Part of Unit: Police & Law Enforcement
Lesson Plan Overview / Details
The students will identify and list missing information from a police report that is essential to sustain a conviction on an arrested subject.
Report Writing: What's missing
- 1 class period
- 90 Minutes
California Career and Technical Education Standards
California Academic Content Standards (Reinforced)
Objectives and Goals
- The student will identify and list the important missing information that is crucial in a report to make it accurate and complete.
- The student will learn the importance of collecting proper information of an incident and relaying it accurately in a report.
Activities in this Lesson
- Video clip: JD Buck Savage Hooks / Set
As students are coming in to be seated and the teacher is taking roll, have them take out a piece of paper and answer the question that is written on the board (see below). Have them write just 2-3 sentences. Allow 10-15 minutes.
Have written on the whiteboard today's lesson plan and instructions:
1) Take out a piece of paper and answer the following Question:
- Why do you think police officers must write reports?
2) Today's Lesson will be defining what a report is, why officers write reports and who will be viewing or have access to reports.
3) Activity: Finding basic missing information in a report.
Have a quick classroom discussion on the student’s answers. Allow 5 minutes for discussion.
*Play the " training video" from JD Buck Savage. (This clip is about testifying in court to what his report says and the contradictions he has made).
The students will be laughing and engaged. Guide a group discussion on what was wrong with his testimony. Did his report reflect what he said he did? Was it thorough, complete and accurate? Ask the question "Was the District Attorney able to prosecute the defendant based on the information in Buck Savage's report?" And of course the answer is "No."
Resources and Materials
- JD Buck Savage Court testimony [ Go to Site ] Video clip
- Lecture Notes Lecture
1) Using the PowerPoint slides attached below, the teacher will define the following questions as students are taking notes. Allow 20 minutes for note taking.
- What is a report?
- Why do officers' write reports?
- Who will have access to reports?
Resources and Materials
- Report Writing PowerPoint [ Download ] PPT on What is a report?
- Teacher Demonstration Demo / Modeling
Teacher will demonstrate what is to be done by the students on their handout. Allow 10 minutes.
1) Write the Following statement on the board:
"Saw person running and took subject to jail."
2) The teacher will give 2-3 questions or statements that identify what information is missing. Such as:
- Why did the officer take this person to jail?
- Why was the subject running?
- Was the officer on duty or off duty?
- What was the officer's reason for stopping the subject?
3) The teacher will have the students verbally call out what other questions or statements are unanswered. Such as:
- Who saw the subject running?
- What jail did the officer take the person to?
- What was the subject's name?
- Was the subject a man or woman, adult or child?
- Where was the subject running? Direction of travel?
- Was it day or night? Time of day?
- What was the subject wearing?
- What was the description of the subject?
Write the answers on the board as the students call out the answers.
- 001 Driving Drunk Handout Independent Practice
*This activity is a think/pair/share as well as independent practice. We start with independent practice and then move to sharing with a partner. Allow 25 minutes: 15 minutes for independent practice and 10 minutes for think/pair/share.
1) Hand out the pre-copied page of report 001- drunk driving. (See attachment below).
2) Read instruction "1" and have the class answer the question at the end of the instruction.
3) Each student, on their own, will read instruction "2" and then follow the directions to read each sentence from the report. For each statement list 3-5 questions or statements which are not answered. Such as: Location of the traffic stop, direction of travel. See key attachment. Allow 15 minutes.
4) At the end of 15 minutes, move the students into pairs. Have the pairs share and compare their answers. Allow 10 minutes.
- Lesson Assessment Assessment
1) The teacher will bring the class back to a large group and will facilitate a group discussion on the answers to the missing statements. Allow 15 minutes.
2) The teacher will be prepared to write on the whiteboard the answers the students will give.
3) The teacher will say the first statement of the report.
- "While driving down the road, I saw a man driving his car drunk."
4) The teacher will call on different pairs, one at a time, to give an answer to the statements in the report. (See KEY for further answers). This insures all students have the opportunity to share and not the same two or three students always answering.
- Some of the answers should be:
- What road?
- How did you know he was drunk?
- How did you know it was a man?
- Assessment Types:
- Writing Samples,
This is 1 of 5 reports and several other written exercises. Each report deals with a different part of the report such as the face sheet, the narrative, and property and evidence sheets. The Assessment is Report 005 in which the class does an interview of a subject on vandalism (594 PC) and then has to write a complete and detailed accounting of what happened and turn in this report.