Below is a sample format of a Police Blotter page:

Entry No. Date Time Events/Incidents Disposition

Additional Guidelines and Procedures

As mandated in Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Number

2012-001 dated March 26, 2012; PNP adopts a uniform and
standard procedure on how to enter data in the Police Blotter so
that the service offered by the police to record complaints in the
Police Blotter shall be done in the most efficient, fast, and
accurate means. The following guidelines and procedures shall
be observed in entertaining complaints and recording data of the
same in the Police Blotter.

A. Incident Reporting and Filling Out of Incident Record Form

(IRF)(sample of IRF, https://didm.pnp.gov.ph)
1. An entry of record in the Police Blotter shall not be done
directly to the Police Blotter book. The facts and
information of a blotter entry shall at first be recorded in
the Incident Record Form or IRF. Once it is signed and
acknowledge by the Desk Officer and the Chief of Police,
or his representative, the data that were provided by the
complainant or client in the IRF shall be entered and
recorded in the Police Blotter Book.
2. As soon as a client or complainant enters the police
station, and is ascertained that his purpose is to file a
 complaint or to request a data in the Police Blotter, the
Duty Officer of the Quality Service Lane (QSL) must
accord the client with due respect and politely ask the
person the nature of his transaction. The Incident Record
Form (IRF) shall be made available to the client for him
to fill out.
3. The QSL Duty Officer shall at all times guide and assist the
client in filling out the form. In the event that the client
is illiterate or incapacitated to fill out the IRF, the QSL
Duty Officer shall do the same for him. The Chief of Police
in the station shall make available space in the police
station where this process is done, in the privacy outside
the scrutiny of kibitzers.

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4. Whenever the subject of the complaint involves
confidentiality, as in cases involving protection of women
and children, the QSL Duty Officer shall escort the client
to the female Duty Investigator of the Women and
Children Protection Desk (WCPD) where the filling out of
the IRF shall be done. While the IRF should be filled out
by the complainant, the female police officer of WCPD
may assist the complainant in doing so, with the latter
providing the facts and details of the case.
5. The first item to be filled out in the IRF is the general
information about the Reporting Person. It contains the
name, address, occupation, and other analogous
information about the Reporting Person, whether he is
the victim of the crime or not. It is important that this
general information be taken. The object of this is to
prevent an attempt of a client to mislead the police to
record an event or crime that did not occur, motivated
by a client’s desire to later get an extract of the Police
Blotter for purposes of an insurance claim, for example,
or to tarnish the personal record of another person by
imputing the commission of a crime by such person. The
 inclusion of his home and work addressees in the event
that a formal inquiry or investigation is subsequently
ordered by the Chief of Police.
6. The next time in the IRF is the data of the Suspect. There
are two (2) boxes in this item which should be indicated
with a tick mark before answering the data under
suspect. The first is whether there is no suspect or no
crime was committed. This is applicable for blotter
entries where a client wants to put on official record the
loss of his Driver’s License, or Company Identification
Card. Once this is checked, proceed to the next time,
which is the data of the Victim. The second box, however,
should be indicated if there are suspects in the incident.
The data of the first suspect will be recorded on the IRF
and those of the second and subsequent suspects on a
separate sheet of paper which will then form and integral
part of the IRF.
7. The data in all items on the IR should be as specific and
complete as possible. The information indicated and
brought forth in this item will be a very vital tool of the
Investigator-on-case (IOC), which could mean the
solution of the crime. The client and/or the QSL Duty
Officer is given the opportunity to indicate, as completely
as possible, any information and distinguishing features
of the suspects in the space provided thereon.
8. The third item on the IRF is the general information about
the victim. It contains the name, address, occupation,
and other analogous information about the victim. It is
important that this general information be recorded. The
object of this is for the

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investigator to easily locate the victim/complainant
during court trials if the case is filed in court.
9. On the second page of the blotter form, the facts of the
incidents should be narrated by the complainant. It
contains a narrative of what happened, answering the
five W’s (Who, What, When, Where, Why) and the one H
(How) of an information report.
10. It is a necessary and mandatory requirement that at the
end of the narration of every incident, the Duty Officer
who recorded the incident shall place his/her signature
and of the complainant certifying the correctness of the
narration. Likewise, the last line of the paper should
indicate that nothing follows.
11.After the form is authenticated, an Incident Record
Transaction Receipt, cut from the lower end of the IRF, is
given to the complainant who confirms that the reporting
person had completed a transaction with the police office
concerned and reported an incident.
12. For purposes of standardization, all stations should only
maintain an official Police Blotter and an Official Police
Blotter IRF. As such, it is discouraged, and is henceforth
unauthorized, that logbook, notebook, or any materials
be used.
13. Thereafter, it is the duty of the police officer who is in
charge of the Police Blotter to lodge the complaint to the
proper investigator who will handle the case. The
investigator should interview the complainant on the
nature of his complainant from repeating his narration.
14.Check the necessary documents in support of the
complaint, if needed. If there are documents submitted, the
same shall be attached and will form part of the IRF. 15.
Make sure that all the information gathered is truthful and
exact in its documentation.
16. In the event that the complainant desires to amend or
make supplemental of his complaint, the investigator
shall inform the officer-in-charge of the blotter to make
the necessary corrections and state therein that it
 amends or supplements the previous report and shall
place the signature both of the complainant and the
officer
in-charge of the blotter.

B. Procedure for Recording Incident Report in the Police Blotter

1. The crime incident report recorded in the IRF, after the
transaction with the reporting Person has concluded, shall
be transcribed and entered into the Police Blotter by the
Desk Office of the police station. For those police stations
equipped with the Crime

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Incident Reporting System, popularly known as the e-
Blotter, the designated Crime Registrar will likewise
enter the record into the System.
2. Blotter entry reports serve as a permanent record of
incidents, events, problems, and so forth. There are
many types of reports, each of which serves different
functions. A Police Blotter is used to keep people informed
of activities within the police jurisdiction. It is also used
to compile statistical information, identify problems in
the community, or identify police training needs. These
reports are needed to facilitate investigations, prepare
court cases, or defend case in court.
3. The narrative written in the IRF shall basically be the
record that shall be transcribed in the Police Blotter.
While it is in narrative form, it is prudent, however, to list
down some necessary information in the Police Blotter in
itemized or outline form. This shall answer the necessary
requirements of the five W’s and one H.
4. The following questions should be answered as a
guide to writing the report: a. Who was
involved?
 b. Where did it take place?

c. When did it take place?

d. What happened?

e. Why did it happen?

f. How did it happen?

5. As soon as the incident is transcribed in the Police Blotter,

the Desk Officer and the Reporting Person shall sign in
the Police Blotter. It should be indicated under the name
and signature of the Reporting Person his address, home
telephone number, mobile phone number, and
identification card presented. In the event that the
Reporting Person indicates that he does not want his
contact details to be recorded in a public record as the
Police Blotter, by reason of privacy, but it should,
however, be indicated in the IRF.
6. Any violation of this SOP shall be dealt with
administratively as may be warranted by evidence. All
Unit Commanders shall be included in the investigation
under the principle of command responsibility. If
evidence further warrants, criminal complaints shall also
be filed against those who may have committed acts or
omissions contrary to the Revised Penal Code or any
special penal statutes.