Posted: 9/28/2009 4:44:59 PM EDT
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Vallejo Police Outsource Report Writing
Police department in cash-strapped Bay Area city has third-party firm taking down notes Vallejo, which went bankrupt after revenue proved less than costs for the Police and Fire departments as well as other city services, might just be able to save a little money. The Police Department is now using a transcription service based in Tennessee, Nashville-McLintock Transcription and Consulting Services, to write up police reports. The reports are dictated into a digital audio file, then sent via a secure connection to Nashville-McClintock, where retired law-enforcement officials write them up. The practice is less expensive than hiring new personnel, and possibly elicits more details from officers who might otherwise be brief if doing the typing themselves. The drawbacks, however, include both security and privacy issues. The University of California at San Francisco learned that the hard way when a transcriptionist in Pakistan threatened to release confidential patient records in order to force an employer to make good on wages. Besides rogue transcriptionists, the secure connection could be compromised and an unscrupulous third-party contractor could sub-contract the work to a cheaper, and less experienced outfit. But at least department morale should get a boost, since nobody likes typing. Jackson West really hopes witness statements, victim details and other confidential information doesn't go walkabout. http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local-beat/Vallejo-Police-Outsource-Report-Writing-jw-62428102.html |
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What happen to writing your own reports, having your Sgt. or Patrol Sup approve them? 
Pretty sure the officer and Sgt are still responsible for the content of the report - just someone else actually typing/formating it. IIRC, Oxnard, CA PD does this and it works pretty well for them - frees up cops to do cop stuff instead of playing grammar nazi. Brian |
| A large city dept in my area has report technicians who write all the reports. The arresting officers drop the guy off and fill out a quick narrative to give to the report techs. Frees them up to get back on the streets instead of putting them behind a computer screen for an hour or more. |
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We've had that service for as long as anyone can remember. Our reports are transcribed by an in-house typing pool. The Officers dictate the report on a specific format and by the next shift it is ready to be proof read and corrected. Slicker than greased poop. You wouldn't happen to work at PA would you? |
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What happen to writing your own reports, having your Sgt. or Patrol Sup approve them?
Pretty sure the officer and Sgt are still responsible for the content of the report - just someone else actually typing/formating it. IIRC, Oxnard, CA PD does this and it works pretty well for them - frees up cops to do cop stuff instead of playing grammar nazi. Brian All the oldtimers at my department talk about how they used to call/radio in and dictate their reports. I guess I don't see a problem with it as long as it is secure and the content in the report is the same as what you said into the recorder. Seems to me though, you may run into some court issues on subpeonas for the transcriptionist. Something along the lines of that court ruling from a while ago that said the lab techs could be called to testify. 
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We've had that service for as long as anyone can remember. Our reports are transcribed by an in-house typing pool. The Officers dictate the report on a specific format and by the next shift it is ready to be proof read and corrected. Slicker than greased poop. You wouldn't happen to work at PA would you? No. IM sent. |
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What happen to writing your own reports, having your Sgt. or Patrol Sup approve them?
Pretty sure the officer and Sgt are still responsible for the content of the report - just someone else actually typing/formating it. IIRC, Oxnard, CA PD does this and it works pretty well for them - frees up cops to do cop stuff instead of playing grammar nazi. Brian All the oldtimers at my department talk about how they used to call/radio in and dictate their reports. I guess I don't see a problem with it as long as it is secure and the content in the report is the same as what you said into the recorder. Seems to me though, you may run into some court issues on subpeonas for the transcriptionist. Something along the lines of that court ruling from a while ago that said the lab techs could be called to testify.
Lab techs actuallly handle/process evidence/property/etc - typists don't. I believe the typists would fall under "hearsay" anyway. I did surveillance for a PI briefly and we 'phoned' in our reports - I ended up writting them out before dictating the report because I need to write/read it to get my thoughts put together. Brian |
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What happen to writing your own reports, having your Sgt. or Patrol Sup approve them?
Pretty sure the officer and Sgt are still responsible for the content of the report - just someone else actually typing/formating it. IIRC, Oxnard, CA PD does this and it works pretty well for them - frees up cops to do cop stuff instead of playing grammar nazi. Brian All the oldtimers at my department talk about how they used to call/radio in and dictate their reports. I guess I don't see a problem with it as long as it is secure and the content in the report is the same as what you said into the recorder. Seems to me though, you may run into some court issues on subpeonas for the transcriptionist. Something along the lines of that court ruling from a while ago that said the lab techs could be called to testify.
Lab techs actuallly handle/process evidence/property/etc - typists don't. I believe the typists would fall under "hearsay" anyway. I did surveillance for a PI briefly and we 'phoned' in our reports - I ended up writting them out before dictating the report because I need to write/read it to get my thoughts put together. Brian One of the difficult things for our recruits is to learn how to recite what happened, how it happened, in a time line that makes sense. It's not hard, just something that you have to get used to doing. There are several recruits from each academy class that have to write the reports for a while to get in synch with how to dictate them. |
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IIRC the issue with the woman in Pakistan was that the company (pool) she worked for had gotten the work from a US company that was supposed to be doing it via contract. They just subcontracted it to the offshore company.
Would voice recognition software such as Dragon, etc, not work for this if tweaked? Much better than introducing another person into the mix IMO. |
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Or they could just write the report themselves.....it doesn't take that long and it can be done in the car. Seems like wasted money to me, but that's just my opinion.... Can't type a report and patrol/drive at the same time........ That, and some cops are horrible typists that are painful to watch attempt the hunt & peck thing. Brian |
| I type horribly too, I learned. It just seems like such a needless expense. A local SO uses it and they are always bitching about how they have to send it back two or three times for revision. Hell, if it's a quick one page report, I 'll just handwrite it and bang it out in five minutes. Just my experience. |
| This is how doctors write nearly everything. After a little time you get very good at dictating and can dictate a long document in very little time. The trick is that you need to skim the typed document before signing or electronically signing it since the typist could have made some errors. |