Completion of Police Crime Incident Report Form
PURPOSE OF ASSIGNMENT: To allow students the opportunity to practice completing a Police Crime Incident Report form with appropriate information.
ASSIGNMENT DESCRIPTION: Students will review the completed example in the text book and then complete the form using the fact scenario provided.
DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENTS:
• Read the Criminal Mischief, Arson scenario provided in the Weekly folder of Blackboard
• Using the police incident report form (located in chapter 4 and in the resources section of the online book) type in your information about the scenario and the narrative.
• At the bottom of the form is the “save as pdf” button. Click the button and another window will pop up with a print option, on that same window is a drop down menu.
• Select the drop down menu and click the “save as pdf” button, it will now allow you to save under your desired file name.
• Upload your file to TURNITIN. Reminder: you need to be using Google Chrome in order for this to work correctly.
There are several points to keep in mind as you begin structuring and writing a report. Some of them are:
1. Formulate a plan as to what you are going to write in your report.
2. Include facts of the crime or incident as they are given to you.
3. Do not put your opinion in the report.
4. Keep racism, ageism, sexism, and other inappropriate information out of your report.
5. Do not use police jargon or slang, unless you are quoting someone directly.
6. Do not add words that are not needed, such as “the below officer” or “the undersigned officer.” You want to use “I” when you are writing your reports. We already know it is “you” who wrote the report.
7. If you are going to put something in your report specifically that a person said then you will want to use quotation marks.
Example: The witnesses said the suspect told her he would, “Kill her and her whole family if she called the police.” Then he fled the residence.
8. Check your spelling; computer programs such as Word have a spell check program. Use it, but make sure it is giving you the correct word you want to spell, and not a different homonym.
9. Do not use abbreviations unless they are commonly accepted abbreviations.
10. Avoid use of contractions.
11. Make sure you are using proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar throughout your report.
12. Use capital letters for the last names of individuals referenced in the report. This will make it easier for your reader to determine who the involved parties are in your report.
IN ORDER TO BE CONSIDERED FOR FULL POINTS
• Narrative is specific and factual – 5 points
• All relevant case information utilized – 5 points
• Military time –avoids confusion with AM/PM – 1 point
• Page numbers included such as Page 1 of 2, etc. – 1 point-
• Reporting officer/Badge number included – 1 point
• Use of proper spelling/grammar/punctuation – 3 points
• If you cross anything out it must be initialed -1 point
• Last names of involved individuals are always capitalized for emphasis- 1 point
• Use only commonly accepted abbreviations – 1 point
• Avoid use of contractions- 1 point
• Always keep in mind that you are trying to answer the typical questions of who, what, when, and where. You may be able to answer the why, but that will depend largely on what type of incident you are writing about and what information you have available at the time of your report.
GRADING: By successfully completing this assignment, each student may earn a total of 20 points.
LATE ASSIGNMENTS – Will not be accepted.
Criminal Mischief, Arson Call:
You are a Syracuse, New York police. You have been dispatched, along with the Syracuse Fire Department (SFD), to the Syracuse Islamic Mosque located at 1865 Rose Hill (zip code 13201) in reference to a burglar alarm and a dumpster fire on the property. Complaint number is 16-34221.
Upon arrival, at 3:35AM, you meet with Mr. Abdul Sattar Afifi, who runs the mosque. The fire department is already at the scene and is putting out a fire in a rollaway dumpster that is approximately 40 feet from the building. Mr. Afifi tells you he had a call from the alarm company about a motion sensor being set off inside the mosque. He lives just a few blocks down the road, and when he arrived he found the dumpster on fire. There are also three windows on the front side of the mosque that have been broken out. He did not find any damage inside the mosque, just the broken windows. There are some words spray painted on the back of the mosque. He leads you through the mosque to the rear of the building. Spray painted in black on the back of the vinyl-sided building are the words, “Next time this burns 2!!”, “Remember 9-11”, “Terrorist house.”
Mr. Afifi states those words were not there when he left the prior evening. He states he left around 7:00PM and was the last one to leave the building. Your dispatch time is 3:27AM, and your return to service time is 4:25AM. You are in district 12. Mr. Afifi stated they have had some threats at the mosque over the last few weeks, and that they filed a police report on each of those occasions. This is the first time they have had graffiti or damage done to the building. The threats were messages on their voicemail and a threatening letter left in their mailbox. You explain to him that this will most likely be considered a hate crime, and a detective will be in touch with him with additional questions. Mr. Afifi’s cell number is 703-332-7845; the phone number for the mosque is 703-885-9746. He lives at 8814 Market Way, Syracuse, NY.
Captain Desoto from the SFD advises that the fire is out however, it would difficult to know how it started, but they do consider it arson. The firefighters did locate a burn trail from the dumpster to the alley behind the mosque, as if someone poured a flammable liquid inside the dumpster and led a trail from the dumpster approximately 20 feet away, indicating the fire may have been set that way that way. The fire chief will notify the state fire marshal to investigate the circumstances of the fire.
Mr. Afifi states he will contact some friends to help board up the windows. He does not know of anyone who would have started the fire or spray painted the building. The mosque does not any CCTV cameras for the building. Mr. Afifi works at the mosque Monday through Friday from 10AM-6PM, most days, but sometimes he works later and has been known to work weekends.
Fill out the appropriate report form for this scenario. Use today’s date for your report. Make up a badge number. Engine 7 and Squad 5 of the Syracuse Fire Department responded to the scene.
