Note-taking Tips

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Notes

What are notes?

• notes are any record made by the officer recording their relevant observations and conduct in the course of their investigation;
• notes are not limited to to handwritten notes in notebooks, it can include all emails where there is investigative content in the officer's emails and typed reports;

Responsibility to Make Notes

• A professional in the criminal justice system, especially peace officers, have a duty to observe and record their observations relevant to their professional duties. It is not just for their benefit as a memory refresh tool.
• Notes should at minimum be a recitation of the chronological narrative that includes all potentially relevant observations and actions.

Prioritizing what to record

• relevant evidence identifying the existence of a crime, identifying a culprit, and excluding innocent persons.
• Police compliance with rules--think about what is most likely to be litigated.
  • State actions that are regulated by Charter case law or statute.

Tip: What you fail to record can be just as important as what you record. A failure to take note of a relevant observation that is reported in testimony can be given reduced weight or even excluded because of lack of notes documenting the event.

Example observations

• identify eye-witnesses, including their demeanour and mannerisms
• evidence of identity of culprit (circumstances of observation, distinguishing features, history of familiarity, consulted reference docs)

Examples re Charter

• Grounds of detention or arrest
• right to counsel, including informational and implementation components;
• voluntariness in the interview
• search incident to arrest

Notes on Charter Issues

Arrest

• Details of grounds, including observations prior to arrest and information learned from other sources
• Date, time and location of arrest
• Identity of the person doing the arrest, what other members were present, and who else would have witnessed the arrest.
• The words of arrest, including the charge(s) and the full charter and caution script.
• Transportation of the detainee. Who transported? What route was taken?

Residential Search

• Date, time and address of search
• Members who were participating in the search.
• layout of residence. The locations covered by observer.
• evidence relating ot identity of occupants, including number of people and location of bedrooms..