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Alexandria Thomas

Professor Marie Webb

English 101 #2565

4 December 2018

Let’s Talk about Police Research

Typically, when we think about the skills required for a career in criminal justice, writing

doesn’t always top the list. Rather, we consider knowledge of subjects like law and criminal

behavior to be considerably more important. I found this not to be my case in my criminal justice

workplace. Turns out, writing is very important, and we use a variety of genres from policy

manuals to internal memorandums, incident reports to social media outreach. Writing skills and

college requirements are tied to leadership success within the criminal justice field. I will be

investigating the different genres of writing that take place in the police station, my chosen field,

by speaking with a police officer. I will be conducting a formal interview with Chris Stonesifer a

Carroll County sheriff deputy officer as my primary resource. I will also be investigating two

sources written in scholarly work about the genres of writing in my field through Mira Coast’s

library database. With much excitement, it turned out that the many writing skills I encounter are

going to be valuable in my future workplace and academic field of study and I look forward to

exploring them all.

Most colleges require students to complete a college writing or equivalent course; in

which they learn the basics of academic writing, research, documentation, and proper grammar.

It’s important that criminal justice students take their writing instruction seriously. Academic

writing and its importance force you to think in an analytical way. You cannot write an academic

piece without having a structure and technique. With the structure in your writing, you can
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present research skills, documentation, and grammar in a professional and concise manner.

Research skills are communication, attention to detail, critical thinking, technical skills, and the

ability to maintain quality and safety. For documentation, everything is written down on a piece

of paper for proper documentation, taking notes about every detail you can find that relates to the

topic at hand. For grammar, purchasing books to help with your proper grammar is important,

personal review, and reading. This type of writing helps the professionals in criminal justice in

the long term with finding and evaluating sources as well as exposure to the importance of

always documenting where information is coming from. Carroll County sheriff deputy officer,

Chris Stonesifer implemented all of these and more. During my interview, I asked Carroll

County sheriff deputy officer, Chris Stonesifer, if college prepared him enough for the technical

writing done in his field of work? Carroll County sheriff deputy officer, Chris Stonesifer replied,

“What college had prepared me for most in this career has been writing.” I found this statement

to be true. Criminal justice degree programs have begun to implement more intensive training for

this very important skill. Writing has become a sought-after characteristic of criminal justice

graduates. Learning these skills is vital to finding success in the field and one day even

becoming a leader. If your reports are consistently poorly written, riddled with errors, or a

grammatical mess, you are representing your agency and yourself in a bad light. These abilities

will help ensure you are able to meet the challenges that face you throughout your career.

Policy manuals are one of the many genres of writing types that I may encounter in my

future workplace. It’s standard practice for any police department to have a policy manual. An

effective police policies and procedures manual is a requirement for safety and professionalism.

Kamala D. Harris Attorney General states “208.2 PHILOSOPHY the Department seeks to

provide ongoing training and encourages all personnel to participate in advanced training and
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formal education on a continual basis” (19). Writing skills are respected because Kamala D.

Harris wrote the policy manual that the California police abide by while making it easy to

comprehend and obey. Just like James Madison, who wrote the Amendments, which is a list of

governmental power and its prohibition Associate Professor of Law Nirej Sekhon explains “In

each of these two fields, the purpose has a long and distinct conceptual lineage. In criminal law,

a purpose is a form of mens rea. In constitutional law, the purpose is a method of evaluating the

relationship between a state’s goals and the means by which it achieves those goals” (243). Just

like this passage in the fourth amendment and the policy manual they share the same trait, both

were written and show that writing is an extremely important factor in the workplace. Police

need to know the policies, to which they might also contribute to updating when they see

something that needs improvement. Shared by the fourth amendment to which the civilians

might also contribute to updating when they see something that needs improvement.

As an illustration, internal memorandums are one of the many genres of writing types

that I may encounter in my future workplace. These memorandums (memo) consist of notes,

documents, and other communications that help the memory by recording events and observation

using your writing skills. Writing memos is not a thought of as a particularly fun topic. It's not as

interesting as, say, shooting firearms or field work, but it's an important part of the job,

nonetheless. During my interview with Chris Stonesifer, he claimed that “It’s important to be

able to articulate the events in which you observe in writing. It’s also vital that you write clearly

and in detail.” Internal memorandums are very important and must be detailed precisely. The

goal of any memo is either to bring attention to a problem by providing information or to solve a

problem by defining what action should be taken. This will ensure that your side of the story is

clear when it is read in court. Not having the writing skills to create a well-conducted memo with
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the proper information or to bring attention to certain problems would be embarrassing in that

professional field. To have a memo filled with misspelled words and grammar errors would be

representing the agency poorly and could be discredited. Writing has a great significance and is

valued in my workplace as a police officer, so it’s very important to stay on top of my skills as I

progress into my career.

To illustrate, incident reports is another example of the genres of writing types that I may

encounter in my future workplace. I learned from my formal interview that Chris Stonesifer

describes “Report writing requires knowledge of police procedures/policy, traffic and criminal

law, and good writing skills. You get a good foundation and basics for this in the police

academy.” The incident reports include the basic public information related to arrests, accidents

or investigations made by law enforcement. It includes who was involved, what happened, and

when and where the incident took place. Arrest Reports provides details on an arrest made by

police. Traffic police accident reports are done on a printed form with spaces for specific

information and check the box sections to cover details of what happened with the incident that

accrued to you being in an accident. It will also provide a space for the officer to write in any

additional details that he or she deems important. An added example of an incident report is “I

write every day I work. Police work requires a lot of paperwork. An average report for a DUI is

3-4 pages. Not including all the paperwork that needs to be completed as well.” (Chris

Stonesifer) In incident reports, there is writing involved and proves that it is important in this

workplace. Police investigate crimes and arrest people, they do not charge people with crimes.

Charges are filed by prosecutors such as a district attorney’s office and a court case are only

opened when a person has been formally charged. Police records are not part of the court system,

and documents like arrest reports or crime/incident reports are kept at the police departments and
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are not open to the public. Almost no police investigative records are posted online. Crime and

incident reports provide details on police responses to citizen calls for assistance, reports of

accidents or reports of crimes being committed. Clearly writing illustrates its importance and is

valued in my workplace as a police officer.

I will also encounter a new type of writing in my future workplace and learn how to

properly document or respond from, social media. Social media is the primary means of

communication for many people today. “When respondents were asked about writing, many

focused-on reports writing. It would have been useful to ask respondents about other types of

writing done by law enforcement, such as social media posts, press releases, personnel

evaluations, and grant applications” (Cotugno). Often, law enforcement agencies issue warnings

and share real-time information that helps get the news out and protects the public in

emergencies. Law enforcement agencies are fully engaged in the public by using social media,

the department and the community benefit by increasing collaboration and enhancing

investigative capabilities. With well-planned implementation, the use of social media can impact

community issues, and police departments and citizens can work together to solve crimes. If you

look at the way some law enforcement agencies are using social media, you will notice a few

things that you are not used to. Like how agencies are showing the human and compassionate

side of policing with pictures of officers posing with kids, playing basketball, and even some

officers are dancing with the youth. Additionally, agencies are using social media to tell stories

about how their work is making their communities safer by sharing pictures of drug seizures,

guns taken off the streets. As well as key arrests for warranted criminals while being able to ask

the public for assistance in locating or warning of the wanted suspects. The question then

becomes, is there a role social media can play to help neighborhood-based community policing
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officers inform, educate, and activate the residents with whom they are charged to protect and

serve, and the answer is yes! Law enforcement’s access to social media is typically limited to

departments’ public information officers. Evidently writing is exemplified and valued in my

workplace as a police officer of using social media as a style of genre.

In Conclusion, I honestly didn’t realize how much writing was involved and I am excited

to see where this goes in the future endeavors. Most colleges require students to complete a

college writing or equivalent course, in which they learn the basics of academic writing,

research, documentation, and proper grammar. It’s important that criminal justice students take

their writing instruction seriously. Policy manuals are one of the many genres of writing types,

it’s standard practice for any police department to have a policy manual. Internal memorandums

are one of the many genres of writing types. These memorandums consist of notes, documents,

and other communications that help the memory by recording events and observing using your

writing skills. Incident reports are another style of the many genres that include the basic public

information related to arrests, accidents or investigations made by law enforcement. It includes

who was involved, what happened, and when and where the incident took place. And the last

example of a writing type of genre that I used in my essay is social media. With well-planned

implementation, the use of social media can impact community issues, and police departments

and citizens can work together to solve crimes. As you can see writing skills are essential in my

future workplace and academic field of study because of the many genres of writing

professionals. Learning these skills is vital to finding success in the field and becoming a team

player as well as a leader. They will help ensure I am able to meet the challenges that I will face

throughout my career.
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Work Cited

Cotugno, Marianne. “Writing Skills: Hiring and Training Police Officers.” Police Chief

Magazine, International Association of Chiefs of Police, 2018,

www.policechiefmagazine.org/writing-skills/.

Harris, Kamala D. Law Enforcement Policy & Procedures Manual. California Department of

Justice, March 2015.

Sekhon, Nirej. “Purpose, Policing, and the Fourth Amendment.” Journal of Criminal Law &

Criminology, vol. 107, no. 1, Winter 2017, pp. 60-130. EBSCOhost,

prox.miracosta.edu/login?url=http://search.enscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=pb

h&AN=123361392&site=eds-live.

Stonesifer, Chris. Personal interview. 18 Nov. 2018.

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Revision Table Essay Project 2 Rhetorical Analysis

Reviewer Name Comment from Reviewer Revisions I made that address the
comment or things I did not address and
the reason why
Mariana Siha By reading the introduction I I worked on the length, and small
understand the goals of the organization.
writing in the field. The
Introductions clearly addresses
to the value of writing skills in
the criminal field, and the
variety of genres employed by
this. The topic sentence of the
introduction seems to be
speaking directly to an audience
interested in this field, Great
topic sentence by the way.
Chauncey Each paragraph focus on one I added small details like (memo) revision
Thomas genre of writing that is and added a quote from policy manuals.
important in the writing field its
clear policy manuals, memo,
incident reports, social media.
Each genre is described well.
Work on quote from 4th
amendment. Yes, there was all
the sources listed.
Amir Naranjo All paragraphs focused on a I added a quote for policy manuals.
genre and provided great detail.
I could fully understand each
genre. Yes, lots of support from
her resources.

Professor Marie Catchier topic sentences and
Web title of the research paper. Also
putting in more information on
a couple paragraphs and
organizing better
I fixed the title and the transition words. I
need to make it lengthier with the more
information provided.

Things I still need to work more on after today’s writing workshop and other feedback I
have received: What I need to work on is continuing to keep the audience engaged and write 6
more pages. Catchier topic sentences and title of the research paper. Also putting in more
information on a couple paragraphs and organizing better especially the social media paragraph.
I need to also work on the 4th amendment paragraph possibly add a quote from the policy
manual.