Instructor Guide
Practice organizing facts, documenting actions, and writing reports that another person can understand and review.
Prepare an assignment
Use Instructor assignment setup from the homepage, or Assignment settings in a report. Start from Incident, Arrest, Search Warrant only, PC Affidavit only, or Scene Processing, then tailor the required sections.
Set school, instructor, course, title, assignment sequence, report type, narrative word minimum, warrant stage, hint visibility, free map-link availability, and optional grading criteria. A zero word minimum disables that length check. Assignment title and sequence are entered here once; students are not asked for them again on the opening form. When a preset supplies a valid sequence, new reports use it in the case number. Otherwise, the RMS generates an identifier. Existing case numbers stay unchanged when report settings are edited.
Download an assignment preset or create an assignment link to copy into your LMS. These contain assignment metadata and requirements, not student answers. Reuse the preset for another class. Instructor settings are not password protected; they guide the exercise rather than enforce graded access controls.
Student workflow
- Give students the scenario and any photographs, statements, dispatch notes, or evidence details through your school’s systems.
- Specify which facts are known, what students should treat as unknown, and which sections and review stage are required.
- Students write the report, add records, save editable report files, and revise using Edit and Undo.
- Students review the submission and download the PDF. Collect the PDF through Canvas, Google Classroom, Blackboard, Moodle, Brightspace, or your existing process.
- For corrections, students reopen their editable report file, revise, and generate a new PDF. Their school drive can retain both files.
Report and warrant requirements
Original reports create a case number. Supplemental reports retain an existing case number. Arrest reports can use a new or existing case number and cover one arrestee. The classroom rule requires a PC affidavit for arrests except those based on an existing warrant.
Search Warrant only requires the warrant assignment without unrelated scene-processing or narrative reminders. Set the stage to officer draft, prosecutor review, simulated issuance, or executed and returned. Populated sections still print even when they are not required, and required-but-empty sections are flagged rather than padded with blank pages.
The affidavit supplies shared county, address, premises, occupants, and items-sought data. Historical names Abraham Lincoln and John Marshall appear as simulated prosecutor and judge with editable signatures. Students supply facts, dates, and the remaining role information.
Use the Missouri warrant writing guide. Statutory sources were reviewed September 11, 2026; review them before future teaching cycles. RSMo is part of the legal framework and should be taught alongside applicable court decisions and course materials.
Grade the reasoning
Optionally include a grading sheet in the student PDF. Choose applicable criteria: completeness, chronology, objective language, factual support, offense elements, particularity, and consistency. The sheet leaves ratings and feedback for the instructor; it does not assign automatic grades.
Look for who observed each fact, when information was obtained, how statements were corroborated, what actions followed, and whether conclusions are supported. The probable-cause self-check should prompt revision without writing the answer for the student.
For warrant exercises, compare items sought with items actually seized. Students may select seized Evidence records into an inventory, retaining quantities and identifiers, but must review it. Do not treat the requested search list as evidence that those items were found.
Drafts, recovery, and privacy
Teach saving as the first exercise. Have each student enter one fictional sentence, choose Save report for later, locate the downloaded .rms.json file, reopen it in a new RMS tab, change the sentence, and save again. Verify this on the school or personal computers students will use before assigning lengthy work.
Students may remain on the same computer or carry the latest report file on a jump drive or in existing school-approved storage. Local lab downloads may be cleared at sign-out; browser recovery does not travel between devices. Every save creates a download, so students must copy the latest version to their chosen storage.
Provide the student saving and jump-drive instructions. Require a laptop or desktop computer; students should not use cell phones. The website displays a computer-required notice on phones instead of report forms. Arrange school computer access for students who need it.
The editable report file is a portable JSON file with all report sections, images, unfinished entries, and record links. Open it in the RMS to resume. The PDF is the submission and printing artifact. No student account or central report database is required.
Device recovery is optional and uses local browser storage. On shared computers, teach students to clear it at the end of a session. Browser data can be removed, and recovery copies do not move between devices. Downloaded editable report files remain the portable backup.
The public site accepts fictional training information only. It is not an agency RMS or a repository for real criminal-justice records. Students submit work through the school, not through the website.
Access and classroom setup
Form labels and editing controls support keyboard navigation, with direct links from validation reminders. Warrant tabs support arrow keys and Home/End. Students can type sketch descriptions or upload a completed sketch rather than use the drawing canvas.
Test the final PDF in the readers and assistive technology used by your students. Fillable PDFs are not a substitute for checking reading order and accessibility in the actual classroom workflow. Offer an alternative submission format when needed.
The optional Google Maps link opens a separate tab and sends the entered address to Google. It can be disabled in assignment settings. It requires no paid API, and students may always enter fictional addresses manually.
Assignment language to copy
Program and site contacts
Instructor: Dr. Oren Barnes · orenbarnes@crowder.edu
Advisor: Hillarie Buholt · Joplin@Crowder.edu · 417.680.3202
Crowder College Criminal Justice program ↗
Report broken forms, confusing instructions, accessibility problems, or legal-source updates to the instructor. Include the section and steps to reproduce the issue, without sending real case information.
Arrest warrant exercise
Choose the Arrest warrant only assignment preset, or use the Arrest warrant sidebar section for a simulated Missouri state criminal warrant. Enter the defendant, charges and charging facts, supporting record, court, release decision, and issuance date. John Marshall is the default simulated judge. The defendant and charges can link to People and Offenses, or be entered directly. The empty warrant and empty return do not print.
Read the arrest warrant instructions and Missouri rule references. Save the report file to edit later. Writing a new warrant does not change the basis of an existing arrest report.
Booking report and investigative subpoena
Use the new sidebar sections for these exercises. Link existing people and booking charges instead of retyping them. Blank sections stay out of the PDF. Read the booking and subpoena instructions.
Traffic crash exercise
Pair Vehicle 1 with Driver 1 and Vehicle 2 with Driver 2, using existing records or direct entries. Name the streets, choose a road layout, then move and rotate the vehicles and place the impact marker. Save the editable report file to retain the diagram. Only entered crash information and placed diagram objects print. Traffic crash instructions and Missouri sources.
Instructors can select Traffic crash only in assignment settings. Students still write their own crash narrative and explain the evidence supporting the impact location.
DWI / Alcohol Influence Report
Use the DWI / AIR section for the Missouri Form 2389 exercise. Link a subject and vehicle, then document the assigned observations, tests, interview, and narrative. People includes CDL status; Vehicles includes CMV, hazardous-materials, and ignition-interlock information. These fields also transfer to linked forms where applicable.
Only used AIR pages print, with long answers and extra details on notes pages. Read the DWI instructions and Missouri sources. Instructors may select DWI / AIR only in assignment settings.
Complete narrative printing
Narratives print as ordinary PDF page text with automatic continuation pages. A continuation notice or an end-of-narrative line appears below each main narrative page. This prevents hidden text in scrolling PDF boxes. Students revise narratives in the RMS, save their editable .rms.json report, and download a fresh PDF.
An older PDF will not change when the website is updated. Have the student reopen the saved report and download it again. If the only complete copy is in an older PDF, copy the entire narrative from that file back into the RMS before generating a new submission.