NCJ Number
115395
Journal
Campus Law Enforcement Journal Volume: 19 Issue: 1 Dated: (January-February 1989) Pages: 25-28
Date Published
1989
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The University of Houston Police Department uses a battery of tests called 'Find-The-Ten-Error-Quizzes' (FTTEQ) to improve the report-writing skils of its probationary police officers.
Abstract
Each quiz features one of the report forms used by the Department's patrol officers. The errors are typical of those commonly made by officers. These include mistakes in information, grammar, legibility, spelling, style, and vocabulary. In addition, a probationary police officer must learn to cope with the writer's anxiety caused by the awareness that many department personnel and possibly college staff members will scrutinize the paperwork. This approach to training in report writing relieves some of the usual problems of instruction in report writing, particularly the instructor's and trainee's boredom with the subject matter, the natural aversion many officers feel towards writing, and the complexity of report forms. The FTTEQ method represents an innovative approach that demands an analytical examination of every part of the form as well as a careful reading of the instructions in the report-writing manual.