NCJ Number
172044
Journal
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Volume: 21 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1997) Pages: 46-47
Date Published
1997
Length
2 pages
Annotation
The first police responders to gang crimes should be as accurate as possible in their reports; cases are based on the accuracy of the information recorded by these officers.
Abstract
The first officers on the scene should get complete identifying information on witnesses. If something out of the ordinary is reported, officers should be alert to it. Officers should record all statements made by witnesses and victims. The recording will aid in the report writing and becomes proof of what was reported. Inaccurate information that is exposed by defense attorneys in court fuels the efforts of defense attorneys to portray police officers as habitual liars who will use any means to convict those they arrest. The image of police officers that is being projected by defense attorneys is that they lie on reports, manufacture evidence, plant evidence on suspects, and lie on the witness stand. All of this behavior by police officers has happened in the past. To prevent the generalization that such police behavior is common, the patrol personnel who are the first responders to a crime scene must be particularly careful to record accurately what they observe and hear from witnesses.