You may not enjoy writing security incident reports. It's likely that you will be required to write an accident report in 90% of security guard orders.
The quality of your report can have a significant impact on how your employer evaluates your performance. In this article, we will discuss some tips and tools that can help you write a professional incident report.
How to Write an Effective Security Report
Remember those days in elementary where you learned to tell stories? When you write an incident report, not much has changed. Include the following information:
- Who: Who was involved? Was it possible to obtain contact details or a visual representation of the people involved?
- When describing someone, be sure to remain objective and courteous.
- The Why: How did it happen? You can use this opportunity to give a chronological account of the events. Try to be as descriptive without adding unnecessary information. It is better to include all relevant information, even if it's not certain. It is better to be overly thorough than under-prepared.
- Include the date of the event. If you don't know, estimate a period of time.
- The Where Incorporate details like address, location or scenery.
- What happened: What happened? This is a difficult question to answer. Only include the details you are sure happened.
Professional and Conversational
Some officers get stuck in "police terms" and mumbo-jumbo. This may make the report appear more professional but it is harder to understand. This document may be seen by witnesses, jurors and supervisors.
Your report will have more impact if it is easier to understand. It is important to report security incidents in order to share the information. It should be conversational, but use correct grammar and vocabulary. Use common sense as a guide.
Why Security Incident Reports are Important
Security Incident Reports are vital to your business's success. These reports are used by security managers to verify or deny what happened, like property damage or physical confrontations. These reports are used to:
- Evidence in Court Your security event report can be admitted as evidence at court. SIRs must be thorough and accurate to allow victims to present their case in court.
- Insurance Claim. If an incident occurs and you don't notify your insurance company, they may deny you coverage. In addition to ensuring that you accurately report all incidents, completing your reports real-time can help you ensure insurance coverage.
- Legal protection for officers and security teams. Security incident reports limit liability. SIRs help security directors make more informed decisions to improve their client's protection.
- Your Firm's Standing in the Community. To demonstrate professionalism, completing incident reports with accuracy and regularity is the best way to show that you are committed to safety laws and your organization's integrity. By taking these reports seriously, you can improve the image of your organization and help with retention and hiring.
Observe, Report
As a security guard, it is important to only report the facts.
It is your job to report what you see or experience. Investigative work will be handled by the appropriate authorities when necessary.
Include photos, audio, and video whenever possible
You know what they say: a picture speaks a thousand. The more information you can provide in your incident report by capturing the incident with a camera, the better. Include the photos when you submit your incident report.
Your supervisor will receive your written report. You can protect the credibility of these files by having them time-stamped.
Use security incident reporting software
The quality of your incident reports can be greatly improved by using a powerful software tool that helps you gather critical information.
With the switch from pen-and-paper to digital tools, you are able to:
- Track critical incidents digitally
- Simple guard reporting using clear response fields, incident templates and templates
- Produce credible reports and documents that stand up to legal action
Helping your guards create accurate reports is crucial because these reports will be important for you, your victims, and the law. Silvertrac, Trackforce Valiant and other tools like them provide officers with:
- How to create an incident report step-by-step
- All reports for every tour are easily accessible
- Access to automated reporting tools
Using the right technology can also automate your reporting process. Officers can do the following with Trackforce Valiant:
- Create regular reports in real time and from the field
- Customize text/email notification
- Easy escalate issues
Silvertrac can be used to replace pen-and-paper incident reports.
