers. Listening, speaking, writing and focusing on what others say are all ways officers can affect the way the public views them. A lack of these vital communications skills results in poor understanding, an officer not knowing how to proceed, and people who need police assistance giving up. Officers must also consider how communication might affect a community’s reaction. It is obvious that these traits are very important for optimal police work. Experiences show that people react more calmly and cooperatively when police officers treat them well. Therefore, good communication is needed in order to make the jobs of police officers easier and more positive.
The criminal investigation process is able to achieve justice to a great to a great extent. They are effective in achieving justice, as they are able to balance the rights of the victim, offenders and society and also provide fair and just outcomes. For these reasons, the criminal investigation process is largely able to achieve justice.
When you think of police what does it mean to you? The responsibility of a police officer is to protect the public and to serve the community. Also, they detect and to prevent crime, police officers strive to maintain the law. New police officers work with the general duty as patrol divisions, that provides a range of experiences and assignments. The General duty of policing involves patrolling in assigned areas to enforce laws, protect public safety, and arrest criminal suspects either by car, foot, bicycle, or in some cases, horse. Police officers can also do some of the following: they Investigate accidents and crime scenes; to secure evidence and interview any witnesses; they collect notes and reports; they can provide emergency assistance to victims an disaster, crime, and accidents;
written reports. Good police work is maintained completely by an officer 's ability to present