What a daily activity report is for
A daily activity report (DAR) is the officer's written record of a shift: what they did, what they saw and what they handed over. It does three jobs at once.
- For the client, it shows the service they pay for was delivered, hour by hour.
- For your company, it is the first place to look when a client complains, an incident is disputed or an insurer asks questions.
- For the next officer, it says what is still open: a broken light, a gate that will not lock, a contractor due back tomorrow.
A DAR records the routine. When something happens that needs its own investigation, such as an injury, damage, theft or police attendance, the officer writes a separate incident report and the DAR notes that one was filed.
What to include in a daily activity report
| Section | What to record |
|---|---|
| Header | Client, site, post, date, the officer's name and licence number if your state or country requires it, and shift start and finish times. |
| Handover in | What the previous officer passed on: keys, radios, equipment, open issues. |
| Timed log | Each patrol, check, visitor, delivery and call, with the time, in the order it happened. |
| Patrols | Routes walked or driven, checkpoints scanned, and anything found on the way. |
| Access and visitors | Who came and went, who was refused and why. |
| Observations | Hazards, maintenance problems and anything unusual, even if no action was needed. |
| Incidents | A one-line note of each incident and the number of the full incident report. |
| Handover out | What the next officer needs to know, and the condition of keys and equipment. |
| Sign-off | The officer's name and the time the report was completed. |
How to write entries that are useful
The difference between a DAR that protects you and one that does not is usually in the detail of each entry.
| Vague | Useful |
|---|---|
| Patrolled the site. All OK. | 22:00–22:25 External patrol, car park and loading bay. All 6 checkpoints scanned. Fire exit 3 found unlocked; locked and reported to site manager by text at 22:27. |
| Visitor came in. | 14:10 Delivery driver, J. Smith (ABC Logistics), signed in for the warehouse, escorted to bay 2, signed out 14:35. |
| Alarm went off. | 03:12 Intruder alarm, zone 4 (east office). Checked zone: no sign of entry, doors and windows secure. Alarm company informed at 03:18, reset at 03:20. |
A few rules make every entry better:
- Write the time first, using the 24-hour clock if your company does, so the log reads in order.
- Write what you saw and did, not what you think happened. "Window open, no damage" is a fact; "someone tried to break in" is a guess.
- Name people and places precisely: the zone, door or bay, and the person's name and company.
- Record the action and who you told, with the time you told them.
- Write during the shift, not from memory at the end of it.
How often and who reads it
Most companies complete a DAR for every shift on every post, and many clients ask for it daily, by the start of their working day. Agree with each client:
- What they receive: the full log, or a summary with incidents highlighted.
- When: each morning for the previous 24 hours is common.
- How: email, a client portal, or both.
- Who on their side reads it, and who to call when an entry needs action.
Inside your company, supervisors should read DARs for every site at least daily. Patterns, such as the same door found open three nights running, are only visible when someone reads across reports.
Common mistakes
- Copy-and-paste entries. Identical entries night after night suggest the patrols are not happening.
- Leaving out the dull parts. "No issues" for a full shift tells a client nothing. Record the patrols and checks that were done.
- Mixing up DARs and incident reports. Put the full account of an incident in its own report and reference it.
- Reports nobody reads. If DARs are filed and never reviewed, problems repeat until a client notices first.
Daily activity reports in ForceVera
In ForceVera, admins and dispatchers record and review daily activity reports and incident reports, with a photo attached; filing them from the guard app with several photos is coming soon. Patrol scans from the guard tour system are recorded with the guard, time and location, so the patrol part of the log is captured as it happens. ForceVera compiles a daily client report for each client or site, sent after your review or automatically, with your logo and colours, and on Pro and Enterprise clients can read their reports by site in the client portal and download PDFs.
Prefer paper or a spreadsheet for now? Download the free daily activity report template, with every section above.