Goal
To teach students how to write a police report that causes the reader to believe that your actions were reasonable, appropriate, and defensible.
Outcome
Students who complete the course will:
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Discourage filings for motions to suppress evidence
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Encourage guilty pleas
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Serve as a roadmap for the prosecution
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Provide for a basis to fully refresh your memory for trial
Training Modules
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Learn the Three Golden Rules of report writing.
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Explain the four goals of a police report, along with the eight audiences who typically read your reports.
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Learn straight-forward and effective report writing techniques, including:
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Whether or not you should use CAPS
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When to use paragraphs
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Learn why a true professional writer uses topic headings to subdivide your report
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When to use bullet points to make important legal conclusions
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The value of identifying people by their role in the incident, not just their name
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How to write short and direct sentences
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Learn the seven elements of an effective synopsis
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Describe how a true chronological report is written
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Learn how to write a report summary (hint: it’s not like a college paper summary)
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Students will also learn how to articulate criminal elements in their reports, including two “hidden” elements for every crime
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Discuss how to effectively narrate on BWC without offending rules of evidence
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Learn the Rule of 5 for RS and PC articulation
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Learn how to “reverse engineer” case law in order to write better reports
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Explain how the importance of articulating legal conclusions
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Throughout the training students will do several engaging articulation exercises (this part is unique to our training)