CHAPTER II
TYPES OF POLICE REPORTS
I. POLICE BLOTTER:
Police Blotter is a record of daily events occurring within the
territories/ jurisdiction of a given police unit or command. It
contains material detail concerning the event for legal and
statistical purposes. The Police Blotter is therefore an
informational record book that is utilized for evidentiary or
referral purposes (Circular No. 5, GHQ PNP dated 10 Dec 1992).
Contents of Entry
The entry in the police blotter should answer the following
cardinal elements of a police record, to wit: who; what; why;
where; when; how; and disposition of the case.
CHAPTER II
TYPES AND FORMATS OF POLICE REPORTS
I. POLICE BLOTTER:
In answering 5Ws and 1H and the case disposition, all such
material details about the event, including: the names of the
suspect/s; the victim/s; the eyewitness/es, if any; the nature of
the action or offense; the possible motive/s; the place; the date
and time of occurrence; significant circumstances that aggravate
or mitigate the event or the crime should be entered along with
the identity of the officer to whom the case is
assigned—officer-on-cases; and the status of the case.
CHAPTER II
TYPES AND FORMATS OF POLICE REPORTS
I. POLICE BLOTTER:
The following incidents or transactions, among others, are
entered in the police blotter:
Incidents to be Recorded:
▪ All violations of laws and ordinances reported and discovered;
▪ All calls in which any member of the police force is dispatched
or has taken an official action;
▪ All legal papers handled such as warrants, subpoenas,
summonses, citations, and the like;
▪ All fire alarms, reports and information received by the
stations;
CHAPTER II
TYPES AND FORMATS OF POLICE REPORTS
I. POLICE BLOTTER:
Incidents to be Recorded:
▪ Movement of prisoners with corresponding notations on the
authority for such movements;
▪ Cases of missing and found persons, animals and properties;
▪ Vehicular and other types of accidents which require police
actions;
▪ All personal injuries, bodies found, and suicides;
▪ Damage to property;
▪ All cases in which a police member is involved;
CHAPTER II
TYPES AND FORMATS OF POLICE REPORTS
I. POLICE BLOTTER:
Incidents to be Recorded:
▪ All arrests and returns made; and
▪ Miscellaneous cases, general and special orders, violations of
rules and regulations and any other reportable incident that
the Chief of Police desires to be recorded.
CHAPTER II
TYPES AND FORMATS OF POLICE REPORTS
I. POLICE BLOTTER:
Procedure in Making Entries
▪ All entries in the police blotter shall be handwritten in a clear,
concise and simple manner but answering as far as practicable
the 5Ws and 1H. Clarity should not be sacrificed for brevity.
▪ Only facts, not opinions, are entered in the blotter.
▪ No erasures shall be made on the entries. Corrections are
made by drawing one horizontal line over such word or
phrases and the actual entry initialed by the police officer
making the correction.
▪ A ball pen or pen with blue, black or blue black ink is used for
making the entries.
CHAPTER II
TYPES AND FORMATS OF POLICE REPORTS
I. POLICE BLOTTER:
Procedure in Making Entries
▪ Misrepresentations in the blotter or any attempt to suppress
any information therein are punishable criminally and
administratively.
▪ The entries must be legibly written in long hand and
consecutively numbered.
▪ Every page of the blotter shall be consecutively or
chronologically filled-up. No line of space shall be left blank
between any two entries.
CHAPTER II
TYPES AND FORMATS OF POLICE REPORTS
I. POLICE BLOTTER:
Procedure in Making Entries
▪ Any development of a case to be reflected in the blotter
should be a new entry at the time and day it was reported. A
reference to the previous entry number of the case, however,
should be made.
▪ In every shift, the Duty Sergeant, under the supervision of the
Duty Officer or Complaint Desk Officer, shall make the actual
entries in the blotter and at the end of his tour of duty, both
the Duty Sergeant and Duty Complaint Desk Officer shall sign
the blotter.
CHAPTER II
TYPES AND FORMATS OF POLICE REPORTS
II. CERTIFICATION OF POLICE BLOTTER EXCERPT:
For whatever legal purpose, interested persons always seek a
copy of a police blotter. Since the entry in the police blotter is
difficult to be machine-copied due to its size (bigger than the
ordinary document), a certification of its contents is the only way
to have it. In copying the contents of a blotter entry, it should be
copied verbatimly, meaning, it should be copied word for word
and no correction in the grammar or in any mistake should be
made in the entry.
Obvious mistakes in the entry should be consulted to the
Desk Officer who made the entry and he is the only person
authorized to correct it based on the procedures previously
discussed.
