NPOST Incident Report Writing 5

Question 1

Chain of custody documentation in a report ensures that:

Accepted Answer

Evidence handling is tracked from collection to court

Answer

The officer gets credit for the arrest

Answer

The report is shorter

Answer

Witnesses remain anonymous

Question 2

An officer writes: 'The driver was obviously drunk.' A better, factual statement would be:

Accepted Answer

The driver had slurred speech, red eyes, and a strong odor of alcohol

Answer

The driver was clearly intoxicated

Answer

The driver seemed drunk to me

Answer

The driver was a drunk

Question 3

Why must an incident report avoid spelling and grammatical errors?

Accepted Answer

Errors can undermine the officer's credibility and the report's clarity

Answer

They have no effect on the report

Answer

Spelling is graded by supervisors only

Answer

Grammar is illegal to ignore

Question 4

When listing property in a report, values should be:

Accepted Answer

Recorded as reported or reasonably estimated and noted as such

Answer

Inflated to justify charges

Answer

Left blank to avoid errors

Answer

Guessed without explanation

Question 5

What is the best way to handle hearsay information in a report?

Accepted Answer

Attribute it clearly to the source who provided it

Answer

Present it as the officer's direct observation

Answer

Leave it out even if relevant

Answer

Record it as confirmed fact

Question 6

A complete incident report narrative should answer which set of questions?

Accepted Answer

Who, what, when, where, why, and how

Answer

Only who and what

Answer

Only the officer's opinion

Answer

When and weather only

Question 7

If an officer needs to add information after submitting a report, the proper method is to:

Accepted Answer

File a supplemental report referencing the original

Answer

Rewrite the original report secretly

Answer

Edit the original without noting changes

Answer

Verbally tell a supervisor only