Writing for Law Enforcement

Though paperwork is commonly perceived as drudgery among law enforcement professionals, good writing is actually essential to building strong cases and supporting various legal actions.Writing for Law Enforcement is directed specifically to professionals in law enforcement and criminal justice who want to improve their writing skills. This book provides concise, practical chapters on conducting interviews, writing various kinds of investigative reports, writing several types of memos, taking essay exams, and giving oral presentations. The introductory chapters cover the principles of good writing and offer strategies to help improve writing and organizing skills. Chapter-by-chapter, the author then takes readers through the process of investigative report writing and offers several specific examples on how to craft investigative documents. The book also features an extensive bibliography of print and on-line sources related to law enforcement and criminal justice, and also overviews APA documentation style. Law enforcement officials.

Preface

vii

Writing Techniques to Increase Learning

1

(15)

A Question of Attitude: Writing for Yourself

2

(1)

Writing and Memory: Taking Good Notes

2

(2)

Tools

3

(1)

Using Visual Aids, Body Language, Prewritten Outlines, Agendas

3

(1)

The Post-Event Summary

4

(1)

Writing to Improve Reading: Marginal and Final Comments

4

(3)

Making Annotation Effective through Critical Questions

5

(2)

Writing to Improve Reading: Keeping the Reading Response Log

7

(2)

Tools

8

(1)

Techniques

8

(1)

Writing to Improve Observation

9

(3)

Writing Dialogue: An Exercise for Listening

10

(1)

Close Description of Objects: An Exercise for Viewing

10

(1)

Describing a Process: An Exercise in Narrative

11

(1)

Writing to Experiment with Style and Format

12

(3)

Experimenting with New Technology

12

(1)

Necessary Experimentation: Reaching New Audiences

13

(2)

Going Public: From Writing for Yourself to Writing for Others

15

(1)

The Writing Process: Predrafting, Drafting, Revising, Editing

16

(18)

General Principles, But No Single Formula

16

(1)

``Prewriting'' and Data Collection

17

(3)

Doing a Dummy Draft

18

(1)

Predrafting and Specific Writing Tasks

18

(2)

Drafting: A Change in Attitude

20

(1)

How Rough Is the Rough Draft?

20

(1)

Planning the Draft: The Three Keys

21

(4)

Formatting the Draft

21

(2)

Audience: Drafting for Your Reader

23

(1)

Knowing the Purpose(s) of Your Draft

24

(1)

Effective Revision

25

(4)

Why Do Writers Revise?

25

(1)

Techniques for Effective Revision

25

(4)

Editing the Revised Draft

29

(5)

Three Common Errors in SEAE Grammar (Syntax) and Usage

30

(1)

Two Common Errors in Punctuation

31

(1)

Two Common Spelling Errors

32

(1)

A Final Note on Proofreading

33

(1)

Writing Investigative Reports: Conducting Research

34

(8)

Prologue: The Need for a New Perception

34

(1)

Writing: Real Police Work

35

(1)

Purpose and Style in Investigative Reporting

35

(1)

The Interview

36

(6)

Fundamentals of Interviewing

37

(1)

Preparation for the Interview

37

(2)

Listening

39

(1)

Note Taking during Interviews

40

(2)

Writing Investigative Reports: Predrafting Considerations

42

(6)

The Importance of Written Reports

42

(1)

Predrafting/Preparation

43

(1)

Readers and Their Roles

43

(1)

Content: What to Leave In and What to Take Out

43

(1)

Getting Started

44

(4)

Outlining and Other Ways to Defeat Writer's Block

44

(2)

Freewriting

46

(2)

Writing Investigative Reports: Format

48

(10)

Selecting from the Case File

48

(1)

Arranging the Documents

49

(1)

Cover Memo and Table of Contents

49

(1)

Witnesses Section

50

(1)

Other Tips for Writing Component Parts of Reports

50

(4)

Using First Person

51

(1)

Using Preambles

51

(3)

Three Issues: Relevance, Order, Lists

54

(2)

Relevance

54

(1)

Order of Information

54

(1)

Handling Lists of Information

55

(1)

Obtaining Feedback on Drafts

56

(2)

Writing Investigative Reports: Pitfalls

58

(7)

Policespeak

58

(1)

Tactical Talk

59

(1)

Wordiness

60

(1)

Jargon

60

(1)

Prejudices

61

(1)

Assumptions

62

(1)

Judgments

62

(1)

Misuse of Quotes

63

(2)

To Conceal Vagueness

63

(1)

To Justify Obscenities

63

(2)

Writing Memos

65

(12)

The Need for Strong Internal Communication

65

(1)

Memo Format

66

(2)

Headings

66

(1)

References

67

(1)

Getting to the Point

67

(1)

Copies

67

(1)

Sample Memo

68

(1)

Purposes/Types of Memos

68

(5)

Memos to Document

69

(1)

Memos to Explain

70

(1)

Memos to Request or Propose

71

(1)

Memos to Persuade

71

(2)

Adopting a Point of View

73

(4)

Readers and Personality Type

73

(1)

Understanding Your Own Personality

74

(1)

The Personalities of Proposal Readers

75

(2)

Oral Presentations

77

(11)

Written Preparation for the Talk

77

(5)

Note Taking and Other Predraft Exercises

78

(1)

Writing to Anticipate Audience Questions

78

(1)

Careful Outlining

79

(3)

Scripting the Talk

82

(1)

Reading Your Talk

83

(4)

Written Visual Aids

84

(1)

Tips for Effective Speaking

85

(2)

Further Sources We Suggest

87

(1)

Guides to Good Oral Presentations

87

(1)

Guides to Effective Design of Graphics to Aid Speaking

87

(1)

Taking Exams

88

(12)

Multiple-Choice Exams, Tests, and Quizzes

88

(1)

Final Preparation Exercise

88

(1)

Writing Short, Timed Responses: The PRO Method

89

(2)

Writing Timed Eassys

91

(9)

Step 1: Understand Purpose

92

(2)

Step 2: Recall All Pertinent Information

94

(2)

Step 3: Drafting the Information in an Organized Format

96

(1)

Suggestions for Clear Organization

97

(3)

Finding and Citing Sources for Research

100

(15)

Law Enforcement/Criminal Justice Bibliography

100

(3)

Books

100

(2)

Dictionaries and Thesauri

102

(1)

Directories and Statistics

102

(1)

Encyclopedias, Guides, and Almanacs

102

(1)

Literature Guides and Bibliographies

102

(1)

Periodicals and Journals

103

(1)

World Wide Web Addresses

103

(1)

Citing Sources Using APA (American Psychological Association) Style

103

(12)

APA In-Text Citation Guide

104

(3)

APA ``Works Cited'' Format

107

(8)

Index

115

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Writing for Law Enforcement

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials