Begin with the record of the response
A dispatch incident and a completed report answer related but different questions. The incident records the response: where it occurred, which units were assigned and what updates were entered. A report adds the structured details and narrative needed for the agency's reporting work. Starting from the incident log keeps that connection visible instead of asking the author to reconstruct the call from memory.
Open Incident log from the back office and locate the call using its number, location, date range or other available search fields. Field users see their recorded incidents and assignments, including completed calls. Review the incident details, activity timeline and involved records before starting a report.
Choose the report and its agency deliberately
When NIBRS is enabled for the agency and your account has access, the incident offers Create NIBRS report. In a shared dispatch workspace, the action identifies the reporting agency when more than one is available. Verify that agency before continuing. The call may be shared with another responder organization, but the report remains private to its own agency.
If the action is missing, first ask an administrator to check the agency's reporting configuration and your module permissions. Creating a second account or an unrelated incident is not a useful substitute for correcting access. Other incident-linked reporting actions serve different purposes; choose the one your agency's procedure requires.
Complete the applicable segments and save the draft
Review the report's administrative details, then complete the applicable statistical segments and narrative. An involved person can supply demographics to a new victim, offender or arrestee segment. That copy creates a separate statistical segment; it does not copy names and protected identifiers. Verify age and statistical codes after copying rather than assuming that an incident record supplies every reporting detail.
Use Save draft and check the saved state before leaving. The report narrative is stored with the report and appears in its printed copy. Statistical XML contains the NIBRS segments. Keep those output purposes in mind when reviewing what belongs in structured fields and what needs explanation in the narrative.
Use validation as a review tool, not an acceptance promise
Run NIBRS validation to see issues associated with the saved report. The validation view identifies the profile and schema version and shows the relevant segment, field, issue code and message. Select an issue to return to its section. Read the validation coverage notes as well as the overall result so you know what the current checks cover.
Correct the underlying information and run validation again. A passed application check does not by itself establish that a receiving state or national system will accept the submission. Your agency still needs the applicable reporting configuration and an authorized submission workflow. Quick CAD checks the report again before submission and supervisor approval.
- Confirm the intended reporting profile before completing statistical segments.
- Resolve missing or inconsistent values in their source sections.
- Review the narrative separately for accuracy and completeness.
- Read coverage notes before treating a validation result as final.
Give the supervisor a decision they can explain
Choose Submit for review when the report is ready. Authorized reviewers can use Report review to find submitted work and open the report. Approval and decline are recorded decisions. A decline requires a reason; use it to identify the specific correction the author needs to make rather than leaving a vague instruction such as fix report.
The report displays its latest review notes and history with actor, time, action and revision information. Read those entries when a report returns for further work. If an approved report needs reopening, an authorized user supplies the reason through the reopen action. Follow the existing workflow instead of trying to disguise a correction as an unrelated new report.
Check the saved output and the next handoff
Save changes before printing so the printed copy matches the saved report. NIBRS XML download requires supervisor approval. Review the chosen output and its intended recipient before using it outside the workspace; printing a narrative and exporting statistical XML are different handoffs. An approved status in Quick CAD is an internal review outcome, not a receipt from an external reporting authority.
For a first practice run, use a fictional incident and exercise both a decline with clear notes and an eventual approval. Confirm that the author can follow the correction, the reviewer can find the resubmitted work and another agency cannot open the private report. A complete rehearsal is more useful than checking only whether a blank report opens.
Product references & further reading
This guide was checked against the implemented Quick CAD workflow at publication. These public product pages provide further context.