Effective Police Report Writing, Tip #6

Spelling Counts!

Professionals should know how to correctly spell and pronounce the technical words of their profession. You wouldn't give much credibility to a physician who incorrectly spelled body parts, nor would you give much credibility to a scientist who couldn't pronounce scientific terms. To a large degree, the prosecutor, the defense attorney, the judge and even the jury judge you by not only the completeness of your report, but also your ability to write clearly and correctly. The defense will often highlight errors of spelling in reports by enlarging the report, and having the officer circle the errors. As an example, I saw a defense attorney do this by having the DRE officer highlight in red the "word" Cannabus on the report. I guarantee you that the DRE will never forget that Cannabis is NOT a bus!