Respond to the below listed post with atleast 100 words and 1 scholarly citation in APA
As we have learned throughout this course, proper documentation is vital for any crime committed. To supplement the necessary reports, victim, witness, and suspect statements help properly determine the validity of the elements of the crime and also provide evidentiary elements to the case being investigated (Morris & Merson, 2017). These statements are referred to as external statements. External statements can be taken for any crime and are used by law enforcement officers.
Internal statements are used by correctional employees, including jailers and state correctional officers, which include probation and parole. Most commonly, internal statements refer to documents such as disciplinary reports used by correctional officers and pre-sentence investigation reports used by the court system and/or parole officers. One large difference in these reports when compared to external reports is that internal statements, i.e. correctional incident and disciplinary reports, are not used in criminal processes. In other words, no criminal charges are filed with this documentation (Morris & Merson, 2017).
With both types of statements, the same processes must be followed as with law enforcement report writing. With external reports, legible handwriting is important because these statements are used at a later date to compose the final case report. Therefore, any questions regarding the statement need to be answered while on the scene which aids in accuracy. Officers should not be afraid to ask the person making the statement to write legibly and ask questions if something is unclear. Internal statements are just as important, and these statements are always reviewed by senior officers and disciplinary panels. Therefore, they must be able to read the officer’s handwriting if not typed.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” (English Standard Version Bible, 2001). A person should always do their best work, no matter what. It is important to put 100 percent into every task a person takes on, including writing reports, statements, etc.
Alan Canady
References
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/
Morris, K., & Merson, M. (2017). Report Writing for Law Enforcement and Corrections Professionals. Pearson Education. https://libertyonline.vitalsource.com/reader/books/9780133913347/epubcfi/6/170[%3Bvnd.vst.idref%3DP7000499613000000000000000000FBB]!/4