The Safe Library - Service, Safety, & Security with Dr. Steve Albrecht

By Dr. Steve Albrecht

Let’s start by defining the “professional library security incident report” as:

“a document created by an investigative process that captures the scene of a security incident at your library; that serves as a historical record; and that accurately describes the facts, identifies evidence, any victims, witnesses, and the actual or suspected participants. It should include their actions and statements, which might initiate a human resources response, or demonstrate the need for security improvements, process improvements, or policy changes at the library. These reports can help limit our liability and demonstrate security professionalism. Professional security reports demonstrate our knowledge of the law, the library Code of Conduct, security policies, and patron behavioral issues. It can help us see how crimes, medical incidents, accidents, and patron behavioral problems should be investigated, documented, and managed.”

That’s a long way of saying they have value and should be valued by the library organization.

Security Incident Reports (SIRs) have legal, historical, evidential, and statistical importance. They help Library Directors and/or library security managers or the site supervisors for contract security officers to prove or disprove what happened at a specific time and place. They make it easier for library leaders to make policy decisions, operational changes, and enhance staffing, hiring, protection, and service to the organization, staff, patrons, and the community.

Report writing is a learned skill. Security employees or staff who complete SIRs will need guidance, templates, ongoing training, and help to create the best representation of what may have happened, on the actual page.

Many eyes will read what gets written on a library SIR. Inside the organization, this could include the Library Director, security directors, guard force supervisors, HR representatives, library board attorneys, risk managers, county safety officers, and city/county media relations. Outside the organization, this list gets even longer and could include insurance adjusters, police, prosecutors, judges and juries, expert witnesses, plaintiffs’ attorneys, or civil or criminal defense attorneys.

Consider the following writing tips for all employees who have to write a Security Incident Report, starting with the most helpful, important rule:

Use the Triple-A Rule to improve your reports:

Keep your Average Sentence Length to about 15 to 20 words. Longer or shorter is okay but this word number guideline always leads to the highest comprehension by the reader. It’s easy to stay at this 15-to-20 words per sentence mark if you stick to one idea or activity per sentence.

Avoid Jargon. Write like you talk and don’t talk like a cop or a bureaucrat on paper. It’s not a vehicle; it’s a car. Stop writing “approximately” and just say “about.” Don’t say “I utilized” when “I used” is better.

Write in the active voice. Don’t write, “The paramedics were called and treatment was provided to the injured patron, who was then taken to the hospital.” Write it with the subject and the action right up front: “We called paramedics for the injured patron. They treated her at the scene, before taking her to the hospital.” Active voice sentences have more power and tend to be shorter.

• Memorize the correct version of these common grammar usage errors and keep them out of your reports: their, they’re, or there; you’re or your; then or than; it’s or its; to or too; further or farther.
• If your incident notes are an inaccurate mess, fix that immediately. See how other employees create well-organized notes and copy their approach.
• Develop shortcuts for notetaking. If applicable, note the times of arrival for everyone after the incident/accident took place. Circle these letters so you know later who did what, when: V for victim, W for witness, S for Suspect/Subject, M for me (you said it, asked it, or did it), L for Library, P for Patron, LE for Police/Sheriff, F for Firefighter, EMT for Paramedics, SG for Security Guard, E for Employee.
• Little details can have a lot of importance. People involved in Security Incident Reports may try to claim things later that didn’t happen, get payment for damage that wasn’t there, or file questionable or even false court or insurance claims. Get the names and IDs of all on-scene first responders, the lighting conditions at an accident scene, and the names and contact information for all witnesses. Quote exactly if someone refused medical treatment at the scene.
• Know when to ask more open-ended questions (used to get the person to tell his or her story) and fewer closed-ended questions (used to get yes/no answers). “And then what happened?” is an open-ended question. “Is that all you can remember about the event?” is a closed-ended question. Both are necessary, but you’ll get more information using open-ended questions.
• Know the elements of a crime and make certain those are described as being met in your report. Crimes require intent on the part of the doer. Some events are not crimes: an expensive watch that gets left in the library public restroom and is not there when the owner returns is not a theft case, it’s a lost item.
• Know the important difference between an eyewitness and an “ear witness.” Some people saw things; other people heard about things from others. It’s a critical distinction in security incidents and subsequent reports.
• Understand who is the audience reading your report; one of your objectives is to pass along key messages in a manner the reader will easily understand.
• Readers of your report may include law enforcement, legal counsel, internal auditors, insurance representatives, HR, directors, managers, and supervisors.
• Ensure we have sufficient detail in the report, consider using models like the four C’s and the five W’s plus H: Complete, Clear, Concise, and Correct along with the What, When, Where, Who, Why, and How.
• Your report is a reflection of your professionalism, so turn on spell and grammar checks if using a computerized application to write your report. Read and re-read your report before submitting it, and consider both the structure of your report as well as its content. If a layperson cannot understand your report, then adjust as necessary to make the report more easily understood.

The stakes are high for poorly written Security Incident Reports. As any attorney will tell us, “You can’t go back in time and `add it in after it happened.’” Choose your words well.

My thanks for the help with this piece goes to Dubai-based security practitioner John Cowling, a fine Aussie gent. He specializes in corporate security, transportation protection, and crisis management.