Security Incident Report Template: Free Printable Form for Guards

When to write an incident report

Write an incident report for any event that's out of the ordinary and could matter later: a break-in or attempted entry, a theft, damage, an injury or a fall, a fight or a threat, a trespasser, a fire alarm, a flood, a vehicle accident on the property, a medical call, or anything police, fire or EMS came out for. If you're not sure whether it needs a report, write one. A report you didn't need costs ten minutes. One you needed and didn't write can't be put together properly a week later.

Write it as soon as you can after the incident, while the details are fresh, and before you leave the shift. Note it in your daily activity report with the report number, so the two match. This template is for physical security incidents on a property. A data breach or a cyber incident follows your IT team's process instead.

What to write in each field

How to write the narrative

The narrative is the part people read. Write it in the first person and in time order, and answer who, what, when, where and how. Describe what you saw, heard and did. Leave out guesses about why, and don't label anyone as a thief or a drunk: describe what they did and how they acted.

• Start with how you got involved. "At 01:12, on round 3, I heard glass breaking from the east side of Building A."
• Describe people by what you saw. Height, build, clothing, direction of travel, and a vehicle's make, color and plate.
• Quote what was said. Word for word where you can, in quotation marks.
• Say what you did, and when. Each call, each person you spoke to and each thing you secured, with times.
• End with how it was left. Who took over, what's still open, and what needs following up.
• Read it back before you sign. Check names, times and spellings. After that, don't change it: if you learn more, add a dated supplement.

A filled-in example

Here are the main entries from a report about a made-up incident at a self-storage site.

Common mistakes

• Waiting until the end of the shift, or the next day, to write it.
• Opinions and labels instead of descriptions of what people did.
• Missing times, or times that don't match the DAR or the patrol log.
• Leaving out people you couldn't identify. Describe them instead.
• No police or fire report number, which the client and the insurer will ask for.
• Forgetting to ask for camera footage to be saved before it's recorded over.
• Changing the report after it's signed. Add a dated supplement instead.

How long to keep incident reports

Keep incident reports longer than routine logs. A claim or lawsuit over an injury or a loss can come years after the event, so a sensible default is to keep each report, with its photos and statements, until any claim is closed and the time to bring one has passed. Those time limits vary by place and by type of claim. Check your contract, your insurer and local rules, and ask your insurer or a lawyer if you're not sure.

Keep the original signed report, and file any supplements with it. If you scan reports to PDF, name each file by its report number so it matches the DAR.

Reporting from the spot with PatrolBadges

PatrolBadges doesn't write the full report for you, but it captures the first one from where it happened. An officer on patrol can report an incident from any checkpoint by scanning its QR code with their phone's camera, with no app or account: they pick a type, say what happened in a note and add photos. The report is stamped with their name, the time and the location, and it's emailed to you the moment it's sent. Urgent ones say URGENT in the subject. When an officer marks a checkpoint check as Problem, they add a note and it opens an incident too.

Tenants and visitors who scan a code can report a problem as well, with photos. Every incident shows on that day's report, which prints and can be emailed to your client each morning. Use it as the starting point, with its times and photos, and write the full narrative, witnesses and police details on this form. It's how HOA and apartment patrols get problems to the manager the same night.