Report Writing for Law Enforcement: A Hands-On Approach

This is an impressive book; it takes the principles of rhetoric and presents them in a direct, practical, and action-able fashion. Although it focuses on police reports, the ideas explained here are integral to any piece of informative writing.

As a 'rookie' police Officer, this book helped me understand some of the do's and dont's of professional police writing. Also, the book gave great examples of phrases and words that one can you use in everyday report writing.

The books included excellent use of headings to provide clarity for the report reader. Good resource for both new and experienced law enforcement personnel.

While preparing a presentation on police report writing, I decided to purchase several books on the subject. This book was among them and was the least useful of those I bought. The overall length of the book was 45 pages. This alone was not a big issue, as all of the books I purchased were relatively short by design. The problem is, for reasons I am unable to detect, the first 15 pages were repeated twice. So, what I actually received for my $10 was thirty pages of material. Next, there is little of substance other than a skeletal format suggested for use by the author. There is nothing wrong with his suggested approach, but it doesn't offer much most officers wouldn't already know. Last, the author's opinion that narratives should be written in the third person is one I (and most others) do not share. I am aware some agencies require it, but it reads terribly and is generally only promoted because it makes it easier to copy and paste into affidavits and the like. I note the author is a detective, and he would likely benefit from this when he is submitting charging documents.

I am a small town Police Chief, and proof read a lot of reports. This is now required reading for my officers. The improvement in their narratives is amazing, they don't get red marks on their reports, I spend less time with my Butt in the chair at my desk, the DA calls less to chew ass, we all are happy.

Being newer in law enforcement I am still getting familiar with how to write a great report. I believe the information in this book can help any officer willing to take the time to read and practice what is in this book.

I’m a law enforcement officer and because this book my writing has improved

The book was excellent though the beginning had a lot of repetition where the author kept attempting to hype up his book. Otherwise it was a great read and has helped me with my report writing.