Incident Reports
Security Guard Training: Creating a Well Written Incident Report
One of the most important responsibilities of security guards is to know how to write an incident report. Incident reports are extremely important because they are legal documents which are filed as evidence with police reports and often are used as evidence in courts of law.
When something happens while you're working at your security guard job that puts the client, yourself, employees or the public in harms way, you will want to create an incident report. In addition to basic writing skills, you will also need to be very observant and try to remember as many details as possible so youcan document this information in your incident report.
When writing an incident report, always remember the Five W's: who, what, when, where and why.
- Who was involved? Try to document first and last names. Also describe any suspects including their sex, height, age, race, clothing and hair and eye colors. If a vehicle is involved, try to get the year, make, model, color and license plate if at all possible.
- What happened? State the facts only and include as many details as possible.
- When did it happen? Note the time and date the incident happened.
- Where did it happen? Note the address and specific location where the incident happened.
- Why did it happen? Note the events leading up to the incident, what was observed during the incident, and the final outcome of the incident in question.
Remember to state only the facts and your actual observations. While your opinions are certainly important, they should never be stated in a report or you will risk appearing biased which can discredit your actual observations as stated in your incident report.
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