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Report Writing for Criminal Justice Professionals, 3rd

This handbook provides practical advice on report writing, with specific ...


Availability: In Stock
Publisher :Anderson Publishing
Format: softbound; 390 pp. , BOOK
ISBN: 9781593453169
2007
  $46.95
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    This handbook provides practical advice on report writing, with specific writing samples and guidelines included for law enforcement, security, corrections and probation personnel. The authors go beyond the routine English-grammar approach to deal with the difficult but often-ignored problem of documentation that will hold up in court. Important concepts are emphasized with related checklists, forms and pull-out chapter tests.


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    INTRODUCTION

     Section One-The Nature of Report Writing

    Chapter 1: The Why and How of Report Writing

    Why Do You Write Reports?

     Law Enforcement Reports
     Security Reports
     Corrections Reports
     Probation and Parole Officers Reports

    How Do You Write Reports?

     Writing the Log
     Do Not Copy Randomly Chosen Models
     How Do You Get Started?
     What Kind of Notebook Should You Use?
     How Much Should You Record in a Notebook?
     Investigate, Don't Just Record
     Don't Use Legalese or Old-Fashioned Terminology
     Should You Use Abbreviations?
     Add Sketches, Photographs, and Diagrams
     Evidence for Law Enforcement
     Evidence Collected for Security
     Evidence Collected for Probation and Parole
     Need for Documentation
     What Should be Documented?

    The ABCs of Report Writing (Whatever Your Field)

    Summary

    Chapter 1TEST

    Chapter 2: Starting to Write

    Planning Your Writing

    Completing the Face Page

    Review Your Notes

    Make a "Shopping List"

     Place Information in Groups
     Label the Groups
     Place Groups in Order

    Writing the Report

     Subheadings
     Proofreading and Revisions

    Sample Writing Exercise Using the Shopping List Method

     Creating a Shopping List from Notes
     Grouping the Shopping List
     Labeling the Shopping List
     Placing the Labeled Shopping List in Order
     Final Report

    Basic Recommendations for Writing Reports

     Spelling, Jargon, and Abbreviation
     Verb Tense
     Active versus Passive Voice
     Pronoun Agreement
     Third Person versus First Person
     Gender-Neutral Language
     Superfluous Words or Legalese
     Accurate and Factual Reporting
     Conciseness
     Promptness

    Summary

    Chapter 2TEST

    Chapter 3: The Face Page

    UCR Crime Definitions

    Methods of Gathering Information

    Correct Abbreviation and Capitalization

    Dealing with Names

    Writing a Good Synopsis

    Keeping Up with Trends

    Summary

    Chapter 3TEST

    Chapter 4: The NarrativeThe Continuation Page and Follow-Up Report

    Continuation Page, Follow-Up Report, and Supplementary Report or Material

    What is Your Purpose?

    Who are Your Readers?

    Chronological Organization

     Using Military Time

    Headings and Subheadings as a Way of Organizing

     Creating Visual Impact and Ease of Reading

    Avoiding Repetition and Meaningless Material

    Getting Rid of Stereotyped Fillers

    Summary

    Chapter 4TEST

    Chapter 5: Habits that Make for Speedy Writing

    Writing About People

     Yourself and Fellow Employees
     Describing Other People

    Writing About Property

    Writing About Places

     Specific Parts of a Location

    Describing MOs and Trademarks

     Definitions of MO and Trademark

    Avoid Being Called on Your Time Off

    Summary

    Chapter 5TEST

    Chapter 6: Other Types of Writing

    Learning from the Short Memo

    Writing a Letter

    Faxing and Other Technological Advances

    Recording Minutes of a Meeting

    The Presentence Investigation Report (PSIR)

    Research and Other Reports

    Summary

    Chapter 6TEST

    Chapter 7: Reading and Correcting Reports

    Common Problem Areas

    Use of Word Processors

    Improving the Agency by Helping the Individual

    Summary

    Chapter 7TEST

     Section TwoThe Mechanics of Report Writing

    Chapter 8: Simplified Study of Grammar

    Identifying Parts of Speech

    Using One Word in Several Ways

    Using Verbs in the Past Tense

    The Sentence

    Direct Objects versus Indirect Objects: Learning the Patterns

    Identifying Active and Passive Verbs

    Identifying Independent and Dependent Clauses

    Recognizing Prepositional, Participial, and Infinitive Phrases

    Using Phrases as Adverbs, Adjectives, and Nouns

    Using Prepositions in Your Report

    Summary

    Chapter 8TEST

    Chapter 9: Avoiding Errors in Sentence Structure

    The Run-On SentenceSource of Many Errors

    Block Method of Visualizing Sentence Structure

    Punctuation Problems

    Subject-Verb Agreement

    Noun-Pronoun Agreement

    Dangling Participles

    Sentence Fragments

    Summary

    Chapter 9TEST

    Chapter 10: Making Punctuation Work

    The Comma

    The Semicolon

    The Colon

    The Apostrophe

    The Ellipsis

    Parentheses

    Quotation Marks

    The Dash

    Underlines

    Summary

    Chapter 10TEST

    Chapter 11: Breaking the Spelling Jinx

    Take Special Care with Names

    Learn Words Commonly Used in Report Writing

    Study Common Problem Areas

     Clearing Up the "-ing" Confusion
     Learning Words with Tricky Letter Combinations
     Forming Plurals
     Dealing with Other Complexities of the English Language

    Strengthen Your Overall Writing Ability

    Developing Proofreading Techniques

    Summary

    Chapter 11TEST

    Chapter 12: Using or Abusing Words

    Biases

    Slang and Dialects

    Don't Use Legalese

    Avoid Using Words or Phrases That Draw Conclusions

    Improve Your Vocabulary

    Synonyms, Antonyms, and Homonyms

    Jargon

    Avoiding Sexism

    Avoiding Racism

    Considering Ageism

    Semantics

    Nonverbal Communication

    Developing Your Vocabulary

    Summary

    Chapter 12TEST

    Chapter 13: Abbreviating and Capitalizing

    Abbreviating to Save Time and Space

     Numbers and Codes Used for Abbreviation
     Clarify Abbreviations
     Abbreviations of Latin Terms
     Changing Rules
     Be Consistent
     Postal Abbreviations for States and Territories

    Capitalization

     Don't Over-Capitalize
     General Rules for Capitalization
     Capitalizing and Indenting for Brevity and Impact

    Summary

    Chapter 13TEST

     Section ThreeThe Modernization of Report Writing

    Chapter 14: Innovations and Predictions in Criminal Justice

    Identifying Criminals

    Identifying Trends

    Improving Ways of Sharing Information

    Innovations

     Translated Forms
     Automation of Report Writing
     Dictation of Reports
     Computer-Aided Dispatching Systems and Records Management Systems
     Facsimile Machines, E-Mail, and the Internet
     Word Processing
     The Crime Lab
     Automatic Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS)
     Use of Computers and Television

    Looking Toward the Future

    Appendix A: Model Reports

    Appendix B: Examples of Agency Instructions for Completing Report Forms

    Appendix C: Selected Readings

     

     

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