CDI 5 PRELIM NOTES PDF

CDI 5 PRELIM NOTES TECHNICAL ENGLISH 1 (Investigative Report Writing and Presentation) Definition of Technical Writing:  The word “technical” comes from the Greek word “techne” that means “skill”.  Techn...

CDI 5 PRELIM NOTES TECHNICAL ENGLISH 1 (Investigative Report Writing and Presentation) Definition of Technical Writing:  The word “technical” comes from the Greek word “techne” that means “skill”.  Technical writing according to Vicente et al., (1997) is also termed as Report Writing, which is the giving of an account or description of an aspect of a particular art, science, trade, or profession learned by experience, study, observation, or investigation.  Basing from this definition, technical writing could also be specifically related in the field of criminology as the said field involves writing of police reports and other technical output, which are results of careful investigation.  As stated further by Vicente et al., (1997) technical writing also involves three elements, namely: 1. the subject matter, 2. the study or the investigation, and 3. the organization and presentation of the information gathered.  In the same manner, these three elements could be best exemplified when an investigator writes an investigation report, he then makes a careful investigation, and studies through observation, analysis, experimentation, and instrumentation. These are done in order to support and present factual information regarding assigned cases. The investigator then moves into organizing and presenting all the gathered facts in adherence to the standards required in the uniform reporting of the police system.  Another meaning of the word technical writing was defined by Alcantara and Espina (2003) they said that it is a communication in any field where the primary aim of which is to convey a particular piece of information, for a particular purpose, to a particular group of readers. Therefore, the technical writer is expected to be objective, clear and accurate, concise and unemotional in the presentation of facts. Two important factors in technical writing: 1. Subject Matter – this refers to the objective information that the writer wants to convey. 2. Purpose – refers to the goals that the writer wants to achieve for himself and his readers after presenting his written output. The Technical Communication:  For communication to be effective, it requires quality content, language, and format. The most important aspect of communication is to disseminate information, and this is where the written or the oral form of communication comes in.  Technical communication is the process of conveying technical information through writing, speech, and other medium to an intended audience. Specifically, in law enforcement and its related agencies, law enforcers communicate with each other using coded messages, they communicate in jargons that they can decipher. In addition, they write and submit reports using technical terms that are understood within the realm of a specific field of specialization.  The main function of technical communication is to convey specific messages to specific readers. Technical Communicator:  A technical communicator is a person whose job involves technical communication.  They are those who design reading materials, edit proposals, write manuals, create web pages, write lab reports, write newsletters, and submit various kinds of professional documents.  In addition, they are responsible for writing text that are accurate, readable, acceptable and helpful to its intended audience. Characteristics of a good technical communicator: A good technical communicator is a person who has developed his good writing skills, has mastered all the conventions of the written language, and has good characteristics. These good characteristics are listed below:  Knows his audience well – a technical writer who knows his/her audience well, and is in the position to suggest and implement solutions to problems that nobody else identifies.  Serves as a “go-between” – whenever one group of people has specialized knowledge that other groups do not share; the technical writer bridges the gap.  A generator of truth – a technical writer chooses what will be written, with the full knowledge that later readers will depend on the accuracy of what has been written.  A good teacher – he/she excels at explaining difficult concepts for readers who will have no time to read twice.   Has an excellent eye for details – he/she knows punctuations, syntax, and style, and can explain the rules governing them.  Knows how to coordinate – though he works on his own much of the time, he also knows how to coordinate with the collaborative work of graphic artists, programmers, printers, and various subject matter experts.  Has enough expertise – he is expert in understanding the audience’s background and needs.  Knows how to gather information – he has a nose for information from existing documents and from subject matter experts.  He is respected and credible – he is a person with credibility, and also a valuable and reliable source of information.  Has a strong language skill – he understands the highly evolved conventions of modern technical communication. Use of technical documentation: A technical documentation is useful if readers can understand and act on them without having to decode wordy and ambiguous words. Its services comprise of all activities, means, and system that provide information to its specialized fields. Review on parts of speech and grammar: Seven parts of speech 1. Nouns: "A noun is a person, place or thing". Nouns are naming words. King, Alfred, crown, kingdom, power are all example of nouns. 2. Verbs: "Verb: That's what's happening." Verbs are action words. Ruled, wears, carries, to wander, fought are all verbs. 3. Pronouns: Pronouns are used in place of nouns. He, she, it, who, whom, that, which, we, they, us are all pronouns. 4. Adjectives: Adjectives are words used to describe nouns. Royal, golden, lofty, powerful, hardy, strong are all adjectives. 5. Adverbs: Adverbs are words used to describe verbs or adjectives. Slowly, steadily, angrily, powerfully, and very are all adverbs. 6. Prepositions: Prepositions are short explanatory words that indicate things such as location, direction and possession: with, to, under, over, by, for, are all prepositions. 7. Conjunctions: Conjunctions are connecting words: and, but, or, nor are all conjunctions. Word Functions  Different words, depending on where they are in the sentence, or what endings we attach to them, perform different functions in a sentence. Simplified for the purpose of this grammar, these functions are: 1. Subjects: The subject is the "doer" or "actor." In the sentence "Alfred ate the cakes," "Alfred" is the subject. 2. Verbs: The verb is the action being done. In the sentence "Alfred ate the cakes," "ate" is the verb. 3. Direct Objects: The direct object is the receiver of the action. In the sentence "Alfred ate the cakes," "cakes" is the direct object." 4. Indirect Objects: The indirect object is the secondary receiver of the action. In the sentence "Alfred carried the sword to the battle," "battle" is the indirect object (and "sword," which is receiving the action, is the direct object). 5. Modifiers: Modifiers describe subjects, verbs and objects. Adjectives describe subjects and objects; adverbs describe verbs. In the sentence "Alfred quickly killed the Viking with his old sword," "quickly" is an adverb that modifies "killed" (it explains how the killing was done) and "old" is an adjective the modifies "sword," (it describes the condition of the sword). 6. The Genitives are an important sub-set of modifiers in Old English. Genitives are possessives: they indicate ownership. A noun with a genitive ending, 's, is used as an adjective to modify another noun. A good rule of thumb for dealing with the genitive is to translate it as "of X" where "X" is the noun that has the genitive ending. In the sentence "Alfred's sword was old," "Alfred's" is a genitive: a noun (Alfred) has had the genitive ending ('s) added to it. 7. Function Words: What we are calling "function words" are prepositions and conjunctions that don't mean anything in themselves but serve to indicate the ways other words relate to each other. Prepositions indicate relationships, and conjunctions join things together. In the sentences "Alfred fought with the Vikings and won the battle by the thorn tree," "with" and "by" are prepositions that indicate relationships where the battle was fought and whom it was fought against and the conjunction "and" indicates that two parts of the sentence are joined together. Definition of Police Report  It is any written matter prepared by the Police involving their interaction with the community.  The exact narration of facts discovered during the course of crime investigation which serves as a permanent written record for future reference.  It is a permanent written report of police activities classified as informal and formal which communicates important facts concerning people involved in criminal activities. Police Report Definition by Dr. Oscar Soriano According to him, report is basically a story of actions performed by man. A police report is a chronological or step-by-step account of an incident that transpired in a given time, at a given place. He also defined it as an account of an investigation, of an official statement of facts. Police reports results from the fact that someone has asked for them and needs them for immediate or future use. In any event, police reporting has become one of the most significant processes in modern police operations. Purposes of Police Reports  Written reports serve as raw materials from which records system are made.  It reveals the direct relationship between the efficiency of the department and the quality of its reports and reporting procedures.  Used to guide police administrators for policy formulation and decision making.  It is also serves as a yardstick/gauge for efficiency evaluation of police officers.  Guide Prosecutors and Courts in the trial of criminal cases investigated by the Police. Criteria to be considered in Report Writing 1. Clarity – the police report must be clear and it should be written directly and easy to understand. 2. Accuracy – the police report must conform with the established rules of syntax, format, spelling and grammar. The data presented must be precise and the information given must be factual. 3. Brevity – the police report must be short, with simple sentences, common words and easy to understand. 4. Specificity – the police report must be specific by using concrete examples. A good descriptive narration gives life to the written words through particular terms that project movements, quantities, and shapes. 5. Completeness – the police report must be complete by using the 5W’s and 1H. 6. Timeliness – the police report must be submitted in time. As much as possible immediately after the incident has happened.  7. Security – the police report must be considered classified, hence, transmission, handling, and access to these reports should be limited only to police personnel who are granted by higher authority security clearance. 8. Impartiality – the police report must know the receiving office needs to know. Important data must not be omitted or added to conceal responsibilities, to impute liabilities or to favor parties. WHAT IS NEEDED IN PREPARING AND WRITING A REPORT?  The police writer will make an outline from the facts of the case and follow chronological sequence. After an outline has been identified they will make sure that their notes will be organized and reviewed first for completeness prior to the actual writing of the report.  The outline should answer 5Ws and 1H. The facts presented in Report Writing should prove the importance of police report.  Formal investigation requires the application of basic standards such as clear, pertinent, brief, complete, current, accurate, fair, properly classified, informative, and objective.  It should be submitted in proper format and should be on time. WHAT ARE THE CLASSIFICATION OF POLICE REPORT? a. Performance report - contains information as to the status of an activity/activities or operations. b. Fact-finding report - involves the gathering and presentation of data in logical order, without an attempt to draw conclusions. c. Technical report - presents data on a specialized subject. d. Problem-determining report - attempts to find the causes underlying a problem or to find whether or not a problem really exists. e. Problem solution report - analyses the taught process that lies behind the solution of a particular problem. HOW ARE POLICE REPORTS CATEGORIZED? a. OPERATIONAL REPORTS - Include those relating to the reporting of police incidents, investigation, arrests, identification of persons, and a mass of miscellaneous reports necessary to the conduct of routine police operations. b. INTERNAL BUSNIESS REPORTS - Relate to the reporting necessary to the management of the agency and include financial reports, personnel reports, purchase reports, equipment reports, property maintenance reports and general correspondence. c. TECHNICAL REPORTS - Presents data on any specialized subject, usually relate to completed staff work and add to the specific knowledge necessary to proper functioning of police management. d. SUMMARY REPORTS - Furnish intelligence information necessary to the solution of crime accident and police administrative problems. WHAT ARE THE ELEMENTS FOR A CRIME TO HAPPEN? For any crime to happen, there are three elements or ingredients that must be present at the same time and place. These are the MOTIVES, the INTRUMENTALITIES and the OPPORTUNITIES. MOTIVES  these are the reasons or causes why a person or group of persons perpetuate a crime. Examples are disputes, economic gain, jealousy, revenge, insanity and thrill. Intoxication, drug addiction and many others. INSTRUMENTALITIES  these are the means or instruments used in the commission of the crime. It could be firearm, a bolo, a fan knife, an icepick, poison or obnoxious substance, a crow bar, a battery-operated hand drill for carnapping, motor vehicle, etc. Both the Motives and Instrumentalities belong to and are harbored and wielded respectively by the criminal. OPPORTUNITIES  It consist of the acts of omission and/or commission by a person (the victim) which enable another person or group of persons (the criminal/s) to perpetrate the crime. Illustrative examples include leaving one’s home or car unattended for a long time, walking all alone in a well-known crime prone alley, wearing expensive jewelries in slum area, readily admitting a stranger into one’s residence and the like. Opportunity is synonymous with carelessness, acts of indiscretion and lack of crime prevention-consciousness on the part of the victim. Whether the crime incident would happen or not, it will depend on the presence and merging of MOTIVES, INSTRUMENTALITIES and OPPORTUNITIES at the same time and the same place. The absence of any one ingredient, out of the three, will mean that there shall be no crime. WHAT IS POLICE VISIBILITY? When we talk about police visibility, we should not limit ourselves to just presence or being actually physically present. Police Visibility is more than that. WHAT ARE THE THREE THINGS THAT WE SHOULD CONSIDER IN POLICE VISIBILITY? a. Physical Presence, b. The Patrolling Scheme, and c. Response 1. PHYSICAL PRESENCE - At the area or at the crime scene is very important. It is the immediate feedback to the public that their police are on the job. Although police may be actually present in the area but because oftentimes, they are not in proper police uniform, the community fails to physically see our police presence in the area. How many times have we seen police personnel when responding are in civilian clothes, in T-shirts and shorts even? Because of the non-wearing of uniform, the police are seen by the community to look more like criminals than police. Surprisingly too, the community when ask to pinpoint the nearest Police unit cannot actually locate their nearest police units or headquarters. There should be standard police sign easy to identify and recognize. 2. PATROLLING SCHEME - Various patrol components are joined together to complement and support one another to ensure a widespread and redundant coverage. They optimize the deployment of various patrol elements to have a truly effective crime deterrence. 3. POLICE RESPONSE – this is the third aspect of police visibility where the PNP is most often criticized. It should be proper, adequate and that it really satisfies the requirement, and most especially be timely to compensate for non-presence. The ideal time for Police Response is 5 minutes after a specific incident has happened. CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION - It is the collection and analysis of facts/truth about persons, things, places, subject of a crime to identify the guilty party, locate the whereabouts of the guilty party, and provide admissible evidences to establish the guilt of parties involved in a crime. - Criminal Investigation covers a broad activity concerning crimes against persons, property, security of the state and other crimes such as syndicated organized crimes of kidnappings, illegal drug trade and trafficking, assassinations, bank robberies, carnapping, computer crimes, money laundering, religious crimes, white slavery among others. - In investigation work, the investigator’s effectiveness rest on his adequate knowledge, skills and the experience about investigative techniques, methods, procedures, rules and policies to include 5 W’s and 1 H. He must be able to find the truth about a crime as he persistently endeavors to seek answers to the following; a. WHAT offense has been committed? b. WHERE was the offense committed? c. WHO committed the offense? d. WHEN was the offense committed?  e. WHY was the offense committed? f. HOW was the offense committed? WHAT ARE THE GOALS OF CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION? The criminal investigator must not forget and bear in mind the goals of why he is investigating, namely; a. To determine if crime has been committed b. To legally obtain information and evidences to identify persons responsible c. To arrest suspects d. To recover stolen property, and e. To complete presentation of case to appropriate authority WHAT ARE THE TOOLS OF AN INVESTIGATOR IN GATHERING FACTS? INFORMATION  these are data gathered from other persons, the victim and from other records such as public records, private records. It also includes those Modus Operandi files. INTERROGATION  the skillful questioning of witnesses and suspects. INSTRUMENTATION  Scientific examination of real evidence, application of instruments and methods of the physical sciences in detecting crime such as microscope, dactyloscopy, ballistics, photography, polygraphy and others. WHAT ARE THE METHODS OF IDENTIFYING THE OFFENDERS? The criminal investigator makes use of the following: 1. Confession 2. Eyewitnesses 3. Circumstantial evidence 4. Associative evidence WHAT ARE STANDARD METHODS OF RECORDING INVESTIGATIVE DATA? a. Photographs b. Sketches of crime scene c. Notes about the crime d. Fingerprints found at the scene e. Physical evidence gathered f. Plaster cast g. Tapes of sounds or voices h. Video tape record of objects or sounds i. Written statements of subjects and witnesses and j. Computerized and programmed WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATION OF AN INVESTIGATOR? The investigator must possess a well-rounded educational background, a lot of experiences in the job and the right attitude. This includes other qualifications: a. Capable of observation b. Rational thinker c. Knowledgeable about the laws on crimes, evidences, arrest, investigative concepts, techniques, scientific aids, laboratory services and about criminals and their modus operandi d. Power of intellect on the so called 6th sense e. Cooperative and can work with others f. Observant of professional ethics g. Has leadership potential, and h. Reliable, hones, and physically and mentally fit WHAT ARE THE BASIC FUNCTIONS OF AN INVESTIGATOR? The numerous functions among others performed by investigators include: a. Providing emergency assistance b. Securing the crime scene c. Photographing, videotaping and sketching d. Taking notes and writing reports e. Searching for obtaining and processing physical evidences f. Obtaining information from witnesses and suspects g. Conducting raids, surveillance, stakeout and undercover assignment h. Testifying in court i. Investigation monitoring and research