FIELD NOTES AND REPORT WRITING

Transcription

1 40 Protection Officer Training Manual, Unit 2 FIELD NOTES AND REPORT WRITING By Martin A. Fawcett, CPO Consider for a moment what our world would be like without newspapers, magazines, books, or any other kind of written material. How would we learn about things that were happening in other parts of the world? How would we learn new skills, become educated, or pass what we have learned on to others? The only source of knowledge that we would be able to obtain would be that which was readily at hand to us through other people, providing they were willing and able to pass along this information. Without the written word for us to read and to learn, we would still believe that the world was flat, there wouldn't be the advances in technology that we have become accustomed to over the years, such as television, radio, automobiles-and the list goes on and on. In order for man to advance as he has and to continue to advance, there must be a written word that can be passed on to future generations in order that they will learn through our mistakes and our successes. As you may now appreciate, the written word is an important and integral part of our personal and professional lives. There is not one part of our culture that is not affected directly or indirectly by the written word. It is the foundation upon which we build our knowledge, our experience, and our life. In the security industry, like other professions, the written word is an important "tool of the trade." It is the means by which detailed, factual reports of events or incidents are recorded so that others may learn what has occurred and if necessary, take action. A protection officer in the course of duties may encounter a myriad of events or incidents that will require the passing of factual information to person(s) who were not present at the event or incident. In order to effect this duty, the protection officer must be able to accurately observe the event and then take those observations and put them on paper in a clear, concise, and logical manner. This passing of information takes the form of notes and reports. Unfortunately, experience has shown us that many people lack appreciation of the value of taking good notes and preparing proper reports. There are no prerequisites set by employers on notes and reports in most instances, and the matter of notebooks and the manner of report writing is often left up to the individual protection officer or his immediate supervisor's discretion. Experience has also shown us that many inaccurate reports are the direct result of inaccurate or incomplete notes. This has led to losses in assets, information, statistical data, and convictions in court. As you can see, both notes and reports are very important and that it becomes incumbent on the protection officer to become as proficient and as professional in his/her use of these valuable tools. FIELD NOTE-TAKING A protection officer's notes may be defined simply as "a quick and accurate method of recording that what you saw, did, and heard." Let's take a closer look at what the notebook is. A notebook should have the following features. 1. Small enough to carry easily in your clothing 2. Large enough for easy writing 3. Clothbound with no looseleaf pages 4. Pages numbered sequentially 5. Protected by adequate cover Before looking at what should go into the notebook and how it should be put in, let's look first at why we need them. There are five main areas of consideration when determining the purpose of keeping a notebook. 1. Assist in preparing reports 2. Detecting contradictions in statements 3. Refresh your memory 4. Investigative aid 5. Reflect officer ability ASSIST IN PREPARING REPORTS The protection officer, during the course of a tour of duty, may have occasion to investigate a number of events, incidents, and people. In most instances, some form of report will have to be submitted. Some of the events that will be looked at will not necessarily be investigated at a place that is convenient to the protection officer. As a result, report forms, desks, office areas, and so on will not be available. Notes will be made in the officer's notebook and a full report will be made at some point in time after the investigation is completed. It now becomes necessary for the protection officer to ensure that he has all the facts, details, names, addresses, and so on, that will be required when it comes time to complete his report. The protection officer cannot trust these facts and details to memory. The tendency to forget details and events with the passage of time is a well-known fact. Notes, properly made at the time, are seldom forgotten, will never change with the passage of time, and will ensure that accuracy and detail are not lost.

2 !" Field Notes and Report Writing 41 DETECT CONTRADICTIONS IN STATEMENTS During any investigation, certain facts are made known by witnesses and suspects, and certain statements may be made by those persons involved. If the protection officer has conscientiously made good notes regarding the events, then any contradictions or changes in facts or details will be found and further questioning may result in the apprehension of the culprit or the recovery of assets or information. If proper notes have not been made, then the officer must rely on memory, which mayor may not be accurate. The proper use of notes in this instance makes for a more professional investigation and more credibility when questioning people regarding conflicting facts. REFRESH MEMORY AT LATER DATE As discussed earlier, man's memory is far from infallible. Notes made at the time of an event will not change and form a permanent record of events as they occurred or were observed by the protection officer. They become an invaluable aid when trying to recall an incident or specific detail of an investigation at a later date. The notes will remind you of what you actually saw, did, and heard. This in turn assists you in report preparation, giving evidence in court, or in apprising a supervisor of what occurred. The courts have long recognized the value of the written word over memory. INVESTIGATIVE AID In some instances, an investigation into an event or incident may take many days and many hours to complete. During the investigation, notes are being made of each step in the investigation and subsequent reports are being filed as they are completed. Should you become involved in this type of investigation, then it becomes apparent that it is most cumbersome to carry around a briefcase filled with reports concerning the event. The use of a notebook in these instances makes the investigator's job that much easier, as he has much greater freedom in packing around a notebook filled with facts than in carrying around a briefcase filled with numerous reports. REFLECT OFFICER ABILITY Many times during his career, the protection officer may be required to show his notebook to any number of different people. He may be required to show it to his supervisor on a regular basis; he may be asked to produce it in court as part of his evidence. In any of these circumstances, the protection officer's abilities may be judged solely on the basis of what is presented in his notes. (Note: While the protection officer may not be directly involved in the investigation or interrogation process, what he/she saw, did or heard is vital to the information-gathering process.) Tips on the Use of Notebooks While most of the rules governing the preparation and content of report writing apply to note taking, here are a few items worthy of mention. 1. Prepare your notes in a legible manner This means that you are able to go back anytime in the future and be able to understand what you have written. Many people are unable to go back to their notes even a week later and be able to remember what has occurred because they are unable to make accurate observations from their own notes. 2. Keep your notes complete If your notes are legible and you are able to go back and read them and understand them, you must also ensure that there is enough detail in your notes to give you a complete picture of the event that you are detailing. Again, many people will jot down some basic facts regarding an incident, but if asked to relate what actually occurred, they are at a loss because their notes are incomplete. 3. Be systematic Record your observations in chronological order; don't bounce around in your story because this becomes confusing when refreshing your memory at a later date. Also, keep the day-to-day details pertaining to your tours of duty in proper sequence. It does no good to have to look back through an entire notebook to find one day's events. If your notes are kept in proper order, it becomes easy to find specific information no matter when it occurred. 4. Abbreviations As long as you can remember what word or phrase you are abbreviating, then go ahead and use them. If you will be unable to remember what the abbreviation means, then use the full form of the word or phrase. 5. Use all pages and spaces Use all spaces and all pages in your notebook. By leaving spaces, you are not only wasting space, but you are leaving yourself open to questioning regarding the accuracy of your notes at some future time. The courts, especially, view the leaving of blank pages and spaces with extreme skepticism, believing that you may have added or deleted vital information. Don't fall into this trap. Always fill in every line, even if you must draw a line as a filler. 6. Develop your own style Remember that these are your notes. Develop a style that is comfortable for you to use. Everyone will have a slightly different style of using a notebook, and no one way is better than another. Try different methods and use those that will be of benefit to you and discard the rest. 7. As soon as possible Get into the habit of making your notes as soon as possible after an event or incident. The longer you wait to record your observations, the less you will remember. The best method is to write down your observations as you make them and to note details provided by witnesses as they give

3 42 Protection Officer Training Manual, Unit 2 them. If this is not practical, then at the earliest possible moment, take the time, stop what you are doing, and make your notes. 8. Ripping out pages Whenever possible, avoid ripping out pages from your notebook. Should the occasion arise that you must do this, take a page from the back of the notebook and use it. When this is done, you should note the time and date on the stub that is left. 9. Errors Should you make an error while making an entry, do not attempt to erase it. Draw a single line through the error and initial it, then continue. Any other method is unacceptable in a court oflaw. 10. Personal notes Personal notes have no place in your notebook. If you find that you need to jot something down and do not have any extra paper to write on, tear out a piece from the back of your notebook as discussed earlier. Never leave any personal notes in your notebook. 11. Opinions Opinions have no place in your notebook. Remember that your notebook is a "diary" of what you saw, did, and heard-not your opinion. 12. Review Always try to take your notes with the idea that you will, at some point in the future, have to re-read them and be able to understand all that occurred. After you have completed your notes on an event, review them and see if they make sense, and if they tell the entire story and represent the event as it actually occurred. Remember, there is no better way to ensure accuracy than properly prepared, properly preserved, and properly presented notes. This information will be invaluable to the protection officer in bridging the gap between the "first occurrence" and their "later use." "The dullest pencil /WSa better memory than the sharpest mind. " REPORT WRITING The basic elements of report writing are taught in the elementary and high school years. All protection officers have had a certain level of education and must know how to lay out and write an account of their actions. They should understand singular and plural persons; past, present, and future tenses; and masculine, feminine, and neuter gender. They should have a good vocabulary and know how to spell. In general, before they even become a protection officer, they should have a reasonable education. A dictionary should be within reach at all times. The report requirements of a protection officer today are much more rigid than in past years-therefore, standards must be higher. You must combine your prior learning with knowledge of security work, experience, and common sense for better security reports. Remember, your written work is the mirror of your mind at the time of writing. Even more important, it may well be a permanent reflection of your thinking. A well-written report by an efficient protection officer displays not only their proper application to duty in the field, but their completeness as a competent individual in applying their academic side to their vocation. Today both qualities are not only desired but imperative. Progressive protection officers who recognize a weakness in themselves in the field will attempt to improve. A recognized weakness in written work must be treated likewise. Do not become one of the smug individuals who say to themselves, "I'm as good as, or better than, other officers. I just can't put it on paper." Do something to improve this self-acknowledged weakness. It will be easier for you to eliminate the problem than to live with it. Who Security Reports Are For 1. The security supervisor 2. The security organization 3. The client 4. Various civic organizations 5. Various segments ofindustry 6. The courts (criminal and civil) 7. Anyone who may request and is entitled to proprietary information Security reports are prepared by the protection officer in order to pass on information to those concerned parties who are not present at the time of the incident or event. The report must be complete and accurate and answer all possible questions the reader might have. The security report that is incomplete or inaccurate will have to be sent back to the writer for clarification, which is not only a waste of valuable time, but shows a lack of professionalism on the part of the writer. Many reports are copied and sent on the other organizations or individuals. Depending on the type of event, some reports end up being read by lawyers who may be defending or prosecuting a case based on the event reported. Many of these people will have little if any experience with security work, and the only information available to them will be the security report. As a result, you, your company, and other protection officers may be judged solely on the basis of the security report. Remember this point each time you set out to write a report: Your report must be clear and concise, accurate and complete. The reader of the security report must be able to understand what has occurred based on the contents of the report. Types of Security Reports: There are a large number of different types of security forms and reports, and each client or company will have some that are unique. These are some of the more common varieties that you may encounter. 1. Daily occurrence J I ii

4 Field Notes and Report Writing Weekly summary Motor vehicle accident Department memorandums Visitor access logs Administrative policy Employee evaluations Event occurrence Post orders Planning the Security Report Before writing a security report, particularly a lengthy one, the protection officer should plan how he is going to write it before starting. All the relevant facts should have been obtained and should be readily available. All relevant reference material, post orders, directives, dictionary, and so on. should be readily available for quick and accurate reference. You should not be rushed in compiling your information into the written format of the security report. The most common error made by protection officers is that they rush through their reports believing that they have done a satisfactory job and that their time is of more value in the field than in writing the report. In fact, the opposite is true. The protection officer who takes the extra time to properly write a complete and accurate report is of more benefit to his/her employer than the one who races through reports and makes mistakes. Reports should be completed as soon as possible after an event has occurred and never later than the end of the tour of duty. Leaving reports to pile up only encourages the protection officer to hurry through the reports. Remember that report writing is just as important as patrolling and should be given the same thoroughness and attention to detail. Avoid distractions; be thorough. Go to the area that has been set aside for writing your reports, place all your materials down, make sure that you have everything you will need, and then you will be ready to start your report. Before beginning to write, arrange all your facts into chronological order so that the reader can progressively follow you through the sequence of events. Refer to your notes and other reference material to verify that you have the correct information. Absolute accuracy is essential; do not trust your memory in relating facts. Check facts before committing them to paper. Vital facts such as names, addresses, company names, vocations, times, occurrences, and so on should be emphasized in the report. This can be done in a number of different ways. Block lettering is useful in a written report, as is underlining. Choose a method that makes these facts stand out from the rest of the information in the report. First-person conversation, when used, should be in quotation marks. A word of caution about direct conversation -if you are not absolutely accurate in reporting what was said, word for word, don't use quotation marks. Start off saying that what was spoken was "words to the effect" and then write down what you believe was said. Using quotation marks at the wrong time has been the scourge of many a protection officer and could result in misleading the report reader. Avoid abbreviations, unless they are in common use. The writer must clearly indicate which facts are attributable to their own actions or observations and which were the actions or observations of others. If certain facts are not available at the time you write your report, then these facts must be clearly spelled out along with what action has been taken or will be taken in order to complete the report. Never leave a report incomplete at the end of your tour of duty without authorization and without attaching a memo to indicate the date you expect to have it completed. To ensure that your reports are submitted in the proper manner, they must be kept in a safe and secure place away from any unauthorized personnel. Confidentiality is a key component in the report writing process. THE SIX ESSENTIAL INGREDIENTS There are six main essential ingredients that must be included in most security reports. Not all security reports will contain these ingredients. Some, such as access logs, will only contain a minimum of information; however, whenever an event occurs~or an incident requires reporting, then all six ingredients will be present and must be included in the report. These six ingredients are Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How. 1. Who relates to who was involved in the event, the name of the complainant, client, witnesses, suspects, accused parties or officers. 2. What relates to the type of incident or event, what actually occurred. 3. When is the time and date that the event occurred. 4. Where is the location that the event took place, or subsequent locations, depending on the type of incident. 5. Why is the motive. It can frequently be determined by proper investigation. It may explain the reason for the occurrence, but can't be officer speculation or unfounded opinion. 6. How is how the event came to your attention, how it occurred. This means the complete details about how the event happened from start to finish. In a normal occurrence report outlining even the simplest event, all six ingredients will be present. Unfortunately, most protection officers fail to include all six ingredients as some of the details seem unimportant at the time. This results in lost information that may prove valuable at some later time and may also lead to the embarrassment of having to explain a sloppy report to an irate client or supervisor. Always ensure that all six ingredients are properly explained in your report. SECURITY REPORTS ARE IMPORTANT We have been stressing the importance of submitting complete, accurate security reports, but before we go further

5 44 Protection Officer Training Manual, Unit 2 into how to write useful reports, let's examine just what it is about reports that makes them so important. 1. Accurate and permanent record (memory bank)- Reports that are submitted become part of the "paper flow" of your organization. Every business, no matter how large or small, requires a certain amount of paper flow. With proper record-keeping, this paper flow will allow you and every other member of your security team to instantly access information that has been stored. If proper security reports are written and filed, this storehouse of information can be priceless. This includes manual and electronic filing. 2. Detecting problem areas-we have already examined the reasons that the passing of information is a vital tool in our everyday lives, but in security it becomes even more important. The submission of reports allows every other officer access to your experiences while on the job. Everything that has occurred while on duty has been properly submitted in the prescribed report format. You are now able to access that information as far back as your file/data system allows. This can become a useful tool to the effective protection officer who sees from many reports various patterns forming regarding a problem area in the security of the facility. It may be something as innocuous as a side door being constantly left unlocked. You may only have noticed it once and not thought much about it. But if a number of reports pointing to the same event are filed, if suddenly becomes a serious matter, a breach in security that may indicate an employee is testing the security. 3. Statistical data-from the security reports that are generated, it is possible to compile statistics that may eventually assist in justification of existing or future expenditures in the areas of personnel, equipment, and facilities. 4. Indication of work-this means that there is a simple and effective way to check on the amount of work and the type of work each officer has been doing. REPORT ORGANIZATION The security report detailing a specific occurrence should contain an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. INTRODUCTION The introduction should let the reader know in the briefest manner what basically occurred. It should include the date and time, the location, people involved, and what happened. BODY The body will include a detailed chronological narrative of what actually occurred, observations made, and subsequent interviews and inquiries, witnesses' names, statements, and descriptions. CONCLUSION The conclusionwill show what follow-upactionsare still required and expected time of completion,preventative action taken, and a brief summary of any points that are not completely answered in the body of the report. All reports, no matter how seemingly insignificant, have value. The value is the information contained. It must be remembered that information is our greatest asset in security work. We must have it to operate effectively. It is of little value if it is retained by one individual. Through reports, this information is recorded and is disseminated to the security personnel. Every person who writes a report, fills out a form or makes a memorandum must question in their minds what essential ingredients are required. They must ask themselves this question: "Is my work clear, concise, accurate, and complete?" Every security report must be self-explanatory. It must clearly paint a word picture for the reader. If it does not, then the report has failed to serve its purpose. A wellwritten report must contain the following properties: 1. Clear-The language and format must be simple and to the point; facts must follow a logical sequence. 2. Legible-When handwritten or printed, the reader must be able to understand what is written; it must be easily read by others. 3. Complete-All available information will have been included in the report covering all six essential ingredients. 4. Accurate- All facts presented in the report must be accurate. To ensure accuracy, the officer must make the effort to check and double-check facts before committing them to writing. 5. Brief-Keep the report as brief as possible by eliminating excess words. The report needs to have all essential ingredients, with nothing more. 6. Re-read-Before submitting a report, re-read it and be sure that all the questions that could possibly be asked have been answered in the report. Do not assume that the report is complete until you have proofread it. If necessary, rewrite the report. 7. Prompt-Reports must be completed as soon as possible and never later than the end of the tour of duty. All reports must be handed in to the appropriate person as soon as possible in order that the information contained in the report can be acted upon quickly. Remember, you must satisfy the questioning mind of your supervisor, who does not see you at work, and the judgment of your abilities will come from reading your reports. Your personal evaluation is often based largely on the type of report you submit, so take care in the preparation of your security reports. A shift properly conducted, but inadequately reported, not only fails to provide the administration with the products needed for proper record-keeping, but reflects on the protection officer's total job performance. On the other hand, reports alone do not equate to an effective protection officer.

6 Field Notes and Report Writing 45!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!?. SECURITY QUIZ Field Notes and Report Writing?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. 1. Notes and reports can be considered tools of the blank.) 2. An officer's notes are a quick and accurate method of recording what he. (Fill in the blanks.) 3. Properly made notes will ensure that lost. (Fill in the blanks.) 4. It is important to double-check and - in the blank.) 5. When choosing a notebook, which of the following should be considered? 0 (a) Small enough to carry easily in clothing 0 (b) Pages numbered sequentially 0 (c) Durable cover 0 (d) All of the above 0 (e) None of the above 6. Notes will assist the officer in: 0 (a) preparing reports 0 (b) refreshing memory 0 (c) reflecting officer ability 0 (d) All of the above 0 (e) None of the above 7. Notes are important in ensuring that: 0 (a) facts will not be forgotten 0 (b) your supervisor knows you are doing a good job 0 (c) you will remember what shift you are working 0 (d) All the above 0 (e) None of the above to the protection officer. (Fill in the 8. The protection officer must be able to observe accurately and record observations on paper in a clear, concise, and logical manner. DTDF 9. Accurate reports can be traced back to poor notes. DTDF 10. Detecting contradictions in statements results from a protection officer's interrogation. DTDF and, and are not all facts before committing them to a report. (Fill