ACCURACY OF NOTES
Notes should be made so as to represent events or conversation as accurately as possible. It is from the contemporaneous record that the investigator will produce a formal statement if the matter is to proceed to a formal prosecution. This is particularly important given that it is possible that Investigators may have to rely on their accuracy well into the future when their independent recollection of the matter may be extremely cloudy. Accuracy must be achieved at all costs and whilst neatness is important it should be sacrificed if necessary in the cause of accuracy.
The note maker should record what is perceived (or not perceived) and not a sanitised version of it.
A Guide:
POLICE NOTEBOOKS
1. Every police officer below the rank of Chief Inspector (CIP) shall be issued with an official notebook, and shall carry it at all times when on duty unless exempted in writing.
2. Notes shall be made at the time of the event or as soon as is reasonably practicable thereafter.
3. An officer shall ensure that he complies with Data Protection Principal Four of the Data (Privacy) Ordinance and that the personal data entered into his notebook:
(a) is to be strictly limited to that which is necessary to enable him to effectively discharge his constabulary duties; and
(b) is recorded in such manner that it cannot subsequently be read by any non-authorized person.
4. Particular care is to be exercised when details of more than one data subject are entered at any one time.
5. An officer will make a fresh entry in his notebook at the commencement of each duty shift, detailing the date, time and particulars of the duty allocated to him.
6. Thereafter, he shall make notes of all matters pertaining to his duty and in particular:
(a) his times of reporting on and off his scheduled duty, to and from meals or refreshment and the time and duration of any overtime worked;
(b) sufficient details to clearly identify the actual work undertaken during any period of overtime worked;
(c) all statements made to him or in his presence by suspects. In respect of statements made by witnesses, a gist of their account, and full details could be recorded;
(d) particulars of all persons he has arrested and taken into his custody; the reasons leading to that arrest including the date, time and location; the justification for the use of handcuffs and their subsequent removal; particulars of exhibits, witnesses, detained persons' property and clothing;
(e) on handing over any person detained in his custody, the reason for the use of handcuffs; the date and time at which a detained person was first brought before the DO; the reason why he could not be immediately handed over to, and accepted into the custody of, the DO; the location where the detained person was kept under observation in the interim; the date and time at which the detained person was handed over to, and accepted into the custody of, the DO;
(f) if the detained person is under medication, has a medical problem or there are any other matters that are necessary for the receiving officer to know;
(g) particulars of any offence he has detected and in respect of which he is reporting someone with a view to proceeding by way of summons or other process;
(h) particulars of the issue of a Pol. 525 and a Pol. 570 Fixed Penalty Ticket;
(i) details of any traffic accident or other incident he has witnessed or to which he has been called, except in the case of a TADO where a Pol. 284A has been completed;
(j) a note of any formal legal process that he has carried out, e.g. the service of a summons or the execution of a warrant;
(k) details of the exercise of any power (e.g. a search of a suspected person), even if by exercising the power, there is no offence disclosed. There is no absolute requirement to record every detail of the personal particulars of a person after the exercise of any police power: in most cases basic details that are sufficient to identify person are adequate;
(l) particulars of the seizure or acceptance of any property in the course of his duty (e.g. found property);
(m) particulars of a person to whom warnings have been given together with particulars of the offence for which the person was warned;
(n) any report or complaint made to him, the details of the informant and any subsequent action taken (including complaints concerning his own actions or relating to an incident to which he is a party or is directly involved);
(o) the time of leaving and returning to his beat or post and the reasons for absenting himself;
(p) when keeping observation, brief details of suspected persons, premises, vehicles, their locations and the duration of the observation;
Example:
A Man is subject to harassment in the workplace. The offending party says:
"You are the most useless staff member I have ever had".
The Person making notes should endeavour to record the actual words spoken. If the speaker uses profanity or slang, this should be recorded. Similarly, when a speaker has a pronounced accent or speaks with a peculiarity such as a lisp or stutter, those should also be portrayed as accurately as possible.
In the above scenario the note taker should avoid recording a note such as;
'He told me I am the most useless staff member he ever had'
A note taker should avoid recording only their interpretation of an event. It is the task of a court or an independent assessor to make interpretations.
This resource is kindly provided by Wayne Carney of SPECIAL OPERATIONS GROUP AUSTRALIA.