Student Guide

Start with the assignment

1. Use your instructor’s assignment link or preset if provided. Otherwise choose Start new report.
2. Enter your school, your name, and course. Use your own name for student identity; use fictional case information elsewhere. The opening form does not repeat the assignment title or sequence. Those details come from an instructor preset or can be entered in Assignment settings inside the report.
3. Choose Original Report, Supplemental Report, or Arrest Report. Supplemental reports retain the existing case number. An arrest report may use a new or existing case number; use one report per arrestee.
4. Read the required-section summary. Your instructor’s directions control the exercise. A warrant-only exercise does not require an unrelated incident narrative.

Save your report and continue later

You can use the same computer or a different computer. What matters is keeping your saved report file. The website does not keep a student account or an online copy of your report. Returning to the same computer does not automatically restore your work.

1. Choose Save report for later before taking a break, closing the page, or changing devices. Save regularly as you work.
2. Find the downloaded file in your browser’s downloads list or your device’s Downloads / Files folder. Its name includes your case number and ends in .rms.json. Check that the file is present; a message on the website alone does not confirm where your device saved it.
3. Keep that file in a folder you can find. Each save downloads another copy; it does not automatically update an earlier file on a jump drive or in school storage. Use the newest copy, checking the download date and time.
4. Next time, open Academy RMS, choose Continue saved report, and select your .rms.json file. Do this from the website; double-clicking the file may open a text viewer.
5. Check your name, case number, and last entry before continuing. After making changes, choose Save report for later again.

On the same computer

Keep the file in your own folder and reopen it through the RMS. School computers may clear local files after sign-out or restart. Do not rely on the browser tab or a lab computer’s Downloads folder as your only copy.

Using a jump drive or another computer

Copy the latest .rms.json file from Downloads to your USB jump drive, or choose the drive when your browser asks where to save. Confirm the file is on the drive and safely eject it. On another computer, open the RMS and select that file using Continue saved report.

You may also use existing school-approved OneDrive, Google Drive, or other school storage. Upload the actual report file and wait for the upload to finish. On the next computer, make that file available in its file picker or download it first. Sharing the website address does not transfer your work. The RMS does not sync the file automatically.

When you are ready to turn it in

Choose Download PDF to submit. Print or upload the .pdf for your instructor. Keep the .rms.json file for future corrections. A PDF cannot reopen the website report.

Optional device recovery

Remember a recovery copy on this device keeps a recovery copy in this browser. To use it later, return to the same device and browser and choose Restore device copy. Browser data can be cleared, including when private browsing ends; recovery is not a replacement for your downloaded file. After saving your file on a shared computer, use Clear device copy.

Practice before your first assignment

Create a short fictional report, type a sentence, and save the report file. Open the RMS in a new tab, choose Continue saved report, and select that file. Confirm the sentence returned, edit it, and save again. Keep the original tab open until the practice succeeds. If you will change computers, practice reopening on the second computer too.

Write a complete narrative

The Report narrative and Correction / additional notes boxes expand as you type or paste. Keep writing until you have documented the full account. Scroll the website to continue; you do not need to fit your report into the original box.

The RMS prints your narrative as ordinary page text at a readable size and automatically adds continuation pages. It does not put the narrative in a scrolling PDF box. Each page says whether the narrative continues or has ended. Use Review submission to review every page, including your final paragraph, before downloading.

Finish or extend long narratives in the RMS. Narrative text in the submission PDF is fixed for reliable printing. Edit the narrative in the RMS; PDF readers cannot extend it or add its continuation pages. Keep your .rms.json file, reopen it with Continue saved report, make your changes, and download a new PDF. Save the updated editable report file too.

A computer is required

Do not use a cell phone for this training site. Use a laptop or desktop computer to complete your assignments. Cell phones show a computer-required notice instead of report forms. Ask your instructor about access to a school computer if needed.

Enter and correct records

People, notes, offenses, vehicles, property, evidence, and custody events each have an Add button. Typing alone does not add the record to the PDF. The unfinished-entry message tells you what still needs attention.

Use Edit to correct an existing record, then Save changes. Cancel edit leaves the existing record unchanged. Use Undo last record change after an accidental edit or removal. Correcting a person retains the link to the arrest or affidavit; changing an evidence item number updates its custody links.

Copy identifiers carefully. Record observations separately from statements and inferences. If the scenario does not supply a fact, follow the instructor’s directions for unknown or not-applicable information.

Arrest and PC affidavit

Select the arrestee from People and enter that person’s charges in Offenses. Document the time, location, factual basis, custody decisions, and disposition. Write the chronological narrative if the assignment requires it.

Under this training site’s classroom rule, a non-warrant arrest requires a PC affidavit. An arrest on an existing warrant is exempt from that classroom requirement; enter the warrant information.

The PC affidavit uses the selected defendant and linked offenses. Fill from current report copies available details into blank fields. Review copied facts whenever the report changes. Write the statement in your own words and complete the classroom affirmation.

Arrest warrant exercise

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.

Search warrant exercise

Enter people and vehicles once in People and Vehicles, using Add to save each record. In the affidavit, select an Owner / possessor / occupant from People or a Vehicle to search — from Vehicles. The vehicle’s identifying information joins the description you write and transfers to the affidavit, application, and warrant. Enter the actual search location and supporting facts yourself. On the Return, select the person items were taken from and the different owner separately. Saved corrections update the linked forms; saved report files retain the links. Use Enter here or No vehicle link for separate entries.

New reports suggest Newton County and Neosho to recognize the project’s origins at Crowder College. Both fields are editable: use the jurisdiction and location assigned by your instructor. The suggestions alone do not make an empty affidavit print.

Write the county, address, precise description, items sought, and probable-cause facts in Affidavit. The shared details transfer to the Application and Warrant. Choose a county or City of St. Louis; do not assume a mailing city identifies the county.

Abraham Lincoln is the simulated prosecutor and John Marshall is the simulated judge. Their editable /s/ signatures are supplied for the exercise. These are fictional classroom roles and simulated signatures. Students still enter the dates and case facts.

Follow the assigned stage: officer draft, prosecutor review, simulated issuance, or executed and returned. Complete the Return and Inventory when assigned. Inventory means what was actually seized, not everything sought. You may select seized Evidence records to help build the inventory; review every line.

The probable-cause self-check helps you consider sources, dates, corroboration, particularity, and the connection to the place. It does not determine legal sufficiency. Read the Missouri warrant writing guide.

Photos, evidence, and sketches

Add up to eight JPG, PNG, or WebP photographs and complete each photo’s number, view, and description. Enter evidence item numbers, quantities, collection details, packaging, and chain-of-custody events.

Draw a rough sketch or upload a sketch image. Select Save drawing to report before including the drawing in the PDF. An editable report file can preserve an unfinished drawing, but it is not part of the submission until saved to the report.

For a keyboard-accessible alternative to drawing on the canvas, use the sketch-description fields or upload an image of your completed printable sketch grid. Identify the title, scale or “not to scale,” and north direction.

Optional address reference

Open in Google Maps opens a separate tab using the address you entered. It is optional and has no API subscription. The link sends that address to Google when you open it; the RMS does not send the report narrative.

You can always type a fictional location without using a map. A map does not write your premises description, identify all units, establish jurisdiction, or supply probable cause.

Review and submit

1. Run Validation and review the assignment-specific reminders. Use the Go to buttons to return to sections needing work.
2. Select Review submission to see included sections, omitted empty sections, and the actual PDF page count. Review the PDF for missing facts and readable text.
3. Resolve unfinished records, or explicitly continue with a draft PDF that omits them. Save an editable report file to retain unfinished entries.
4. Download the submission PDF and upload it through your instructor’s LMS or assignment process. The front sheet prints with populated sections. A grading sheet prints only if selected in Assignment settings.
5. Retain the editable report file for website revisions. Make narrative changes in the RMS and download a fresh PDF. Other fillable PDF fields remain available; check their saved and printed values after any edits.

Validation does not grade reasoning or guarantee a complete or legally sufficient report. Your instructor reviews the substance.

If something goes wrong

If PDF generation fails, use Save report for later and then Retry PDF. Avoid refreshing before keeping your draft. If a map or a PDF viewer is unavailable, continue with manual address entry or download the PDF to a compatible reader.

This is a public educational website. Reports are not submitted to or stored on its server. Use fictional case information and submit through your school. Contact Dr. Oren Barnes for site feedback.

Charge lookup and shared information

Downloading a submission PDF does not clear the reminder to save your editable report. Use Save report for later to keep the complete .rms.json file. Individual form downloads also check for unfinished entries before printing.

Open the official RSMo charge search beside the charge fields. Copy the applicable title or charge wording (Ctrl+C), return to the RMS, and paste (Ctrl+V). Record the section/subsection and classification. Write your scenario facts yourself.

In PC Affidavit, Use available report details links empty or matching fields to the report. Linked values update after source corrections. Existing separate entries are retained; uncheck an individual link to write that field separately. The Arrest Warrant can also link warrant-request facts from a PC Affidavit for the same defendant.

UCS / Citation recreates the instructor’s uniform citation front. Link a person, vehicle, and offense, or type them in the section. UCS instructions and printing help.

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.