Above in the aisle, then Correction Academy Deputy Warden Earl D. Toulon leads a graduating recruits class in a salute
during early 1996 graduation ceremonies.
As Academy Deputy Warden, Toulon hands NYC DOC shields to 1996 recruit graduates individually.
In October 2006, former NYC DOC Assistant Commissioner for Training Dr. Jess Maghan, Ph. D., generously gave the NY Correction History Society (NYCHS) a package of historical materials that included a booklet on basic report writing.
Above: Booklet cover. Click the image for a virtual thumb-through of its 12 pages. After browsing it, you may want to download a printable 1 Mb Adobe Acrobat PDF version.
The 5x4-inch softcover booklet was tucked among several back issues of The Keepers' Voice, the International Association of Correctional Officers journal that Dr. Maghan edited 15 years.

Dr. Jess Maghan, formerly of NYC DOC, now director of Forum for Comparative Correction based in Chester, Connecticut.

The little "How to" guide is exactly the kind of helpful instructional aid one would expect from the pen of Toulon Sr. who served as Correction Academy Deputy Warden in the 1990s.

However, Errol wasn't assigned as a DW to the Academy when he wrote it. He was a Correction Officer serving as the first vice president of the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association.

But already he had a string of degree initials after his name:

  • A. A. B. (Associate of Applied Business)
  • B. B. S. (Bachelor of Business Studies)
  • M. B. A. (Master of Business Administration)
  • M. S. (Master of Science)

Given his interest in education, for himself and for others, Errol not surprisingly joined academia after retiring from DOC. Professor Toulon currently teaches business courses at Monroe College that began with four classrooms as the Monroe School of Business in 1933 and now has campuses in New Rochelle as well as the Bronx.

Here are his recollections on how the "How to" booklet on report writing came to be written:


From Professor Errol D. Toulon:
I wrote the above-mentioned subject book with two purposes in mind.

One, as an elected Correction Officers Benevolent Association representative, I discovered that many officers’ written reports lacked clarity and/or understanding, often causing ambiguous interpretation.



Here's an interesting piece of information: Monroe College, where Prof. Toulon teaches business courses, opened its School of Criminal Justice in the fall of 2003, offering corrections and other criminal justice related courses leading to associate's and bachelor's degrees. Its online Criminal Justice Bachelor’s degree program is described as the only such Distance Learning Program approved by the NYS Board of Regents.

To acces an October 1980 DOC newsletter photo and story about then C.O. Errol Toulon as Correction out-reach speaker at NYC schools, click the above image of the newsletter article.
In order to assist the officers and reduce much of the confusion, I decided the best way to help them was to compose a basic guide to report writing.

Any individual that was required to submit written reports concerning incidents occurring daily in a jail facility, or relating to departmental matters, could do so without having to present numerous addendums.

My second concern was the convenience of carrying around a document that could be readily available for immediate reference. I measured the Department’s memo book that had an enclosed self-containment area and designed my booklet to fit compactly inside, being available at all times.

Much to my delight, all ranks of the uniform force were impressed and it was a very successful educational instrument in reduction of unacceptable written reports.

I am extremely happy to have contributed to improving such an important phase by increasing accurate communication in departmental matters with my “Guide to Basic Report Writing.”

To web pages on another item from Dr. Jess Maghan's historical materials package to NYCHS.
Invitation to the Ball: A Virtual Tour of 1906 NYC Prison Keepers' Dinner

To: NYCHS home page.
To NYC DOC history menu page.