WEEK 5 Review - Miller
Report Writing
On (Date), at approximately (Time), I, Officer (name), was in full duty uniform conducting patrol of (complete location).
EPO #1 - Terms and concepts associated with report writing
Sentence Structure:
o Subject: The subject is that part of the sentence containing all the words identifying the person, place, object,
idea, or quality that the rest of the sentence is talking about. Some may say the subject is whatever or whoever
is doing the action.
o Active and Passive Voice: Verbs are either active or passive in voice. In the active voice, the subject and verb
relationship it straightforward the subject performs the action (Bob threw the ball). In passive voice, the
subject of the sentence is acted upon by some other agent or by something implied or unnamed (the ball was
thrown by Bob). Active voice clearly expresses the subject performing an action. VAP uses active first person
Sentence Mechanics: Mechanics are simply signs and signals in writing to guide readers through the information.
o Quotation Marks: Quotation marks are used to indicate someone is speaking. The first word of the speaker is
capitalized, and the ending punctuation of the speaker goes within quotation marks.
o Capitalization: Several items require capitalization. The entire report should not be capitalized. Capitalize the first
word of each sentence. Capitalize the first word in quotation marks. Capitalize all proper names, days, months,
holidays, cities, states, etc.
o Abbreviations and Acronyms: Abbreviations and acronyms are convenient aids for writers, but they are only
helpful if readers know what they mean. If you overuse or misuse them, they confuse your readers. Spell out
then use acronym
o Plain Language: Plain language should be the goal of every officer. Say what you need to say in as few words as
possible, and avoid using a lot of jargon or large, “million-dollar words.”
EPO #2 - PROPER USE OF WRITING PRINCIPLES
Purpose of Paragraphs: Group ideas in single units of thought. Separate units of thought. Let readers know they
are moving on to a new idea at the end of a paragraph.
Ineffective Paragraphs: Ideas merge into one another. Readers are confused because they cannot tell when one
idea ends, and the next begin
Description of Paragraphs: One or more sentences, usually four to six about one central idea. The first sentence
is typically indented. The first sentence is usually the topic sentence. It is followed by other sentences that
support the topic sentence.
Attributes: Just knowing the purpose and description of a paragraph is not enough. To write an effective paragraph,
you must know and understand the attributes of a well-written paragraph. The two important attributes of a well-
structured paragraph are unity and coherence.
o Unity: Having a single, clear, controlling idea, and all the sentences in that paragraph support that one idea.
o Coherence: A coherent paragraph leads the reader easily from sentence to sentence and requires sentence
arrangement in a clear order, such as chronological, spatial, order of sequence, or topical
Importance of Editing: Others are often better at catching areas of our writing that need improvement.
Using Narrative Guidelines to Edit: An effective editor should follow a certain order when scrubbing a document: 1.
Read entire document to get main idea and flow. 2. Go back and scrub systematically. 3. Look for grammatical and
mechanical errors.
Typical Introductory Paragraph Errors: When reading an introductory paragraph, you should check to see if the
introduction has a clearly stated purpose. In addition, look for an appropriate tone established early, according to
the circumstances of the writing. For example, a policy letter would require a more directive tone, but a letter of
recommendation would need a more optimistic tone.
Typical Body Paragraph Errors: When reading the body of a document, which could be several paragraphs, you
should look for general topic sentences that open each paragraph. There should be relevant and accurate support
sentences within each paragraph. The typical number of sentences is four to six, but there could be more or less
depending on the situation.
Typical Concluding Paragraph Errors: When reading a concluding paragraph, check to see if the document's
purpose is clearly revisited. The conclusion should have a strong sense of completion that does not leave the
reader confused.
Typical Grammar Errors: Look for spelling, punctuation, incomplete or run-on sentences, parallelism, passive
sentences, pronoun/antecedent errors, subject/verb disagreements, plain language, and word choice errors.
Providing Feedback: The only way a writer will improve is by receiving good feedback from a skilled editor, which
involves more than handing the document back to the author.
EPO #3 - Purpose of a VA Police incident report
The purpose of the VA Police Incident Report is to record all information about crimes and acts of serious
misconduct observed or investigated and to apprise Facility Directors and Service Chiefs of incidents involving
patients, visitors, and employees under their responsibility.
The VA Police Incident Report is documented on VA Form 1393.
Report Writing
On (Date), at approximately (Time), I, Officer (name), was in full duty uniform conducting patrol of (complete location).
EPO #1 - Terms and concepts associated with report writing
Sentence Structure:
o Subject: The subject is that part of the sentence containing all the words identifying the person, place, object,
idea, or quality that the rest of the sentence is talking about. Some may say the subject is whatever or whoever
is doing the action.
o Active and Passive Voice: Verbs are either active or passive in voice. In the active voice, the subject and verb
relationship it straightforward the subject performs the action (Bob threw the ball). In passive voice, the
subject of the sentence is acted upon by some other agent or by something implied or unnamed (the ball was
thrown by Bob). Active voice clearly expresses the subject performing an action. VAP uses active first person
Sentence Mechanics: Mechanics are simply signs and signals in writing to guide readers through the information.
o Quotation Marks: Quotation marks are used to indicate someone is speaking. The first word of the speaker is
capitalized, and the ending punctuation of the speaker goes within quotation marks.
o Capitalization: Several items require capitalization. The entire report should not be capitalized. Capitalize the first
word of each sentence. Capitalize the first word in quotation marks. Capitalize all proper names, days, months,
holidays, cities, states, etc.
o Abbreviations and Acronyms: Abbreviations and acronyms are convenient aids for writers, but they are only
helpful if readers know what they mean. If you overuse or misuse them, they confuse your readers. Spell out
then use acronym
o Plain Language: Plain language should be the goal of every officer. Say what you need to say in as few words as
possible, and avoid using a lot of jargon or large, “million-dollar words.”
EPO #2 - PROPER USE OF WRITING PRINCIPLES
Purpose of Paragraphs: Group ideas in single units of thought. Separate units of thought. Let readers know they
are moving on to a new idea at the end of a paragraph.
Ineffective Paragraphs: Ideas merge into one another. Readers are confused because they cannot tell when one
idea ends, and the next begin
Description of Paragraphs: One or more sentences, usually four to six about one central idea. The first sentence
is typically indented. The first sentence is usually the topic sentence. It is followed by other sentences that
support the topic sentence.
Attributes: Just knowing the purpose and description of a paragraph is not enough. To write an effective paragraph,
you must know and understand the attributes of a well-written paragraph. The two important attributes of a well-
structured paragraph are unity and coherence.
o Unity: Having a single, clear, controlling idea, and all the sentences in that paragraph support that one idea.
o Coherence: A coherent paragraph leads the reader easily from sentence to sentence and requires sentence
arrangement in a clear order, such as chronological, spatial, order of sequence, or topical
Importance of Editing: Others are often better at catching areas of our writing that need improvement.
Using Narrative Guidelines to Edit: An effective editor should follow a certain order when scrubbing a document: 1.
Read entire document to get main idea and flow. 2. Go back and scrub systematically. 3. Look for grammatical and
mechanical errors.
Typical Introductory Paragraph Errors: When reading an introductory paragraph, you should check to see if the
introduction has a clearly stated purpose. In addition, look for an appropriate tone established early, according to
the circumstances of the writing. For example, a policy letter would require a more directive tone, but a letter of
recommendation would need a more optimistic tone.
Typical Body Paragraph Errors: When reading the body of a document, which could be several paragraphs, you
should look for general topic sentences that open each paragraph. There should be relevant and accurate support
sentences within each paragraph. The typical number of sentences is four to six, but there could be more or less
depending on the situation.
Typical Concluding Paragraph Errors: When reading a concluding paragraph, check to see if the document's
purpose is clearly revisited. The conclusion should have a strong sense of completion that does not leave the
reader confused.
Typical Grammar Errors: Look for spelling, punctuation, incomplete or run-on sentences, parallelism, passive
sentences, pronoun/antecedent errors, subject/verb disagreements, plain language, and word choice errors.
Providing Feedback: The only way a writer will improve is by receiving good feedback from a skilled editor, which
involves more than handing the document back to the author.
EPO #3 - Purpose of a VA Police incident report
The purpose of the VA Police Incident Report is to record all information about crimes and acts of serious
misconduct observed or investigated and to apprise Facility Directors and Service Chiefs of incidents involving
patients, visitors, and employees under their responsibility.
The VA Police Incident Report is documented on VA Form 1393.
