Record keeping and reporting are at the heart of a security officer's job. In general, all activities of security must be documented. There are two major types of reports and many other types of reports. The two major types are daily logs and incident reports. Between those two, an officer can stay abreast of all basic activities on a post.
A daily log is a journal of what the officer does throughout their shift, such as when and where they made patrols, gave out keys and other pertinent information. In addition to that log, daily activities may also be logged in other logs, such as key logs. Suffice it to say that daily logs are a snap shot of the officers shift and a great reference tool.
Incident reports are used to report specific events that require more detail, such as a incident report which conveys a security breach. Incident reports should be clear, concise and truthful. They should answer these questions:
1) What happened?
2) When did it occur?
3) Where did it occur?
4) Who was involved?
5) Who was notified?
6) Was anyone hurt?
7) Was their any damage or theft of property?
8) What corrective actions were taken?
Reports should always be legible and properly signed. All incident reports should be noted in the Daily Log. The entry should concisely convey what happened and when and at what location. The entry should only be a couple of sentences to reference the actual incident report where a complete report is made.
