Pocket Notebook Training Guide - WhatDoTheyKnow

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1Staff Development Unit

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Pocket Note Books

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The Pocket Note Book

The Purpose

• A place to record all

evidence/information/intelligence

relating to offences and other events or

incidents

• Therefore an important document that

must be used correctly

• Normally written, although they may be

in sketch form

The pocket notebook is used to record all

evidence/Information/intelligence relating to offences and other events or

incidents.

It is therefore an important document that must be used correctly.

Each police force will have its own policy detailing local procedures for

completing pocket notebooks and other documents at the scene of

incidents or during investigations.

Pocket notebook entries will normally be written although they may be

in sketch form, such as a floor plan to locate where property was found

during a search.

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The Pocket Notebook

When and How

• An official document and must be

carried at all times when on duty.

• The book is issued by a supervisor and

a record is kept of all books issued.

• It is official police property and should

be stored centrally after completion.

Until required for further use.

The majority of police officers are issued with a pocket notebook

which is an official document and must be carried at all times when

on duty in uniform or in plain cloths.

The book is issued by a supervisor and a record is kept of all books

issued.

It is police property and should be stored centrally after completion

until it is required for reference or for use when giving evidence.

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Pocket Note Book

When and How

• Entries should form a comprehensive

record of an event

• Entries will be used as the basis of

reports or statements

• You may use the notebook to refresh

your memory when giving evidence!

Pocket notebook entries should form a comprehensive record of an

event to ensure that you can refer to the maximum amount of information

when giving evidence in court or looking back at incidents/events that you

have dealt with.

Entries will be used as the basis of reports or statements; both these

documents are merely extracts of the facts from the notes and should not

contain any substantive material that was not recorded at the time.

You may use the notebook to refresh your memory when giving

evidence if the court gives permission, providing the court is

satisfied that the entries were made at the time of the offence or

incident or as soon as practicable afterwards.

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Pocket Notebook

When and How

• Accurate notes should be made at the

scene of the incident

• Examined by your supervisors and by

lawyers or court officials when you are

giving evidence during a court case.

• You must ensure that all entries are

legible.

There are events for which specific official documents are provided for

completion at the scene or during your investigation. These include road

traffic accident cards, crime reports, process cards and fixed penalty

notices. On these occasions the pocket notebook is usually used only to

make an entry referring to your attendance at the incident and the

completion of the other documents, although there are variations in force

policies. These forms will be explained later on in the course depending

on your role.

Accurate notes should be made at the scene of the incident and at

other stages of the investigation to enable the information to be used at a

later date. The notes should not be limited to those matters that you are

able to give in evidence, but should include all material that may have

some bearing on the incident and the investigation. An example of this

would be the exact words used by a victim or witness which you may not

be allowed to give in evidence but may be significant at a later stage in

the investigation. The importance of this will become clearer when you

have studied the rules governing hearsay evidence.

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Pocket Notebook

• Pocket notebooks are subject to the scrutiny of the court

• Rules for its completion have been established

• These should become second nature to you

• Helps promote your reliability as a witness and the reputation of the service as a whole

The pocket notebook is subject to the scrutiny of the court and in order to

support its integrity a number of rules for its completion have been

established. These should become second nature to you and, if

followed carefully, will help to promote your reliability as a witness and

the reputation of the service as a whole. Failure to comply with these

rules may lead the court to question the accuracy of your evidence and

your honesty as a witness. This in turn may result in the exclusion of your

evidence and ultimately in the dismissal of the case.

For example, a record must be made of the description of any suspect as

first given to you by a witness. This requirement is made by the Codes of

Practice to the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE). The

Codes provide instructions to the police in dealing with many incidents

and occasions such as searching and interviewing suspects. You will

cover PACE and the Codes during your training

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Pocket Notebook

POCKET NOTE BOOK

RULES

As mentioned previously, in order to support the reliability and accuracy of

entries in the pocket notebook a number of rules have been established.

These are intended to ensure that entries are made at the time of the

event they refer to and are not the subject of unauthorised or dishonest

alteration. If the rules are followed, the entries and consequentially the

evidence that they support should withstand scrutiny.

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Pocket Notebook

Rules

• Entries should be made in black ink.

• The day, date and year should be recorded and underlined at the beginning of entries for that day.

• All DAYS, DATES TIMES, PLACES AND ADDRESSES should be in block capitals.

• Entries should be made only on the lines of the pages of the book and all lines and pages should be used.

• Each entry should include time and location.

• All time to be recorded using 24hr clock

Entries should be made in black ink.

The day, date and year should be recorded and underlined at the

beginning of entries for that day.

All surnames and place names should be in block capitals.

Entries should be made only on the lines of the pages of the book and all

lines and pages should be used.

Each entry should include time and location.

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Pocket Notebook

What should be recorded

• Names, addresses dates of birth and occupation of victims, offenders, witnesses and informants, full descriptive details of vehicles, property or documents involved

• Names must be written in BLOCK CAPITALS (surnames must be larger than others)

• Cancel errors by drawing a line through it to leave the original visible and initial

Additional information about the offender may be relevant depending on

the incident.

Where the incident involves vehicles, property or documents, full

descriptive details should be recorded including unique identifiers, e.g.

registration marks, serial numbers etc.

Entries should be made at the time of the event which is being recorded

or, where circumstances prevent this, as soon as possible after the event.

Where there is a delay the specific reasons should be included, for

example the conduct of the suspect or other persons involved in the

incident.

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Pocket Notebook

• People (10-point description)

• Vehicles (colour, make, type registration

number)

• Entries should be made at the time of

the event which is being recorded or,

where circumstances prevent this, as

soon as possible after the event

The trainer should explain how people and vehicles should be described

in pocket notebooks. The 10 point description is contained in the student

file guide as follows:

1. colour

2. sex

3. age

4. height - use between heights or ‘about 5’8’ rather than a precise

height

5. build

6. hairstyle and colour

7. complexion

8. distinguishing features, eg tattoos, scars, beard, etc and include if

they wore spectacles

9. clothing (from top to bottom)

10. carrying anything.

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Pocket Notebook

• A mount of time under observation

• D istance from incident/person(s)

• V isibility

• O bscured view?

• K nown or seen before? If so…

• A ny reason to remember?

• T ime elapsed since incident

• E rrors or material discrepancies

material discrepancies

The trainer should summarise the stated case of R v Turnbull [1976] before

explaining the mnemonic.

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Pocket Notebook

Rules

• Record information or a person’s

account of an incident

Q: “tell me what happened?”

A: “I was walking along the High Street

when ...”

• Then followed by a section of narrative

which accurately explains the event

It is often necessary to record information or a person’s account of an

incident immediately into the notebook and, as a result, the entry may not

necessarily make sense to a reader. Such an entry should be made in

direct speech wherever possible, for example:

Q: “Can you explain what happened?”

A: “Yes, I was walking along the High Street when ...”

It should then be followed by a section of narrative which accurately

explains the event.

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Pocket Notebook

Rules

• Any comments made by a person suspected of committing an offence whether these comments are in response to your questions or not.

• If the suspected person refuses to read or sign the note

A note should be made of any comments made by a person suspected

of committing an offence whether these comments are in response

to your questions or not. The person should be invited to read the note

and write an endorsement to the effect that ‘I certify that this is a true and

accurate record of the conversation that took place’. This should be

signed by the suspect and the officer as the conversation may be

construed to be an interview. If the suspect does not consider it to be

correct, he or she should be invited to indicate which details are

considered to be inaccurate and to sign a record of those details.

If the suspected person refuses to read or sign the note, this should be

noted and signed by the officer. The senior officer present should read

the note over to the suspect and ask whether he would like to sign it as

correct, or indicate the aspects he considers to be inaccurate, then

endorse the pocket notebook as to what has taken place.

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Pocket Notebook

Rules

• If whole or part pages are accidentally left blank

• Joint notes

• No pocket available

Blank

Where whole or part pages are accidentally left blank a diagonal line

should be drawn across the blank area and ‘omitted in error’ written

across the page if a mistake is made, cross it out with a single line so that

the word or words remain legible. Initial the deletion and follow it with the

replacement word or words.

Joint notes

Where a number of officers have witnessed the same incident, or have

been present at an interview, they may confer when preparing notes.

Such notes must, however, include only genuine recollections of the

officers concerned. Where joint notes have been made it is necessary

that the officers endorse their own pocket notebooks to the effect that this

has happened and include the times between which the note-writing took

place, the location and who was present.

No pocket notebook available

When you are off duty and not in possession of your pocket notebook or

when, for any other reason, it is not available to you and there is the need

to make notes, you may use any available piece of paper for the purpose.

The general rules for note taking should be followed wherever possible

and the note should be formally preserved as an ‘exhibit’ and attached to

any subsequent report or statement. It may be used as a reference when

giving evidence and should therefore be available for inspection at court.

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ELBOWS

• No Erasure

• No Leaves torn out

• No Blank spaces

• No Over writing

• No Writing between the lines

• Statements to be in ‘direct speech’

The Report Book Rules can be summarised by the mnemonic

‘ELBOWS’

NO ERASURES

Erasures

NO LEAVES TORN OUT

Leaves torn out

NO BLANK SPACES

Blank spaces

NO OVERWRITING

Overwriting

NOWRITING BETWEEN THE LINES Writing between

lines

And

STATEMENTS IN DIRECT SPEECH Statements in

“direct speech”

Pocket Notebook Training Guide - WhatDoTheyKnow

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