A police report I just read about a Pokémon Go game (of all things!) is a good opportunity to review a couple of important principles about police reports.

On August 8, an Iowa man was charged with child endangerment after he went off to play Pokémon Go with his older son, leaving his sleeping six-year-old son home alone. A concerned neighbor called the police. You can read about the incident and view the police report here.

Here are the first two sentences from the report. What would you say about them if you were a supervisor or academy instructor?

Officers were called to the above location on above date and time for a six year old unattended male. The child woke up from a nap and found his father had left home. The child exited the house and went outside to find an adult.

My reactions:

It’s inefficient to write “the above location on above date and time.” It’s true that police officers used to start every report with the date and location. But today’s computers provide spaces for that information. Some die-hard officers are continuing the old practice – but that simply doesn’t make sense. 

The narration beginning “The child woke up from a nap” needs an attribution. How could the officer know this? Police don’t have a crystal ball or time machine that allows them to visit the past. The report should state the source of the information – presumably an interview with the neighbor who called police or the little boy himself.

Overall, though, this is a thorough and objective report.