Why Would Law Enforcement Agencies Need a Proofreader?

Why Would Law Enforcement Agencies Need a Proofreader?

You may be thinking why on Earth would I need to hire a proofreader for my daily reports? I’m a cop! I can do it myself. But let’s think about this for a minute.

It doesn’t matter what type of law enforcement agency you are with. Whether you are employed at a police department, sheriff’s department, constable’s office, DPS office, or even a private investigation agency, your job revolves around paperwork and most importantly, reports. Reports and documentation are the “meat and potatoes” of your job. I actually heard those exact words from my former chief and captain of patrol; they are pretty smart cookies and I like the usage of food analogies.

You are pulled in many different directions, going from one call to another. You may be writing your reports in your patrol unit or trying to find a quiet moment in the office. That is, until dispatch keys up the mic and assigns you to yet another call.

You save your current report to finish later, so you can tend to whatever emergency just came in on 911. Your mind is no longer on the report saved on that computer. You go to your scenes, jot notes, settle the situation, you do your job.

Now, you have five reports in one night. You have jotted notes on all of them and you have your body cam video to refer to. You are tired. The eight- or twelve-hour shift is stretching. You need to get to your extra job, your daughter’s dance recital, your son’s baseball game, or you’re due in court in 15 minutes and it’s across town. You do a quick report hoping you’ve gotten all the pertinent information correct. You submit it to your supervisor for approval and you end your shift.

The next day, you receive your report back from the day before; it has been rejected. The only thing your supervisor has marked on it is, “proofread your report”. You look over it and find you have spelling errors. You have accidentally put the suspect information from report number 2 on report number 3. You typed in the wrong date and you’ve misspelled your complainant’s name. Now, you need to fix these errors for re-submission all while gathering new reports for the day. It’s a never-ending cycle.

What if, you do your reports and email them to a proofreader whose job it is to look for these mistakes? When you get back to work the next day, you open your email box and find that the proofreader has looked over your report and has suggested corrections to make your report look polished. No more re-reading this report to find the mistakes hidden within. All mistakes or suggested corrections are marked in red, so you can easily pinpoint what needs to be corrected. You submit this report to your supervisor for approval and they push it through without any problem. This just made your job easier, your supervisor’s job easier, and this report is being processed in a timely manner for whomever needs it.

Maybe it’s an offense report that needs to be investigated by a detective. They can start the investigation immediately, making their jobs easier by not waiting around for a rejected report to be corrected and finally approved. Maybe it’s a victim who has filed a public disclosure form and needs to submit this report to an insurance company to begin the claim process.

Now, let’s look at who sees your reports. The order may go something like this: your supervisors, the detectives, maybe the chief or sheriff, the District Attorney’s or County Attorney’s offices, judges, defense attorneys, complainants, victims, suspects, and possibly the media, or anyone who files a public disclosure form. Are you happy with your report? Is it the best report you can possibly write?

Can the prosecutor paint an accurate picture of the offense to ensure the jury understands exactly what happened by just using your report? If the answer is yes, then you’ve just made the prosecutor’s and the jury’s jobs easier. You realize, all these people are judging you by how well your report reads and how well you articulate the offense, it’s just human nature. These reports reflect not only you, but your entire agency and how people see you as an entity, not an individual. Just like shining your badge and your boots, pressing your uniform, and looking your best, your reports should be just as important, if not more important.

Does it make sense? Does it flow? Do you have silly mistakes like accidentally writing “there” instead of “their”? We’ve all heard of cases being dismissed on technicalities. Have you dotted your i’s and crossed your t’s? Could your report contain that one technicality that will cause the case to be dismissed? After all, you’re exhausted. This entire case starts with your report. Is it something you are proud of?

Why not hire a proofreader to help you stand out as the professional you are and who can help make everyone’s jobs a little easier? So I believe the question should not be, why would law enforcement agencies need a proofreader? The question should be, why wouldn’t law enforcement agencies need a proofreader? The bottom line is, we all need a little help sometimes, even cops.