"Sample Narrative of a Violent Domestic Incident Police Report"
Posted: Thursday, June 07, 2007
by Reinaldo Irizarry, Sr.
When a crime has been committed, there should always be the following elements and the "RULE" of the five "W's" and the one "H", of the crime for Police Officers or a Criminal Investigators to work with.
They are as follows:
- The Law that was broken or violated.
- The person committing the violation, the offender.
- The victim.
- The location or place of the offense.
- Who is it about, (Victim)?
- What happened, (The story)?
- When did it take place, (Date / Time)?
- Where did it take place, (Location / Address)?
- Why did it happen, (Reason)?
- How did it happen, (Actions)?
Regardless of the incident, when these elements come together, a crime has been committed.
The below Sample narrative covers all four elements and therefore should be accepted by Federal or State Prosecutor.
On July 10, 2005, at 9:00 PM, I was dispatched to a Violent Domestic call at 125 NW 111 Street Apt. #4A, South point, Miami, Florida. Upon arrival, I met a White Female, _________________________ _______________________, DOB, 00/00/1960. She was crying and had five large cuts on her right side of her face, and bleeding. I immediately requested a medical unit, and ID-Unit to respond for photos of her injuries.
While waiting for the medical unit, I asked what had happened, and how long ago had, it occurred. She said that it had just happened, ten minutes before I had arrived. She said her husband White Male, __________________ _________________, DOB; 00/10/1955 had come home drunk and because she did not have his food ready began to hit her on her face with his right fist resulting in many open cuts to her face. She said that there were no witnesses. I immediately requested a description and placed a (BOLO), BE ON THE LOOK OUT to all units in the area.
She described her husband as white male 6' feet tall, weighing about two-hundred pounds with a black mustache, and short black hair. He had a two (2") inch scar on the right cheek of his face. He had on a long sleeve white shirt and fade blue jeans. He was driving a 2006 black four (4)-door Chevy sedan with dark tinted windows with minor damage to the right front passenger door. It had Florida tag #000000. He left the scene going west on 111 Street and turn North on 2 Avenue.
When Fire Rescue arrived at 9:05 PM, Lt. Doe checked and treated the victim. He requested if she would go with them to the hospital but she refused. He further advised her to seek medical attention as soon as possible before her injuries became infected. She agreed. ID Unit C-10 arrived at 9:10 PM and took ten (10) photos of the victim's injuries.
I advised the victim on the procedure to follow involving a Domestic Incident. Per departmental policy, I suggested to seek a restraining order against her husband for protection. I gave her a Domestic Victims Pamphlet with all the phone numbers she needed to call. I then called and placed her in contact with a Victims Domestic Violent Advocate for further counseling. I then left and canvassed the area for the defendant with negative results.
Detective John Smith, Unit-109 from the Violent Domestic section, was notified at 9:20 PM of the incident. A copy of the report has been forwarded to him for further investigative follow-up and final disposition of the case. No further action taken.
This Article has been viewed 42,079 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)As a retired and former Homicide detective with the New York Police Department, I can assure anybody whose reading this article and has anything to do with police work to appreciate the way it was word it. It is very clear and to the point. In writing, this narrative of a hypothetical incident by the writer left very little room for errors. Most of the key elements of the crime were covered. It also projected a descriptive picture of the crime. It showed were the right questions were asked and the proper notification to the units in the area was put out in a timely fashion. Very good… To the point… Smart… Gallagher, NYPD Retired.
This is a very well written narrative of an incident. It can be a standard for Police Officers that are out in the field. (Retired Chief of Police)
Very well written. Thank you!!
As a retired police lieutenant from Southern California (Monterey Park P.D.), I am very happy with this narrative. I read police reports from officers for more than 20 years. I liked the ones that read like this one--direct, to the point, and containing all of the necessary facts. I teach police report writing at a private college now. This sample narrative will be helpful.
I am going to school for BCJ and this is very heplfull. Thank You Mayensy M
Very good....I am a criminal justice major and I had to write a police report recently yours really helped me alot. Thanks :) God Bless
very good well done!
Do you have any more samples of police reports? I would greatly appreciate it, thank you
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.