Writing professional security reports
This week we are going to look at the essential task of completing an incident report. It’s the part of the job that not many people like but it is nevertheless essential. I’ve been there at the end of a long night in a club when all you want is to get home to bed and the manager walks out with a stack of empty report forms to complete. I’ve been there after an arrest that’s gone violent and you need a report for the store manager asap. I’ve also been on the other side of that equation. I’ve gotten phone calls from irate customers the morning after an incident or a persons solicitor the day after an incident when I haven’t had reports. In both of those cases the absence of a report hasn’t looked professional but the quality of the report that does arrive is the real critical part. Reports can save you or cost you after incidents. One of my maxims in the security industry is ” even if what you did was correct you can still lose if it doesn’t look correct or you don’t record it correctly”. In this article I want to help you with that part. I’ve seen too many people cost jobs and money because of poorly written reports.
