CDI 4

Technical ENGLISH
I
INTRODUCTION

Technical Police Writing is an essential element in the

field Law Enforcement. The need to know on the part of the
community pertaining to the accomplishments and or
performance of their Law enforcement agencies and the
Law enforcement organization itself in its policy making,
relies on the reports submitted and or circulating within the
organization.
 Definition Of Technical Writing
Technical- comes for the Greek word ‘tehcne’ which means “skill”.
Technical Writing- is a form of technical skill used in the Military, Police, computer industry, robotics
and many other fields.
- this is also termed as Police Report, which is the giving of an account or description of an
aspect of a particular art, science, trade or profession learned by experience, study, observation, or
investigation.
- communication in any field where the primary aim of which is to convey a particular piece of
information, for a particular purpose, for a particular group of readers.
Principles of good technical
writing
1. The writer of report must have a specific reader or group of readers in
mind.
2. He must decide what the specific purpose of his report is and make sure
that every part of his report contributes to that purpose.
3. He must use specific, single, concrete, word and familiar language that
will not be misinterpreted.
4. He must make his report very presentable in format, the layout must
confirm with the standard forms of writing.
Two important factors in technical
report writing
1. The Subject Matter- refers to the information that the writer
wants to convey.
2. The Purpose- refers to the goals that the writer wants to
achieve for himself and his readers after presenting his
output.
 POLICE REPORT

- Police Report is any written matter prepared by the Police involving their inter action with the
community.
- Police Report is an exact narration of facts discovered during the course of crime investigation
which serves as a permanent written record for future reference.
- Police reports maybe written or oral; detailed or brief; simple or complex. As police reports are
- This is a chronological or step-by-step account of an incident that transpired in a given time.
- Police Report is a permanent written of police activities classified as informal and formal which
communicates important facts concerning people involved in criminal activities.
 PURPOSES OF POLICE REPORTS

1. Written report to serve as the raw materials from which records system
are made.
2. Serve as the official document and permanent record of incidents in the
community;
3. To compile statistical information and identify problems in the community;
4. To facilitate investigations, prepare and defend cases including
prosecution of offenders;
5. To identify training needs of the members of the Philippine National
Police.
6. Written report to reveal as part of the component of the record
system, the direct relationship between the efficiency of the
department and the quality of its reports and reporting procedures.
7. Written report to guide police administrators for policy
formulation and decision making.
8. Written report to serve as a gauge/yardstick for efficiency
evaluation of police officers.
9. Written report to guide prosecutors and courts in the trial of
criminal cases investigated by the police.
THE IMPORTANT USES OF REPORT
WRITING
1. Reports serve as records for police administration in planning, directing
and organizing the unit’s duties and functions.
2. Reports can be used as legal documents in the prosecution of offenders.
3. Reports are utilized by other government agencies as well as private
organizations.
4. Reports can be useful to tri-media for public information purposes.
5. Reports can be utilized for research purposes.
6. Reports improve the personality of the writer
General Types of Police Report
1. INFORMAL REPORT- this is Usually a letter or memorandum or any one
of many prescribed or used in day-by-day police operations. It customarily
carries three items besides the text proper; date submitted, subject, and
persons or person to whom submitted. It may, however, contain many items
of administrative importance along with the subject matter of the text.
Actually, most police reports may be placed in this category.
2. FORMAL REPORTS- Suggests a full-dress treatment, including cover,
title page, letter of transmittal, summary sheet, text, appendixes, and
perhaps an index or bibliography.
Other Types of Police Report
a. Police Blotter- this is a logbook that contains the daily registry of all crime incident reports,
official summaries of arrest, and other significant events reported in a certain police station.
b. Spot Report- this refers to the initial report written by a police officer after an important
incident and submitted immediately to higher authorities for further investigation and appropriate action.
c. Progress report- this refers to the follow-up report submitted by a police officer after
conducting further investigation of a particular incident. Progress report can be simply be an
accomplishment report which may be analytical and be comparatively longer than a police report.
d. Final Report- this is an accomplishment report written by a police officer after the
investigation is completed and the case has been filed against the suspect/s. In some cases,
progress report can be also be the final report especially if the investigator has been terminated at
that level.
e. After Operation Report- this refers to a report that maybe rendered after any successful
police operation that leads to the arrest of any member or some of the members of the syndicated
crime group.
f. Investigation Report- refers to a report such as in criminal investigations. The
arrangement of the parts follows a specific pattern to be easily found and read. The format is similar
to the to a memorandum format except the text or the body should have the following parts:
AUTHORITY, MATTERS INVESTIGATED, FACTS OF THE
CASE, DISCUSSION, CONCUSIONS, and
RECOMENDATIONS. The parts are capitalized followed by a
colon (:). Paragraphs are numbered consecutively using Arabic
numbers such as 1,2,3, and 4, among others. The investigator
signs the report. On top of the letterhead and on the lower fold of
the paper, the word CONFIDENTIAL is typed or stamped.
g. Situational Report- (SITREP) refers to a report which is done
on a need basis. It contains the actual situation on a particular incident
or incidents which are on public interest. This is primarily addressed to
the commander or the chief for him to know the actual situation before
the media and the public is informed.
h. Beat Inspection Report- this refers to a report that is submitted
daily by any duty officer after his/her routine check on foot.
i. After Patrol Report- this refers to a report which is submitted by
assigned sector using official vehicles and is signed by the team leader.
HOW ARE POLICE REPORTS CATEGORIZED

a. OPERATIONAL REPORTS-Include those relating to the reporting of police incidents, investigation, arrests,
identification of persons, and a mass of miscellaneous reports necessary to the conduct of routine police operations.

b. INTERNAL BUSNIESS REPORTS-Relate to the reporting necessary to the management of the agency and
include financial reports, personnel reports, purchase reports, equipment reports, property maintenance reports and
general correspondence.

c. TECHNICAL REPORTS-Presents data on any specialized subject, but usually relate to completed staff work and
add to the specific knowledge necessary to proper functioning of police management.

d. SUMMARY REPORTS-Furnish intelligence information necessary to the solution of crime accident and police
administrative problems.
Qualities of a GOOD TECHNICAL
REPORT
1. Brevity- this is the quality of writing which is characterized by the shortness or
briefness of the writing material. This is achieved through presentation of ideas in a
short but complete manner.
- The police report must be short, with simple sentences, common words and
easy to understand.
2. Clarity- this is the condition of writing where ideas are simplified by making it easier
for the readers to understand. This is achieved by providing further examples,
illustrations, or diagrams in order to clarify the text.
- The police report must be clear and it should be written directly and easy to
understand.
3. Completeness- this is the quality of writing where the ideas in the paragraph are entirely
and absolutely free from inconsistencies and errors in any form. A good writer is aware that
one of his objectives is to present information that is entirely complete.
- The police report must be complete by using the 5W’s and 1H.
4. Accuracy- this refers to the exactness and correctness of writing, as this is a result from
precision, conformity to grammar, and adherence to writing standards. There are writers who
know how to present their ideas, but they are inaccurate in presenting facts.
- The police report must conform with the established rules of syntax, format, spelling
and grammar. The data presented must be precise and the information given must be factual.
Other qualities of good report
writing
1. SPECIFICITY- The police report must be specific by using concrete examples. A good descriptive
narration gives life to the written words through particular terms that project hues, movements,
quantities and shapes.

2. TIMELINESS-The police report must be submitted on time. As much as possible immediately after
the incident has happened.

3. SECURITY- The police report must be considered classified, hence, transmission, handling, and
access to these reports should be limited only to police personnel who are granted by higher
authority security clearance. It is a top secret documents.

4. IMPARTIALITY- The police report must know what the receiving office needs to know important
data must not be omitted or added to conceal responsibilities, to impute liabilities or to favor parties.
CHARACTERISITCS OF A GOOD
COMMUNICATOR
1. Knows his audience well- suggest and implement solutions to
problems that nobody else identifies.
2. Serves as a “go-between”- Whenever one group of people has
specialized knowledge that other group does not share, the
technical writer bridge the gap.
3. A generator of truth- a a technical writer chooses what to be
written, with the full knowledge that later will depend on what has
been written.
4. A good teacher- he excels at explaining difficult concepts for readers who will have
no time to read twice.
5. He has an excellent eye for details- he knows punctuations, syntax, and style and
can explain the rules governing them.
6. He knows how to coordinate- though he works on his own much of the time, he
also knows how to coordinate with the collaboraborative work of graphic artists,
programmers, and various subject matter experts.
7. Has enough experience- he is an expert in understanding the audience
background and needs.
8. Knows how to gather information- he has a nose for
information from existing documents and from subject matters.
9. He is respected and credible- he is a person with credibility,
and he is also valuable and reliable source of information.
10. He has a strong language skill- he understands the highly
evolved conventions of modern technical communication.
Technical Documentation
-Works hand in hand to create written products or deliverables.
These deliverables are technical documents that contain technical
information.
-Useful if the readers can understand and act on them without having
to decode wordy and ambiguous words.
-Technical documentation services comprise of all activities,
means and system that provide information to its specialized fields.