Jennifer M. Allen & Steven Hougland 
The SAGE Guide to Writing in Policing [PDF ebook] 
Report Writing Essentials

Chapter 1: The Basics of Writing
Basic Grammar Rules
Critical Thinking Skills, Academic Writing, and Professional Writing
Writing for the Criminal Justice Professions
Chapter 2: What Is Information Literacy?
Information Literacy
Digital Literacy, Computer Literacy, and Technology Literacy Skills
Chapter 3: Police Report Writing: The Face Page
Common Data Fields
Uses of Face Page Data
Tips for Writing the Incident Report
Writing the Narrative
Formatting the Incident Report
Editing
Chapter 4: Supplemental, Investigative, and Traffic Crash Reports
Incident Report
Evidence Report
Arrest Warrants
Arrest Report or Booking Report
Traffic Crash Reports
Chapter 5: Search Warrants, Affidavits, and Sworn Statements
What is a Search Warrant?
How to Obtain a Search Warrant
The Scope of a Warrant
Sworn Statements
Chapter 6: Other Documents: Memos, Letters, Emails, Cover Letters, and Resumes
Writing Business-Related Documents
Memos
Letters
Emails
Social Media
Cover Letters and Resumes
Chapter 7: Academic Paper Formats: What Is APA Formatting?
Research, Publication, and the APA Style Rules
Types of Publications
APA Formatting and Ethical and Legal Standards
Modern Language Association and the Chicago Manual of Style
Chapter 8: The Academic Research Paper
The Research Writing Process
Locating Sources
Evaluating Sources
How to Read a Scholarly Article
Writing a Literature Review
Writing the Essay
Working and Annotated Bibliographies

Steven M. Hougland is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. He is a retired law enforcement officer with 30 years of policing and corrections experience at the local and state level. Dr. Hougland has published in the areas of police use of force, law enforcement accreditation, and police ethics.