Effective Report Writing for Law Enforcement Professionals

EXL013 – 8.00 Hours

Schedule

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Currently there are no scheduled classes for this course. However, in some cases a course can be scheduled to meet your organization’s specific needs. For more information about this course or to schedule a class, please contact Extension at (979) 500-6506 or [email protected] to get the latest schedule.

Course Description

Writing isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when we think about the skills needed for a career in law enforcement. Yet, officers are expected to possess these skills, as they need to document their activities on a continuous basis. Effective law enforcement report writing is vital because it preserves accurate facts, aids criminal investigations, and supports legal and court proceedings. A poorly written report can negatively affect a court case by failing to provide clear and accurate information.

This course is offered under the Extension Program course suite and meets Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) requirements Report Writing (General) Course #2049.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites for this course.

Enrollment Requirements

Participants enrolling in this course must meet one of the following employment statuses. Please ensure the affiliation on your student account reflects one of the following:

  • Licensed or certified peace officer with a current commission employed by or attached to a law enforcement/investigative agency
  • Civilian employed by a law enforcement/investigative agency conducting investigative tasks or duties

Participants will be contacted via email to confirm approval and admittance into the course.

Course Completion Requirements

Participants must provide information for all required fields, including their U.S. citizenship/permanent resident information, in addition to meeting all other attendance and course completion requirements. If this information is not provided, the participant will be considered incomplete and will not receive a certificate of completion.

Participant Must Provide

  • A photo identification on the first day of class. See the Participant Handbook for approved forms of identification and additional guidelines.
  • Laptop or tablet

Attendance Requirements

Class attendance is an essential part of the education process, and participants in TEEX courses are expected to attend all class sessions and field exercises. The course requires participants to attend a minimum of 100% of the class hours as a component of successful course completion. During the course, your instructor will review any additional attendance requirement, for example a field exercise that cannot be missed.

In some cases, make-up work will not be available (due to equipment/facility needs and/or safety/teamwork components or activity setup/facilitation/requirements).

Participants in a TCOLE credit eligible course must complete the class in its entirety to receive a TEEX Certificate of Completion and be reported for TCOLE credit.

If you have additional questions, please refer to the TEEX Participant Handbook.

Upon successful completion, you will be able to:

  • Explain the purpose of law enforcement reports and legal requirements for documenting criminal offenses.
  • Identify how to collect and document relevant information and conduct effective interviews.
  • Organize law enforcement report narrative details obtained during an interview.
  • Produce a clear and complete written narrative report from collected information.
  • Identify appropriate uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in report writing for compliance with legal, evidentiary, and Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) requirements.
  • Produce a complete, organized, and legally sufficient law enforcement report based on a simulated scenario investigation.

Suggested Audience

  • State of Texas peace officers or other law enforcement personnel

Continuing Education And Professional Credits

Note: Live Online Instructor-Led (webinar) courses are not eligible for TCOLE credit.

  • 8.00 hours – Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE)

Contact Information

Extension
Extension Program
Phone: (979) 500-6506
Email: [email protected]

Payment Info

Regional Extension course offerings are provided as a state-funded service for State of Texas peace officers only. Please visit the Regional Extension – Law Enforcement page to learn more.

If you have general course registration questions, please refer to the Course Registration FAQs page.