NCJ Number
76669
Date Published
1978
Length
208 pages
Annotation
This combination textbook-workbook presents 35 lessons designed to equip police officers and other criminal justice personnel with the skills necessary for producing effective written reports and other written communications.
Abstract
It is designed for use by police academies, criminal justice training facilities, and colleges. Individual practitioners may also use the manual as a self-study text, through which they may identify weaknesses and take immediate steps toward improvement. The first 15 lessons are designed to acquaint the reader with the requirements of effective written communication in criminal justice organizations. Individual lessons concern the basic mechanics of recording field notes, the six basic questions involved in report writing, establishing the elements of a crime, and purposes and limitations of reporting on forms. Other lessons concern the classification and recording of criminal modes of operation, the military time system, preparation of arrest reports, an efficient system of handwritten field reports, and preparation by probation officers of reports for court. Further lessons concern contemporary professional and street terminology, methods for achieving greater written accuracy and clarity, development of more precise and positive writing, specificity in descriptions, and the classification of ideas and sources of information. The volume's next eight lessons concern correct language usage, including grammar, sentence and paragraph structure, and vocabulary. The final 12 lessons are concerned with spelling, possessives, plurals, punctuations, and other aspects of language usage. A test is provided with each lesson. Test answers and an index are also provided.