The report is lacking sufficient information and is written in an unacceptable, casual style. Read the report as an example of a poorly written document, note items that are vague and/or inaccurate. Then prepare to rewrite the memo in an acceptable style. Refer to your textbook (A Street Officer's Guide to Report Writing), Chapter 5, in which accuracy is discussed.

and submit a memo to be sent to the office of the District Attorney requesting their assistance in pursuing your investigation. Be sure to include all accurate and pertinent information; avoid using vague and inaccurate information. (Appendix B: Professional Letters and Memoranda and Proposals in your textbook offers tips for writing a professional memo.)

Report Lacking Sufficient Information and Unacceptable Casual Style

Officer Robert Smithson: Dispatch sent me to 2754 Wilder Street re: a report of a woman down in the cross walk. I arrived at the scene at 12:00 PM and found a woman lying in the crosswalk. She was bleeding from her ears, nose, moth and both sides of her face. She was unconscious.

There were two people trying to help the woman. I asked them to stay so I could find out what they saw, but first I needed to call an ambulance. It took several minutes for the ambulance to arrive and then the medics put the lady on a stretcher and into the ambulance. They said they would take her to Heald Hospital, but due to her condition if she lived it would be quite some time before she could give a statement. When they left I asked the young woman what she knew. Her name was Violet Anderson and she lived across the street in a second floor apartment and was just looking out the window. She saw a man approach an older woman who was walking in the crosswalk toward the grocery store, carrying a large purse. He came from across the street. And when he came to the woman he hit her with his right fist and she fell to the pavement. The man grabbed her purse and ran north up the street. He was wearing a hoodie and she could not tell his race or age.

The guy said he had been down the street almost a block. He, too, saw a man wearing a hoodie cross the street toward a woman. He saw some motion and the woman fell to the ground. There may have been a blow, but he was too far away to be sure.

When he got to the woman the man had ran away to the north. He was going to call for an ambulance when a police car suddenly arrived.

No one else was in the area so I worked with John and Violet and cleaned up the blood.

I then notified dispatch that the woman had been taken to the hospital by ambulance. But that she would not be able to make a statement for some time.

I then notified dispatch that I was back in service and would be available for assignment. A report will be filed at the end of my shift.