For Patrol Officers ·
What you'll accomplish
Every new conversation starts already knowing you're a patrol officer, your department's report format, and what a properly formatted narrative looks like. You paste your notes and get a first draft immediately: no re-explaining, more consistent output every session.
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. Write "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.