A crime report is an official document that law enforcement officers use to describe a criminal incident. It can include a summary of what happened as well as details about the perpetrator and victim. The goal is to provide useful information for the investigation and help bring a guilty party to justice. There are no real tricks to writing a good crime report. It just needs to be thorough. A good report will leave no questions for a defense attorney to attack later on.
In 1930, Congress authorized the FBI to manage a national law enforcement crime reporting system that is currently known as Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR). UCR tallies certain offenses reported to, or arrested by, local law enforcement agencies and uses standard offense definitions to compare localities across America.
Each month, preliminary statewide crime data is posted on eJusticeNY. This data allows police departments, sheriffs’ offices, and the Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) to quickly see if crime is up or down in their city, county, region, or state. It is also used to identify patterns of crime and develop strategies to combat them.
To make a crime report, it is essential to contact 911 as soon as possible and to give the dispatcher specific information about the scene of the emergency. Detailed location information is required, including street names and prominent landmarks. You should also tell the dispatcher if anyone involved in the incident requires medical assistance. If possible, it is helpful to provide physical characteristics of the victim and perpetrator such as their height, weight, hair color, eye color, tattoos, scars, and more.