ACT 235 Report Writing 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When documenting a use-of-force incident under Act 235, which element is most critical to include first in the narrative?
- Your personal opinion of the suspect
- The specific behavior or threat that prompted your response (Correct answer)
- A summary of the outcome only
- Witness names and contact details
Correct answer: The specific behavior or threat that prompted your response
The narrative must begin with the specific behavior or threat that justified the use of force to establish legal grounds.
Question 2: A security officer completes an incident report two days after the event. What is the primary problem with this delay?
- The report format may have changed
- Memory fades and critical details may be lost or inaccurate (Correct answer)
- Supervisors may not accept late reports
- The report must be notarized if delayed
Correct answer: Memory fades and critical details may be lost or inaccurate
Delayed reports risk memory distortion, which undermines accuracy and credibility in legal proceedings.
Question 3: Which of the following best describes 'objective' language in a security incident report?
- Language that reflects the officer's feelings about the incident
- Factual, observable descriptions free of personal bias or emotion (Correct answer)
- Technical legal terminology from the Pennsylvania Crimes Code
- Abbreviations and shorthand understood by law enforcement
Correct answer: Factual, observable descriptions free of personal bias or emotion
Objective language describes only what was observed, without interpretation or emotional coloring.
Question 4: Under Act 235 standards, who typically receives a copy of a lethal-force incident report?
- The suspect and their attorney only
- The officer's employer, local law enforcement, and potentially the Pennsylvania State Police (Correct answer)
- The media upon request
- Only the supervising security company
Correct answer: The officer's employer, local law enforcement, and potentially the Pennsylvania State Police
Lethal-force reports must be distributed to the employer and law enforcement, and may be reviewed by state authorities.
Question 5: What does the acronym 'FIDO' stand for in security report writing best practices?
- Facts, Incidents, Details, Observations
- File It, Delete Old, Organize
- First In, Data Out
- Findings, Investigation, Disposition, Outcome (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Findings, Investigation, Disposition, Outcome
FIDO (Findings, Investigation, Disposition, Outcome) is a structured framework for organizing security incident narratives.
Question 6: An officer writes 'the suspect looked guilty' in a report. This is an example of:
- Proper use of officer intuition
- Subjective language that should be replaced with specific observed behaviors (Correct answer)
- A required threat assessment notation
- Standard Act 235 report terminology
Correct answer: Subjective language that should be replaced with specific observed behaviors
Statements about how someone 'looked' are subjective; reports must describe specific, observable actions instead.
Question 7: When recording times in an Act 235 incident report, what format is strongly preferred?
- Approximate time ranges (e.g., 'around noon')
- Standard 12-hour clock with AM/PM
- 24-hour military time to avoid AM/PM ambiguity (Correct answer)
- Time zone abbreviations only
Correct answer: 24-hour military time to avoid AM/PM ambiguity
24-hour military time eliminates AM/PM confusion and is the standard in professional security and law enforcement reports.
ACT 235 Report Writing 2
When documenting a use-of-force incident under Act 235, which element is most critical to include first in the narrative?