Criminal Justice 2011

1. Criminal Justice 2011 Chapter 4: The Rules of Narrative Writing Just the Facts

2. Facts and Opinions • Facts- • Things that can be proven • Opinions- • Beliefs, someone’s viewpoint, a guess

3. The Rules of Narrative Writing • Agency differences • There are many methods used to write reports • Some systems are controlled by the automated reporting system requirements • Face sheet and other fill in the blank reports may have specific requirements

4. The Rules of Narrative Writing • A workable method • A continuous, free-flowing, narrative style of writing with no subheadings, sidebars, labels or other text dividers • This method will work for all investigative writing needs

5. First Rule • Write in the First Person • Refer to yourself as “I “or “me” • Clearly identifies you as the writer • Clean and simple

6. Second Rule • Past Tense • Events you are writing about are part of history • You can’t change them so write about them in past tense • This is verb tense most commonly used to write about things that have occurred

7. Third Rule • Active Voice • Shows who is doing an action • Tells who is doing the action before describing what the action is • Usually clearer and more informative • Usually a shorter way of writing than using the Passive Voice

8. Fourth Rule • Chronological Order • Start all Narratives with the date, time and how you got involved • Starting a report can be the most difficult part • This provides a consistent way of getting started • Allows multiple reports to be compiled in a time line • Not all reports have face sheets-this allows everyone to begin the same way • Clearly establishes the reason the investigation has been started

9. Fifth Rule • Short, Clear, Concise and Concrete words • Abstract vs. Concrete words • Abstract words can have multiple meanings • Concrete words have a clear meaning and little or no misinterpretation of their use • Pick short words-the shorter the better

10. Other Considerations • Spelling • Abbreviations • Last Names • Radio Code and Jargon • Use of Quotes

11. CHAPTER SUMMARY 4.1 • Use facts, not opinions 4.2 • Start the narrative of all reports the same way 4.3 • Avoid using abbreviations 4.4 • Refer to people by their last names 4.5 • Avoid using titles such as Mr. Mrs. And Ms.

12. CHAPTER SUMMARY 4.6 • Write in the first person 4.7 • Use the past tense 4.8 • Start with the date, time and how you got involved 4.9 • Use the active voice 4.10 • Use short, simple, concise and concrete words

13. CHAPTER SUMMARY 4.11 • Keep radio code and jargon out of the report 4.12 • Use direct quotes only when needed