This short quiz will help you sharpen your writing skills. Answers are posted below.

PART ONE  One of these sentences should NOT appear in a modern police report. Which one is it – and what’s wrong with it?

1.  At the above date these officers responded to the above location in regards to an assault.

2.  I heard a sneeze behind me.

PART TWO  Correct the English usage mistake in the sentence below.

The women had a bruise on her right cheek, and there was fresh blood on the sleeve of her sweater.

ANSWER  PART ONE

1.  At the above date and time these officers responded to the above location in regards to an assault.  INCORRECT  [You already recorded the date,  time, and location in spaces on your computer screen. Don’t waste time mentioning that information again.]

2.  I heard a sneeze behind me.  CORRECT  [Don’t be afraid to use “I” in a police report. You would use “I” and “me” if you were testifying in court, wouldn’t you? They’re perfectly respectable words.]

ANSWER  PART TWO 

Note the spelling: there’s only one woman. (Women is plural – more than one.)

The woman had a bruise on her right cheek, and there was fresh blood on the sleeve of her sweater.  CORRECT

How did you do?