How to Fill Out a Juvenile Inmate Incident Report

Juvenile facilities are responsible for the safety of their inmates.

The care and custody of juvenile inmates is typically documented in detail to protect both the juveniles and the facility that houses them. The facility takes the place of parents and as such is responsible for providing a safe, secure, environment for the inmate to reside in while awaiting a hearing or serving out a sentence. Any incident involving a juvenile inmate should be reported and clearly written on an incident report. Who was present, what preceded the incident, what happened during the incident and what action was taken following the incident are minimum standards for most juvenile incident reports.

Things You'll Need

• Report form

Instructions

1. Contain everyone who was a party or a witness to the incident. Identification of witnesses can come from parties to the incident, as well as juvenile facility employees who stepped in during the incident. Separate all witnesses, and have them placed in solitary areas to avoid contamination of facts through the witnesses discussing the event before giving statements to the facility representatives.

2. Interview participants, witnesses and facility employees. Record each interview on a digital recorder for later transcription. Preserve recordings according to facility protocol. Ask each interviewee what was happening just before, during and following the incident. Have each interviewee list all those present when it happened to further ensure that the witness list is accurate. Have each witness provide a written statement of their version of the events.

3. Transcribe interview information to incident report. Name the juvenile or juveniles who participated. For example, if an inmate fell out of his bunk and hit his head, he would be the only participant named. A fight between two inmates or an inmate and a guard will list two participants because two people were involved in the altercation. Place information into the report in chronological order to provide a clear picture of what occurred. Include a summary of any action taken because of the incident. For example, if an inmate was injured list the medical facility he was transported to, who did the transporting, how long he was there, which family members were notified and what treatment was received. A punishment, such as a lock down, loss of privileges or loss of good time credits should be listed as well.

4. Have all participants sign the incident report verifying they have read it. Include a statement that a signature does not admit guilt or agreement, but simply that they have read it.

5. Attach copies of written witness statements to the incident report. Place the original in the witness file, whether it be an inmate file or a facility personnel file.

6. Disperse copies of the incident report to all parties as mandated by the facility.

Tips & Warnings

• It is better to have too many details than too few. Take your time and be sure to include all information including first, middle and last names of everyone involved to avoid confusion.

References

• King County: 6.02.002: Inmate Disciplinary System
• Tennessee Department of Human Services: Incident Reporting