Incident Report Template

How to use this template

An incident report is a separate document for one event: what happened, who was involved, what the officer did and who was told. It is written for readers who were not there and may read it months later: a property manager, an insurance adjuster, a police officer, a lawyer. Price Protection’s officers write one for every incident before the end of the shift, referenced from the daily activity report by time. Copy these sections into your own form or print the page.

1. Classification

Field	Entry
Report number
Property and post
Type of incident	[crime, injury, medical, disturbance, trespass, damage, fire or alarm, vehicle, other]
Date and time incident began
Date and time officer became aware
How the officer became aware	[observed, resident report, alarm, dispatch call, camera]
Exact location	[building, floor, unit, lot, gate]

2. People

Role	Name	Contact	Description if unknown
Reporting officer
Person(s) involved			[sex, approximate age, height, build, clothing, distinguishing features]
Witness(es)
Vehicle(s)			[make, model, color, plate, direction of travel]

3. Narrative

Write in time order, in the first person, in plain past tense. Record what you saw and heard, and what others said to you, attributed by name. Do not record what you think happened or who was at fault.

[At 03:40 I was on a round at Building 3 when I heard glass break on the north side. I walked to the north side and saw…]

4. Actions taken

• First aid given (describe)
• 911 called at [time]; [police / fire / EMS] arrived at [time]; officer or unit name [ ]; report or case number [ ]
• Dispatch notified at [time]
• Client contact notified at [time], [name]
• Maintenance notified at [time]
• Trespass notice given (oral or written), to whom, at [time]
• Area secured (describe)
• Other

5. Evidence

Item	Description	Where kept
Photographs	[number, what they show, time taken]
Video	[camera, time range, who was asked to preserve it]
Physical items
Documents	[visitor log entry, gate record, statement]

6. Property damage or loss

Item	Description	Owner	Estimated by

7. Notifications and signatures

Field	Entry
Report completed, date and time
Officer signature
Supervisor review, name and date
Copy sent to client, name and time
Copy provided to police, date

Notes on filling it in

The narrative is where reports fail. Three rules keep it useful: time order, first person, no conclusions. “The suspect broke the window” is a conclusion; “I heard glass break, walked to the north side and saw a man in a grey hoodie running toward Lot B; the window of unit 312 was broken” is a record. Descriptions of unknown people follow the same order every time so nothing is left out. Photographs are taken before anything is moved and listed with the time. If the police attended, the case number goes in section 4, because the manager and the adjuster will ask for it. The incident reports article explains what a good report looks like from the manager’s side, and the daily activity report template is the shift record the incident is referenced from.