For Patrol Officers ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll have ChatGPT configured so that every time you open a new conversation, it already knows you're a patrol officer, knows your department's report format, and is ready to write a properly formatted narrative the moment you paste your notes. You stop re-explaining yourself every session — and your reports come out more consistent.
What you'll need
What you should see: A clean chat interface with a text box at the bottom and "ChatGPT" in the header.
What you should see: Two empty or partially filled text areas where you'll add your instructions. Troubleshooting: If you don't see Custom Instructions, make sure you're logged in (not using ChatGPT as a guest).
Paste this text into the first box (customize the bracketed parts):
I'm a patrol officer at a [city/county] police department. I have [X] years of experience. I write incident reports, arrest affidavits, use-of-force reports, and supplemental reports. My state is [state name]. Reports are submitted into our RMS system after I draft them. I often start from rough field notes or shorthand bullet points.
Paste this text into the second box:
When I ask you to write or rewrite a police report narrative:
- Use third person ("This officer...") and past tense
- Use active voice ("This officer observed...") not passive ("It was observed...")
- Be specific and factual — no vague language
- Include: date/time/location, officer actions, subject behavior, witness statements (if given), evidence, and disposition
- Legal language should be precise — "placed under arrest for [charge]" not "detained"
- Format as a continuous narrative, not bullet points
- Do NOT include information I haven't provided
- Flag any gaps in the narrative with [MISSING: describe what's needed]
For other tasks, be direct and practical — you're talking to someone who has limited time and needs clear answers.
What you should see: ChatGPT immediately produces a properly formatted report narrative without you needing to explain the format.
After your first few uses, notice what's still off — maybe the tone is slightly wrong, or it's too verbose. Go back to Custom Instructions and add a line like "Keep narratives under 300 words unless facts require more detail." Iterate until it's exactly what you want.