REPORT WRITING RULES

							REPORT WRITING RULES
Lance Parr


#1 - USE THE MOST COMMON WORDS.

#2 – DO NOT USE JARGON OR SLANG. THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS WHEN DIRECTLY
AND NECESSARILY QUOTING. SEE RULE #24.

#3 – DON’T BE CONCLUSIONARY. WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW, NOT WHAT YOU
THINK YOU KNOW.

#4 - SHORT SENTENCES ARE BETTER THAN LONG SENTENCES. IF A SENTENCE
COULD BE MADE INTO TWO SENTENCES, WRITING IT AS ONE SENTENCE IS
WRONG.

#5 - REFER TO YOURSELF (AND ONLY TO YOURSELF) WITH PRONOUNS SUCH AS I,
ME, MY AND MINE (WRITE IN FIRST PERSON). THE ONLY ALLOWABLE
EXCEPTION TO THIS IS WHEN NECESSARILY MAKING A DIRECT QUOTE.

#6 - WRITE WHO DID SOMETHING AND THEN WHAT THEY DID, NOT THE OTHER
WAY AROUND (USE ACTIVE VOICE INSTEAD OF PASSIVE VOICE).

#7 – BE CLEAR. IF A READER MUST GUESS AT WHAT YOU MEANT, YOU’RE
WRONG. IF ANYTHING YOU WRITE HAS MORE THAN ONE MEANING, YOU’RE
WRONG.

#8 - ONLY USE PRONOUNS WHEN IT IS CLEAR TO WHOM THE PRONOUNS REFER.
WHEN IN DOUBT, USE NAMES.

#9 - A REPORT SHOULD PRESENT THE FACTS IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY
OCCURRED TO YOU (CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER).

#10 - IN A PARAGRAPH BEGINNING WITH, "JONES ESSENTIALLY SAID..." IT IS
UNDERSTOOD THAT EVERYTHING IN THAT PARAGRAPH WAS SAID BY JONES. IT
IS NOT NECESSARY TO BEGIN EACH SENTENCE IN THAT PARAGRAPH WITH
"JONES SAID." ONE "SAID" PER PARAGRAPH IS SUFFICIENT UNLESS THERE'S A
CHANCE OF CONFUSION REGARDING WHO SAID WHAT.

#11 – USE THE MOST SPECIFIC NOUNS FOR WHICH YOU HAVE INFORMATION.

#12 - STATEMENTS OF WITNESSES, VICTIMS AND SUSPECTS SHOULD REFER TO
THEM BY THEIR NAMES OR WITH PRONOUNS SUCH AS HE, HIM, HIS, SHE, HER
AND HERS.

#13 – WRITE IN THE PAST TENSE.
#14 – WRITE IN COMPLETE SENTENCES.

#15 - DON'T USE COMPARATIVE MODIFIERS UNLESS A BASIS FOR COMPARISON IS
GIVEN.

#16 – DON’T SPELL OUT A NUMBER AND THEN IMMEDIATELY REPEAT IT AS A
NUMERAL IN PARENTHESES.

#17 – USE CORRECT PUNCTUATION. THAT INCLUDES USING 24-HOUR TIME
WITHOUT COLONS.

#18 - WITHIN THE STATEMENT OF A SUSPECT, VICTIM OR WITNESS, PUT EVENTS
IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THINGS OCCURRED TO THAT PERSON

#19 - THE OVERALL STRUCTURE OF A REPORT IS PARAGRAPHS ARRANGED IN
THE ORDER IN WHICH THE EVENTS DEPICTED OCCURRED TO YOU, THE WRITER.

#20 - USE SEPARATE PARAGRAPHS FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING: (1) HOW YOU
GOT INVOLVED, (2) WHAT YOU DID OR SAW, AND (3) EACH PERSON'S
STATEMENT. THE NUMBERS HERE DO NOT MEAN THE PARAGRAPHS SHOULD BE
IN THIS ORDER. THE ORDER OF PARAGRAPHS WAS COVERED IN RULE #19 ABOVE.

#21 - INDICATE THE BEGINNING OF EACH PARAGRAPH BY SKIPPING A LINE
BEFORE THE NEW PARAGRAPH. DO NOT SKIP A LINE UNTIL GOING FROM ONE
TYPE OF PARAGRAPH TO ANOTHER.

#22 - DO NOT WRITE A REPORT IN A QUESTION-AND-ANSWER FORMAT. THERE
SHOULD BE NO "I ASKED..." FOLLOWED BY "HE SAID...." IN FACT, LEAVE OUT
EVERY SENTENCE BEGINNING WITH "I ASKED..." NO ONE CARES WHAT YOU
ASKED.

#23 – REPORT FACTS, NOT OPINIONS. INFERENCES ARE ACCEPTABLE, BUT
BEFORE MAKING AN INFERENCE, GIVE THE SUPPORTING FACTS.

#24 - ONLY QUOTE A PERSON IF: NECESSARILY QUOTING SLANG, WHAT THE
PERSON SAYS IS AN ADMISSION OR CONFESSION, THERE ARE WORDS THAT HELP
PROVE THE CRIME, IT IS A DENIAL, OR THE SUSPECT USES EMBARRASSING
LANGUAGE.
#25 - BE CONCISE. A REPORT IS A MERE SUMMARY OF THE FACTS THAT
APPEARED TO BE IMPORTANT AT THE TIME. IF A FACT COULD NOT POSSIBLY BE
IMPORTANT TO THE CASE, LEAVE IT OUT.

#26 - USE CORRECT SPELLING.

#27 - USE CORRECT GRAMMAR. THESE LAST TWO RULES SHOULD BE OBVIOUS,
BUT ONE PREVIOUS STUDENT CLAIMED I COULDN'T DEDUCT POINTS FOR
MISSPELLED WORDS BECAUSE CORRECT SPELLING WAS NOT MENTIONED ON
THE "REPORT WRITING RULES."

#28 - DO NOT USE LABELS OR TITLES IN REPORTS. DO NOT CALL SOMEONE
VICTIM SMITH OR SUSPECT BROWN. DO NOT USE MR., MRS. OR MS. IN REPORTS.