6.2 Selecting Report-Ready Detail

Quick Answer: Choose the statement packed with specific who/what/when/where/how facts you could verify on camera, in a database, or at the scene. Reject vague labels (“suspicious,” “later,” “nearby”) and ignore length if the extra words are opinion or fluff.

Section 6.1 covered the A/B format. This section is the judgment skill itself: selecting report-ready detail. On every Details item, pretend you are writing a line that another shift must use without calling you.

The Who / What / When / Where / How Standard

Strong statements tend to cover several of these elements with names, numbers, and observables:

You do not need every element in every sentence. You need more independently useful facts than the competing statement.

Concrete Beats Adjective

Adjectives feel descriptive but often fail in court and in CAD:

• “Suspicious person” → better: clothing, approximate age, height/build, location, and what the person was doing.
• “High rate of speed” (alone) → better: estimated speed if trained/observed, roadway, direction, and traffic conditions if relevant—or at least vehicle descriptors and direction of travel.
• “Large amount of cash” → better: approximate counted amount or “unspecified U.S. currency in a manila envelope” if not counted yet.
• “Visibly intoxicated” → better: observations (odor of alcoholic beverage, slurred speech, unsteady gait)—still careful, but more factual than a label alone.

On the exam, you will rarely invent those upgrades. You will recognize which option already replaced labels with observables.

Times and Places: Precision Ladder

Climb this ladder when comparing statements:

1. No time / no place — “A break-in happened.”
2. Rough zone — “A break-in on the west side last night.”
3. Street only — “Break-in on Westbrook Avenue overnight.”
4. Address + time window — “Between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. at 589 Westbrook Avenue.”
5. Address + clock time + actor/action — “At 6:05 a.m., owner Kim found the rear window forced at 589 Westbrook Avenue.”

Prefer the highest ladder rung that remains accurate. “Later” almost always loses to a clock time. “A house nearby” almost always loses to a number and street.

Decision Framework (60-Second Method)

Use this on every practice item:

1. Underline identifiers in each statement: times, dates, names, addresses, plates, serials, clothing, directions.
2. Strike non-facts: emotions, guesses, intensifiers (“clearly,” “obviously”), and empty drama.
3. Count useful leftovers. Useful means another person could act or verify without calling the writer.
4. Pick the higher count. If tied, pick the statement with the more specific location/time or the better unique identifier (plate, serial, full name).
5. Ignore style. Active vs. passive, short vs. long, and “police tone” matter only if they change the fact set.

Worked Application

A: The clearly dangerous suspect obviously fled after the robbery and headed somewhere downtown in a vehicle.

B: After taking $420 from the register at Metro Mart, 910 State Street, the suspect fled eastbound on State in a blue Ford Escape with partial plate “BR7.”

Underline in B: dollar amount, business name, address, direction, roadway, vehicle, partial plate. Strike in A: “clearly,” “obviously,” “somewhere downtown,” unspecified “vehicle.” B wins.

Trap 1 — Longer ≠ Better

Fluff length is a classic distractor:

Long but weak: “It should be noted that, given the stressful nature of the evening and the fact that numerous concerned citizens were present, an unidentified individual departed the general area in what appeared to be some type of automobile after the unfortunate event occurred.”

Short but strong: “At 7:14 p.m., an unknown male fled west on Elm Street in a white Honda Civic.”

The long sentence adds stress, citizens, and soft phrasing—but no plate, no precise vehicle, and no actionable direction beyond “general area.” Details scoring rewards density of facts, not density of words.

Trap 2 — Opinion vs. Fact

If one statement is mostly judgment and the other is mostly observation plus identifiers, choose the observational statement.

Trap 3 — Partial Specificity

Sometimes both statements look detailed. Compare carefully:

• One may give a full address but no time; the other a precise time but “a store on Main.”
• One may describe clothing well but omit direction of flight; the other gives plate and direction with weaker clothing.

Ask: Which package better supports the next investigative step? For a just-fled suspect, plate + direction often beats clothing alone. For a cold burglary with no fleeing suspect, entry point + property identifiers often beat a vague fleeing description.

Trap 4 — Fake Precision

Watch for numbers that do not help: “exactly three concerned neighbors gathered” without names/contacts is weaker than “neighbor Pat Gomez, 216 Elm, provided a written statement.” Quantity without identity is often decorative.

Putting It Together — Mixed Drill Pairs

Pair 1

• Weak: “A suspicious person was near the school around dismissal.”
• Strong: “At 3:10 p.m., a Black male, ~35, gray hoodie, was standing at the south crosswalk of Lincoln Elementary asking students for phone numbers.”

Pair 2

• Weak: “Officers eventually recovered the stolen property after a tip.”
• Strong: “At 4:22 p.m., Officer Diaz recovered the stolen Trek bicycle (serial WTU123) from the garage at 77 Binder Street per tip from neighbor Ramon Ortiz.”

Pair 3

• Weak (long): “Due to the chaotic circumstances and elevated emotions on scene, it was apparent that a confrontation of some kind had previously taken place between the involved parties.”
• Strong (short): “At 11:03 p.m., both parties stated a fistfight occurred in the parking lot of 500 Lakeshore Drive; no weapons reported.”

Memorize the pattern: strip labels, keep identifiers, distrust fluff, prefer verifiable next steps. That is the Details skill in one sentence—and it will still help you when you write real reports after you pass.