Make a witness report

A written account, in your own words, of something an organization or an office did, failed to do, or threatened to do. Written like a police report: when and where, who, and what happened.

If anyone is in immediate danger, emergency services come first. A report is a record, not a rescue.

About ten minutes. Anything not known can be left blank.
Nothing is sent or stored. The page works only inside this browser. At the end, the report is saved to the phone or computer, or sent wherever its author chooses.
Roles, not names: "the manager", "the officer", "the caseworker".

When and where

Date

Time, roughly (optional)

The date is not known

Where did it happen?For example "the leasing office, Maple Court Apartments, [city], [state]" or "outside the courthouse, [city]".

How much of the place goes in the report? All of it, as written It is a general area, not an exact address Leave the place outFor a place that could identify the person reporting, such as a home or a small workplace.

Is it still going on? Yes No, it has ended Not sure

Who

Which organization or office was it?The name people know it by: "Maple Court Apartments management", "[City] Water Department", "[County] Sheriff's Office". Organizations keep their names; people do not.

What happened

In your own wordsThe first line is started from the earlier answers; it can be changed. People by role, not by name. It goes into the report exactly as written.

What it did

What did it do to you, or to others?Money, health, housing, work, safety, fear. Anything left blank is recorded as not known.

Is anyone else affected? (optional)Who, and roughly how many. For example "the other tenants in building C".

Before this

Was this raised with them before, or reported anywhere? (optional)With whom, when, how (a phone call, an email, a form, in person), and what happened. Where any letter, email or complaint number can be found.

What you have

What exists that shows what happened? (optional)One per line, with where it is kept. For example "email to the office, March 3, in my inbox", "photos of the mold, on my phone", "rent receipts, at home". Only the list goes in the report; the files stay where they are.

How to sign it

How to sign it My nameCarries the most weight, and can expose the person to retaliation. A made-up name, used every timeAllows follow-up, and reports can be linked over time. Suits most people. No nameThe most protection, less weight, and no follow-up.

Made-up name

Contact for follow-up (optional)With a made-up name, a separate email address.

More details

All optional. Most reports need none of these; the next step shows the report.

A timeline, if there was more than one event

Dates and times, in order

Four further questions

A warning of wider harmCould this cause harm that spreads, builds up, lasts, or cannot be undone, including harm to land, water, air or living things? A warning, not a finding.

A duty to protectSomething they were supposed to do to protect people that they did not do, did late, or did only for some.

What seems wrongIn your own words. No rule or law needs to be named.

What this shows about how they operateWhether it says something about how this works for everyone: a protection that did not work, no way to challenge the decision, a practice written down nowhere.

Kind of report (usually "incident")

For any organization that has not adopted the framework's rules, which today is every organization, each kind is a dated record and nothing more.

Kind of report IncidentSomething happened that should be on the record. ChallengeThey are acting outside their limits, or punishing someone for speaking up. Change requestA limit or safeguard should change, even before anyone is harmed. Stop signalA defined limit was crossed, or there is a real risk of serious harm. Pauses something only where the framework's rules have been adopted. Review petitionA request by affected people to review, narrow or end a power early. Has an effect only where the framework's rules have been adopted.

Sources for key facts

For a fact that comes from somewhere other than what was seen or heard: a link, a record or case number, and what kind of source it is.

The power used, and a registration record

What power did they use over people, in plain words?An eviction, a fine, a benefit denial, a shutoff, an arrest, data collected about people.

Relationship to themTenant, customer, employee, neighbour, student's parent.

A registration record is a separate document describing an organization's powers. Most reports have none.

Record IDSuch as SCBP-REG-NNNN-TAG

Power numberP1, P2…

Map coordinates, and the file name

Coordinates only from a map app, never estimated, in decimal degrees.

Latitude

Longitude

Short tag for the file nameCapital letters, digits and hyphens.

File fingerprints

A code calculated from a file. A matching code later shows the file has not changed; it does not show when the file existed. The file is read only inside this browser. If the organization holds the same file, such as a letter it sent, it can match the code and learn who wrote the report.

Choose a file

A verification phrase

Lets a person who used a made-up name or no name step forward later. At least five random words, nothing personal. Only a code calculated from it goes in the report. Written down and kept safe first: the phrase is saved nowhere and cannot be recovered from the code.

Phrase Show the phrase

Check and save

This report is made in good faith, from what I saw or heard and from public records. People are named by role, and what is proven is kept apart from what I believe.

Save or send opens the phone's own menu: save to Files, email it to yourself, or send it. An email to yourself also shows when it was written.

After saving

The report belongs to its author. Nothing has been sent anywhere, and this project has no place to file reports. Whether to share it, and with whom, is the author's decision: a lawyer, a legal aid service or an oversight body can act on it. The usual next steps and sharing it safely are set out in the guides.