As an Resident Assistant or student staff member, being able to write incident reports is an important skill to have. This is because in your role you will frequently be the first responder when different incidents occur. Housing departments need to abide by both government and their institutions policies regarding tracking conduct trends and student follow up. Accurate incident reports from students is what makes both of these things possible.
While writing reports may feel intimidating, in actuality all incident reports follow a similar formula. This ensures that the report isn’t missing the necessary information.
The Four W’s:
The very first line of a report should establish the four W’s:
- When did the incident take place? Include both the date and time.
- Where did this occur? What building and where in the building did it take place.
- Who are you? Be sure to include your full name and title, as official reports should always be written in the third person.
- What were you doing? Explain how you found out about the situation.
This is the introduction to a report, it sets the scene and ensures that the reader has the context necessary to understand the incident and any policy violations that may have occurred.
You should also try using the “third person,” even when referring to yourself. For example, “RA Madison.” You’ll see me use this same “third person” phrasing below.
Where’s the Meat?
The next section will be the bulk of a report, this is where the incident is explained, along with how the RA (or “CA” or “RM” or whatever term your campus may use) handled the situation. In this section of a report the parties that were involved in the incident should be introduced. This means including full names, whether or not that party is a resident, and any additional information necessary (NOTE: Different universities will have different expectations, be sure to discuss with your supervisor if you don’t already know!)
This section is a narrative of what the RA saw and did in reaction to the incident. It is important to remain objective and professional when writing incident reports, otherwise the incident report itself becomes unusable.
Finally, the report should record how the RA has adhered to the department’s protocol for that incident. For example: An RA is writing a report about an incident where they discovered underage residents drinking alcohol. Their departmental protocol states that if underage residents are found with alcohol, the RA must have those residents dispose of any alcohol in a specific way. If that RA does not record in their report that they followed protocol, the department has no record demonstrating that they did the right thing. This could lead to that RA getting into trouble, and in an especially escalated incident could lead to them losing their job.
No Cliff Hangers!
The last section of a report is to clearly establish how an incident was resolved. If there is not a resolution (for example, you had to leave an on-going incident) there should be a clear reason as to why that was, and who took over the responsibility for handling that situation. A report will end when the RA has left the scene, which is why it is so important to gather all of the information necessary for a report before leaving. The last thing an RA should do before exiting the scene, is to verify that they have all the information they need, and then to explain what next steps will look like for the parties involved in the report. Take the time to explain that you will be writing a report, what the conduct process looks like, and answer any questions that they have. An RA should do their best to end the interaction on a positive note, if it is possible.
Tips and Tricks!
- Write a report as soon after the incident as you can. If it is late and you need to sleep, write detailed notes/sample reports to read over in the morning.
- Remember to take pictures while at the scene, but those pictures should not have people in them, only objects!
- Double check spelling, especially when it comes to names!
- Delete anything relating to a report off of your personal/school accounts after the report has been submitted.
