A crime report is an account of a law enforcement agency’s investigation of a particular criminal act. It is a key piece of information that is used by police departments, forensic science professionals, and legal professionals to ensure justice is served in criminal cases. A well written crime report is an essential part of any law enforcement department’s tool kit.
The first step to writing a good crime report is identifying the who, what, when, where and why of an incident. Recruits are encouraged to focus on these elements when interviewing suspects and witnesses, as this will help them create a detailed report.
Whether a crime is interesting or significant also depends on its context. A burglary that may be just one of hundreds in a city will have less news value than a car theft that occurs in a high-crime area and is attributed to gang activity. Crime stories should be about people. They should be about the victim, the perpetrator or the person who spotted a suspect and reported the crime to authorities.
Timely crime reporting is a necessary element of improving state and local crime trends. The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) has been working closely with law enforcement agencies to improve the timeliness of crime data submissions and to ensure that timely reporting is a requirement of receiving DCJS anti-crime grant funds. Each month, DCJS publishes preliminary statewide crime statistics on its website, eJusticeNY.