This is meant to be a step-by-step walkthrough of how to fill out the various forms for the HPD. Rather than rehashing what’s already in the HPD guide, we’ll assume you have a working knowledge of the HPD Field HUD. If you do not, please reference this link http://thecrackden.com/docs/police/#systems

INCIDENT/ARREST REPORT:

Start your report by selecting either the “Good Cop” or “Bad Cop” option, then click “Report” and use the link it gives you.


You’ll be given a screen that looks like this:


(Note that you will only see the “Corruption Checklist” section if you selected “Bad Cop”. More on that later.)

For now, let’s go through each element of the report.

Date and time will be automatically filled out for you. Incident location is pretty self-explanatory, just type in where the incident took place (e.g, Titty Twister, Gein, Hathian and Berthier). Incident Headline is what you would like to appear as the title of the report when complete. This should be at most one sentence, but can be left blank if desired.

The Officer(s) involved, Victim(s), and Witness(es) fields are all drop down menus populated by any approved character who has recently been on sim, and is done by AVATAR NAME, not display name. (e.g, Acid Afterthought would be Capt. Walter Bishop)
The Officers Involved field will automatically put your name on the report. Be sure to put any other officers involved on there as well so they get the credit they deserve, and can be followed up with IC if necessary.
Suspect(s) in scene should include any suspects, even if unknown IC.
Victim(s) should include any victims of the crime, even if unknown IC.
Witness(es) should include any witnesses of the crime, even if unknown IC.

Summary of Events is a basic summary of what happened. This should be no more than two paragraphs, but should accurately convey the 5 W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why) as much as possible. It should NOT be just a copy/paste of logs. This enables detectives to follow up on reports that require an investigation.
I personally use a very easy to follow formula when writing my reports:

ON <DATE> AT/ABOUT <TIME>, <HOW I CAME UPON THE INCIDENT (911 dispatch, witnessed an event in progress, etc.)>. <WHAT HAPPENED>.

Here’s an example:

As an aside, I also tend to use all caps when doing my reports, because it makes it significantly easier to read!

((Scene Notes)) are generally used to tell who is and is not known IC to avoid metagaming, and includes character names as well as avatar names. Example:

Alleged Offenses Checklist is a drop down menu of what crimes were committed. Please be reasonable when selecting these. If someone assaults a cop with a bat, it should just be assaulting a police officer, NOT assaulting a police officer, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of a deadly weapon.

Evidence Recovered is a brief list of any evidence that you recover IC. This can be shell casings, photographs, CCTV footage, etc.

Further action describes any additional actions taken, or to be taken involving the scene. Examples include referral to a detective (automatic), issuance of a warrant, APB, or any other follow-up.

Check if suspects were arrested/booked is self-explanatory. Define which of the suspects were arrested using the “Arrested Suspects” drop down, similar to the Suspects drop down above.

Jail Time Recommended is an important one, and for now should be manually adjusted to no more than 72 hours, barring major crimes in order to avoid insane jail time. If it is a serious crime, such as terrorism or homicide, go with whatever number it gives you unless the suspect requests otherwise OOC.

Now, before pressing that submit button, be sure to double check everything. Make sure you have the right suspects listed, make sure all the officers are on the report, as well as victims and witnesses. Check over the crimes list and make sure you’ve selected the ones that most fit what happened without being excessive. Read your summary. Does it make sense? If everything’s good to go, hit the submit button. You’ll be greeted with a new page previewing the report, which you can close.