ON REPORT WRITING

Report writing is not a peripheral activity that has little to do with the real business of investigation. On the contrary, the individual who argues that he can investigate a problem and solve it but he cannot write reports is comparable to an auto mechanic who says, “I can remove and repair your engine but I can’t install it back in your car.”If he cannot finish the job, he is not what he claims to be.Report writing is a natural and necessary part of the very job description of an investigator. The investigator who avoids or puts off writing reports, is in the position of a fireman who avoids fires or puts off arriving at the scene of a fire. Such people are in the wrong business.An investigative report is a clear, comprehensive, written documentation of facts, presented chronologically, which is an objective, first person recording of the investigator’s experiences, conversations, and observations regarding a specific assignment, and from which the events of the investigation can be reconstructed even after a lapse of time.The investigative report reflects, in writing, the investigator’s work on a case. It should be able to stand the test of time.A good report, when read by a stranger five years later, will make as much sense as it did to the writer on the day it was written.The ultimate test of a good report is simply this: If the reader of the report has a question, the report is deficient.Since the final version of the report is in writing, it follows that correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation, as well as legibility will reflect either favorably or unfavorably on the investigator who wrote it. He does not have to be a consummate stylist, but he does have to be able to organize and present his facts clearly. Lapses in grammar, spelling, and punctuation often have the troublesome result of making things unclear.

(note: Thanks to the John E. Reid & Associates, and to “The Process of Investigation” by Charles Sennewald, for portions of the above.)