Police Report Writing Answer Key
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Jean Rafenski ReynoldsPolice Report Writing Answer Key
Uploaded by
Jean Rafenski Reynolds1
How Much Do You Know about Report Writing?
Here are the answers to the quiz: 1b, 2d, 3d, 4a, 5c, 6a, 7b, 8c, 9d, 10a. And here are tips for understanding the answers: 1. You should avoid passive voice (was seen rather than I saw) in your reports because it doesnt tell who performed the action (in this case, seeing the footprints) information that could be useful in court. 2. Alright is a common misspelling. Use all right. 3. Advised means gave advice. It doesnt mean told. Ascertained is a clumsy word: Use discovered or learned, which are simpler. Alcohol is odorless, so you couldnt have smelled it. Better: I smelled an alcoholic beverage on Weigels breath.) 4. a) The principal invited meThe principal invited Officer Patel and me b) Chief Rosenberg gave the new directives to her c) I have establishedMy partner and I have established) d) a challenge for mea challenge for Robert and me For more help, read Rule 3, at this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/171834120/Pronouns-Made-Simple 5. a) Many reasons are thereThere are many reasons b) A small group isA small group of teenagers is c) Each agreesEach of the parents agrees) d) In neither/nor sentences, use the word closest to nor to find your verb: nor their son has. Either/or sentences work the same way, incidentally. For more help, read the rules at this link: http://www.scribd.com/doc/171644697/Subject-Verb-Agreement 6. Possessive pronouns never use apostrophes: his, hers, its, theirs, yours, ours. If you mean it is, use an apostrophe: its. 7. Brevity is important to police writing. Avoid empty words like abovementioned, individual, and respective. They dont add any useful information. And its not necessary to write green in color. Green is www.YourPoliceWrite.com
2 enough. 8. End every sentence with a period. Dont join sentences with however. In a, put a period after yesterday, and capitalize However. In b, put a period after shop, and capitalize It. C is correct. A semicolon is like a period, but its not followed by a capital letter. D is incorrect because you cant break up a sentence with a semicolon. Put a comma after children instead. 9. Capitalize names of specific institutions. In a, high schools is lower case. Capitalize peoples names. In b, mother is her role, not her name. Dont capitalize seasons (summer, fall, winter, spring). 10. Apostrophes are placed after the last letter of a word or name. women/womens children/childrens Reynolds/Reynolds Note that theres no apostrophe in choice c because the Johnsons dont own anything: The Johnsons live in an apartment on the second floor.
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