Rural Triage: Bridging the Gap From Roadside to Courtroom

COURSE DESCRIPTION: 4 hours of interactive discussions with officers reading and

evaluating real-world police reports, culminating in applying the skills they have learned in this

course to determine where mistakes were made and what they would do differently to provide

the best possible criminal case to prosecutors.

GOALS: The Goals of the Course are as follows

• Officers will better understand how their decisions and actions in those first few crucial

moments of their response are often the most important decisions made in the course of

an investigation.

• They will have an understanding of how prosecutors evaluate police reports when

determining whether to file criminal charges.

• Officers will identify the legal elements of common criminal offenses using the

framework of the Illinois Pattern Jury Instructions - Criminal, the same tool that

prosecutors use.

• Recognize common report-writing deficiencies that weaken criminal cases.

• Utilize their natural observational skills to find evidence and witness statements in places

that are historically overlooked.

• Understand with confidence how to draft initial “probable cause statements” that provide

prosecutors with everything they need to seek detention at pretrial detention hearings

under the SAFE-T Act.