10.4 Proofreading CAD Entries, BOLOs & Cross-Reference Data

Why Proofreading Matters, Even Without a Named Module

CritiCall's official module list does not include an item literally titled "Proofreading." But the underlying skill runs through several officially named modules: the ability to "enter data or information... you read and hear into a computer using a keyboard" (covered as Data Entry earlier in this guide), the ability to determine "which is the most-clear way to present a set of facts" (Sentence Clarity, above), and the ability to "recognize if bits of information, such as addresses or names, are similar or different" (Cross-Referencing / Perceptual Ability, covered elsewhere in this guide). Practice-test publishers — and this guide's own practice question bank — group these into a practical "proofreading" skill category because, in mixed-module CritiCall items and on the actual job, you are frequently shown a piece of dictated or source information next to a typed CAD entry and asked whether the entry is an exact match. It's a real, tested skill even though it isn't the name of a standalone module box on CritiCall's official product sheet.

Core Skill: Character-by-Character Comparison, Not "Sounds Right"

Proofreading in this context means verifying that what's on the screen exactly matches what was dictated or written — not simply that it "reads plausibly." Five error categories account for most proofreading test items and most real CAD mistakes:

Worked Example

Dictated: "1147 Northwest Ridgecrest Boulevard, Suite 230."

Which CAD entry is transcribed with no errors?

A. 1147 NW Ridgecrest Blvd Ste 230 B. 1174 NW Ridgecrest Blvd Ste 230 C. 1147 NW Ridgecrest Blvd Ste 320 D. 1147 NE Ridgecrest Blvd Ste 230

Option B transposes the last two digits of the house number (47 becomes 74). Option C swaps the suite digits (230 becomes 320). Option D flips the directional prefix from Northwest to Northeast — likely sending a unit to the wrong side of the city. Only A preserves every value exactly: house number, directional, street name, street type abbreviation, and suite number. This is precisely the discipline these items reward: comparing the entry against the source value-by-value, rather than reading the entry once and deciding it "looks about right."

A Reliable Proofreading Method: Compare Backward

For digit-heavy strings — addresses, phone numbers, plate numbers — try reading the entry against the source starting from the end rather than the beginning. The eye naturally skims forward through a familiar-looking pattern (a street address, a phone number) and tends to auto-correct small errors without registering them; starting from the last character and working backward breaks that pattern-matching shortcut and makes transpositions and swapped digits much easier to catch. This is the written-record equivalent of the verbal read-back dispatchers use on the job — repeating a caller's or officer's information back to them field by field ("confirming: one-one-four-seven, Northwest Ridgecrest Boulevard, Suite two-three-zero") before committing it to CAD. The test's proofreading-style items are checking the same discipline that a read-back habit builds on the job.

Applying It to BOLOs & Cross-Reference Data

The same character-by-character standard applies to BOLO (be-on-the-lookout) alerts and cross-reference lookups. If a caller dictates a plate as "JXR-482" and the CAD or BOLO screen displays "JXR-482," a proofreading item is testing whether you can confirm that match without letting a similar-looking plate ("JXR-489" or "JXR-428") slip past as "close enough." This connects directly to the character-comparison skill used for cross-referencing tables of names, plates, and codes: proofreading checks one transcription against one source, while cross-referencing searches a whole table for the one entry that matches — but both rely on the same refusal to accept "looks similar" in place of "is identical."

The same discipline extends to narrative text, not just numbers and codes. A BOLO description dictated as "male suspect, gray hoodie, last seen westbound on 3rd Avenue" is not proofread correctly if it's re-entered as "male suspect, gray hoodie, last seen westbound on 3rd Street" — Avenue and Street are different axes on most city grids (a distinction covered in this guide's map-reading material), so a single swapped word here can send a searching unit down the wrong corridor entirely, even though every other word in the BOLO is correct.

Common Traps

• Comparing only the memorable details. Checking that the street name matches while skipping the house number, suite number, or directional prefix.
• Trusting a "reasonable-sounding" entry. An entry that sounds plausible as a whole sentence can still contain one wrong digit or swapped word.
• Letter/number look-alikes. O and 0, I/1/l, and S/5 are common substitution points in plates and codes.
• Skipping the last field. Under time pressure, the final piece of a long address or note (a suite number, an apartment letter) is the field most often left unchecked.

Takeaways

Although no single CritiCall module is named "Proofreading," the skill runs through Data Entry, Sentence Clarity, and Cross-Referencing alike: verify a CAD entry value-by-value against its source rather than judging whether it "looks about right." Watch for digit transpositions, directional flips, suite/unit swaps, and letter/number look-alikes, and use a backward, end-to-first comparison on digit-heavy strings to catch what a forward skim misses.