Kinds of Police Reports a Legal Officer Might Need to Take

Life and death issues, legal matters, or personal freedoms-and yet offers such unsupervised autonomy. But while police officers are given nearly free rein to do their jobs as they think best, they are also expected to document their activities and their responses to public service calls on a continuous basis. Most officers who retire medically do so because of ailments related to their hearts, backs, and knees. But if you were to take an unofficial poll of working patrol officers, I'm sure the most common affliction among them would be writer's cramp! Even the simplest "routine" report may take one hour or more to complete.

Some officers may write one or two reports a week and others may have to complete three or four lengthy ones per shift. The number and type of reports usually relate to the area of town where the officer works (high-crime or not), the size of the city or county, and the value the officer s supervisors and commanders place upon pa-perform. Some police departments require their officers to write volumes of reports, covering even minor incidents like a stolen bicycle or a lost dog. Other departments are not so particular, and their apparent nonchalance about report-taking may have more to do with antiquated record-keeping systems than with lazy police administrators. From your standpoint as a paralegal, the more complete the records and the more up-to-date, efficient systems the better.


If you're curious, here's a short list of the variety of police reports an officer might need to take:
 

• Arrest reports
• Crime case reports
• Traffic collision reports
• Hit-and-run reports
• Driving under the Influence reports
• Under the Influence of Controlled Substance reports
• Runaway juvenile reports
• Found property reports
• Stolen vehicle reports
• Recovered stolen vehicle reports
• Impounded vehicle reports
• Death case reports
• Attempted suicide reports
• Officer-involved traffic collision reports
• Citv-equipment-involved traffic collision reports
• Damaged city equipment reports
• Injured or dead animal reports
• Police Report Quality

Like people in other professions, police officers are human beings with personal likes and dislikes about their jobs. Police report writing offers no exception. Some officers enjoy writing reports, carefully documenting their activities, painting "word pictures" of the events, and adding their own distinctive style and trademark to their efforts.

Officers of this type can quickly establish a good reputation among the people who read police reports all day-police supervisors, city and district attorneys, judges, defense attorneys, etc.

Other officers, however, don't particularly enjoy writing reports, and their distaste for this work is evident on the pages they complete. Poor reports-with missing or incomplete information, poor inter viewing or investigation procedures, and a sense of shoddy "word-smithing"-will haunt officers just as good reports will help their writers.

Just as good report writers develop a reputation among their colleagues, so do bad report writers. In some cases, prosecuting attorneys will even fail to "issue" or bring the case to court (even if they can win it) because of inferior reports. Officers who turn in poor-quality reports do more harm to their careers than they realize.

What many officers fail to recognize is that a police report, no matter how mundane it seems, serves as a public record. Because the wheels of our criminal justice system turn so slowly, some criminal and civil cases involving the police can go on for years and years, bouncing from one appeals court to the other. The report that documents these cases must be good enough to stand the test of time.

One single arrest report can go from the city prosecutor's office all the way to the United States Supreme Court. That report will carry that officer s name on it wherever it goes. Hundreds of people may read it and make pointed comments about its accuracy, content, style, and overall appearance. That's why police officer recruits are taught from their first day in the academy: "Write each and every report as if your career depended upon it; it just might."

Types of Police Reports

Every police officer in the country will readily admit that given a choice, he or she would rather write an arrest report than any other type. Most officers like these because the end product of an arrest report could mean that someone who belongs there goes to jail. One main complaint about police work as a profession is that there is very little "closure." This means that officers rarely get to see the fruits of their labors come full circle. Once they have written a burglary report or most other types of crime reports, they are out of the picture.

They never find out what happened. Did the detectives solve the case? Was a suspect later arrested, tried, and convicted? These are questions that rarely get answered satisfactorily. A morale-building aspect of writing arrest reports is the intense feeling of job satisfaction; someone who did something wrong gets his or her freedom taken away, at least temporarily.

On the other hand, burglary reports, traffic collision reports, non injury hit-and-runs, and petty crime cases involving juveniles, shop lifting, or vandalism usually round out the list of officers' least-favorite police reports to take and write. Again, the sense of accomplishment, closure, and efficient use of the officers' time come into play.

Burglary reports, those with very little physical evidence, no sus pect information, or no other viable clues or leads are often little better than the paper they're written on. Most people have no idea of the brand names, model numbers, or even colors for their stolen TVs, VCRs, and other appliances. Stolen jewelry, cash, silverware, etc. are usually hard to trace, identify, or recover.

Traffic collisions present a variety of other problems for officers arriving on the scene. The participants are usually mad at one another; the physical evidence is nearly always moved before the officers can look at it; and each party tells a different story about the course of events. Witnesses are sometimes reluctant to get involved, or worse, tell the officers what they heard instead of what they actually saw.

Many officers dislike taking traffic collision reports because in most cities these reports require them to gather more information than any other report. There are a myriad of boxes to be checked, names to be entered, insurance policy numbers, witness information, diagrams, injuries, and property damage to document, and statements to take. Even the smallest fender-bender report can take an inordinate amount of time to complete.

Non-injury hit-and-run reports are another unpopular police report. These cases typically involve supermarket parking lot swide-swipes, shopping mall parking lot door bangs, and late-night residen tial street body crunches. In each example, the officers have little to go on except for the physical evidence in front of them. With no eyewitnesses, an inexact time frame of several hours or even days, and no description of the other car except maybe the color, these cases are difficult to solve and even harder to prosecute.

City attorneys will secretly admit that because their offices are usually short-staffed and swamped with more serious cases, they won't even attempt to prosecute hit-and-run cases with no injuries. Officers dislike these cases from a report standpoint because they are usually required to complete two separate reports: one traffic collision report and one hit-and-run vehicle report. Since these accidents happen predominantly on private property, like parking lots and drive ways, it's often difficult to take measurements and to draw an accurate diagram of the scene. Coupled with the rare chance of catching the suspect or locating his or her car, it's no wonder these reports are frustrating.

But since nearly all insurance companies require some police report of the damage before they pay a claim, these reports are a necessity for the victim. Most police agencies realize this and will complete hit-and-run reports as a courtesy to the public. While most officers take satisfaction in arresting adult offenders and filling out the arrest forms, juvenile arrest cases are a completely different and more complex matter. In most minor juvenile cases (and in some overcrowded cities, major cases) the arresting officer must complete the report and then turn the offending juvenile over to his or her parents. Only rarely do juveniles go to a juvenile correctional center for admission. Usually the parents must come from home to the police station to get their son or daughter. As many juvenile arrests happen at night (vandalism, car theft, car burglaries, curfew violations, drinking, etc.), officers don't like having to rouse sleepy parents from bed and then wait around for them to get to the station.

Mix this long waiting and processing time with an uncooperative, unremorseful, or even hostile teenager, and you can understand why many officers dislike juvenile contact reports.

Rounding out the list of unpopular police reports are shoplifting and petty theft from drug and clothing stores. These cases nearly always involve juveniles which, as we have discovered, means the officer must wait for parents to arrive to take custody of their child. Further, most officers don't like having to complete a two-page crime case (for the crime of petty theft) and a four-page arrest report (for the shoplifter) for a case that the store will rarely prosecute. Most stores hit with these "shrinkage" cases merely ask for restitution for the goods and warn the thief never to enter the store again. This appearance of a "slap on the wrist" coupled with two hours of report writing only serves to anger most officers.

We know that most officers do not mind writing arrest reports because they can see their work come full circle; and we know that they don't like to write certain "go nowhere" reports. One thing, however, is clear: police officers will take all reports when asked to by the public. The ability to put his or her true feelings aside is the hallmark of a good officer. Most officers will take a report, if the facts and the environment warrant one, without regard to how they really feel about the case. They realize that a police report is valuable be cause it serves to document an incident, and it may be important later.

However, some less conscientious officers tend to believe that once a report leaves their ink-stained fingers they don't have to think about it again unless the case goes to court, and they don't give the report the attention it deserves. They forget what happens down the line once their paperwork gets to the Records Division, and they don't really care.

What these officers fail to appreciate is that there are many people whose careers relate indirectly to law enforcement. While these people don't wear badges, their work depends a great deal on the quality (and quantity) of police reports. In no case is this involvement more evident than with traffic accidents.

The Importance of Traffic Collision Reports

The list of interested parties-not just Driver One and Driver Two-includes insurance claims adjusters, accident investigators and recon-structionists, plaintiff and defense attorneys, paralegals, body shop owners, expert witnesses, medical doctors, and chiropractors.

Some officers have an attitude that says, "Who cares? I just write the accident report. After I do the investigation, I just ship it over to Records and let them sort it out."

Part of that is true, but the ramifications of the investigation in a typical traffic collision case go far beyond just two cars involved in a crash. There are many reasons why traffic collision reports are so time-consuming and full of what seems like minute detail. Most of those reasons revolve around civil liability issues and city, state, and federal governmental record-keeping requirements.

Most cities have a traffic engineering department ranging in size from one full-time employee to several hundred. One of the main reasons this unit even exists is to document the number, location, and type of automobile accidents in the city.

Two hundred accidents per year may not be too high for a bustling, mid-size city, but if 30 percent of those accidents happen at one intersection, then the potential for expensive lawsuits becomes a real issue. Consequently, municipalities rely on their police and sheriffs departments to document car accidents and help highlight any significant problem areas.

Similarly, each state has its own traffic accident documentation needs. Various state agencies relating to transportation safety keep track of accidents by city, county, region, and population. This affects long-range planning, state highway patrol manpower allocations, traffic safety standards, construction funding, and a host of other issues.

Lastly, all this information meanders its way through various bureaucracies until it reaches the federal level. Agencies like the Department of Transportation and the National Transportation Safety Board take a keen interest in city and state accident figures. This information is used to create accident prevention programs, federal safety guide lines for automobile manufacturers, and federal spending plans for cities, counties, and states.

Besides the impact upon transportation, safety, and planning agencies, traffic accidents usually involve injured people who call upon attorneys to settle their roadway differences. The information or lack thereof on a traffic collision report may mean the difference between a lifetime of uncompensated pain and suffering for an injured party or a huge insurance settlement for that person.

Attorneys rely on police report information as their "eyes and ears" at the scene of an accident. Sketchy, incomplete reports can hurt accident victims. Poor reports can open the municipality to liability and may even expose the officer to a civil damages claim.

A thorough police report, which includes the physical evidence, the insurance information, and the witnesses names, addresses, and phone numbers, can give enough information to make all parties in the case happy.

A police officer can develop a good reputation among supervisors and prosecutors as a skilled report writer. Likewise, personal injury or criminal defense attorneys become familiar with police reports and know who writes a good one and who does not. The knowledge of who wrote the report can influence their overall approach to the case. Good reports are harder to impeach than bad ones. Unfortunately, some officers and some police agencies don't put much effort into good report writing skills. Because report writing lacks that certain glamor appeal, it often gets short shrift in terms of academy training and advanced officer in-service training.

At a typical car accident scene, even veteran officers have a tendency to let some seemingly less important information fall through the cracks as they try to get everything done. An officer working a crash alone may have to direct traffic, order tow trucks, assist the injured, and interview witnesses. It's hard to remember to do every thing, especially during the stress of a car crash situation.

Police Reports and Attorneys

Officers can also neglect many important details while completing crime case and arrest reports. Faced with time pressures (like wanting to get off work on time or no overtime budget in their city) or hostile or uncooperative victims, witnesses, and suspects, officers may take shortcuts to save time and energy. These shortcuts may seem innocuous at first, but they can come back to haunt the officer weeks, months, or even years later in court.

Attorneys and their paralegals face a double-edged sword when it comes to the accuracy of police reports. Clearly, all those living in a community protected by police want safer streets, less crime, and a careful, humane, and aggressive police department to look after them. Yet, personal injury attorneys and criminal defense specialists make their livings reading, interpreting, and analyzing police reports for their clients. And they aren't reading these reports because they particularly enjoy them, but because they are looking for mistakes and errors of commission or omission that will help their clients and thereby earn their fees.

Few attorneys truly enjoy attacking police reports for errors, but it comes with the territory. The nature of practicing certain types of law calls for a careful examination of these official documents because, in many cases, they offer the only description of what actually happened at an accident scene, in a crime case, or at an arrest scene.

Personal injury auto accident attorneys look for mistakes relating to the officer's examination of the accident scene; his or her opinion of the primary cause; errors made about the physical evidence; incorrect witness statements; errors concerning related factors like the sobriety of the drivers, witnesses, or passengers; the position, location, and veracity of the witnesses; mistakes made in the scale diagram, etc.

Criminal defense attorneys read police arrest reports with an equally careful eye, looking for: points of error relating to probable cause; illegal search and seizure; illegal interrogations; damaged or illegally obtained evidence; and any other supposed flaw in the officer's arrest procedure in relation to a point of law that could offer a chance of acquittal for their clients. This careful scrutiny is just part of the job of being a lawyer. It is an exacting, important task often entrusted to a careful, thorough paralegal.

Getting Police Reports

Rare is the client who brings his or her police report to the initial attorneys' meeting. Most clients have no idea how to get a police report or, in some startling cases, even how to find the police station. A prospective client may also have no access to his or her police report because of time delays at the police agency. In many law enforcement departments, reports written on the day of the accident or arrest may not reach the Records Division for several days and won't be available to the participants until seven to 10 working days later, and then only between certain working hours on specified days of the week.

A report release waiver should always be a part of each "new client" file folder package. After the client signs this release form, make at least three or four extra copies for the file. These waivers are useful and may be mandatory in many states in order for you to get access to police, medical, and insurance records. Most of these agencies have strict rules that go with even stricter state and federal privacy of information laws. No release usually means no report.

Actually getting a copy of the client's police report can often be an exercise in supreme patience. Usually the job falls to the paralegal in a small law office or the designated "errand person" in a larger firm. If the task falls to you and you've been having some difficulty getting access to police reports, try the following steps to ease your way:

1. Make sure you have a signed and complete records release from the client.

2. Locate the report brfore you do anything. This is usually easier said than done. In some small counties, the sheriffs depart ment serves certain areas and the police department serves the rest. However, inside a large county the sheriff will serve the outlying areas (and run the jails), and several different, smaller police departments will serve their respective cities within the county. In an area the size of Los Angeles County, for example, you may have over 100 different law enforcement agencies besides the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department.

If you work in a multi-city community, like Los Angeles, San Diego, New York, New Jersey, Dallas-Fort Worth, or the Washington, DC, area, it's imperative that you pinpoint the exact location of the client's accident or arrest. Ask him or her what specific agency responded to the scene and who might have taken the report. Don't forget that the State Highway Patrol may also have jurisdiction. In some large-scale car crashes or multi-jurisdictional arrests, the client may not know exactly who took the report.

In other cases, the client may have been injured so se verely that he or she has no memory of the incident except that it happened. If you're not sure of the location, get a map and verify the street location. Either way, if you know which agency took the report, you can save yourself much time, gasoline, and shoe leather.

3. Call the police agency? ask for the Records Division, and have the client's last name, incident date, and type of incident ready to give to the clerk. Keep in mind that people in the Records Division are typically overworked and underpaid, doing a tedious, high-volume job. Be as polite and friendly as you can. Even the smallest human touch (a joke about the weather or the workload) can mean the difference between an "I can't find your report and I'm too busy to look" and ''Let me look a little harder for you." Making friends with these clerks is not a bad idea, especially if you expect to deal with them frequently for your report needs. Better to have a bureaucrat on your side than against you or merely indifferent.

4. When you give the client's information? be prepared to write down the case number. I'his will speed things when you go to pick up the report. Ask how much the report will cost. Some agencies charge by the page and others charge by the report. Ask if any photos came with the report and how much these will cost. Many local and state police agencies will take accident-scene photos in death or serious-injury car accident cases.

5. If you're not sure, ask the clerk for the hours of operation at the Records Division. Make sure you bring the client's release and a blank check to pay for the report. By filling in the check at the counter, you avoid problems related to page miscount or improper calculations of the fee.

6. When you get the report and before you leave, read it over quickly to be sure ifs the correct one. Make sure the copy is clear and legible and you can read every page. Check to see if the pages are in order and none are missing. Don't hesitate to ask for new copies if the report is fuzzy or incomplete.

7. Plan your visits carefully. The best times to go to Records are bright and early in the morning or during the hours between 1:30 and 3:00 p.m. Most people (paralegals included) try to go on their lunch hours, and this can mean a long and agonizing wait. If you have more than one case, try to get all the reports you need during one visit. If you call first, get the report numbers, and arrive at a strategic time of the day with the appropriate releases and checks, you should have few problems getting what you need.

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