Pasivizacija u policijskim izvještajima na engleskom jeziku
Passivization in Police Reports in English

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of the use of passive constructions in police reports in English. The language of police reports shows a relatively high level of abstraction developed through techical vocabulary and complex syntax including increased use of passives and nominalized verbs. Passive constructions are common in formal language, such as legal language which police discourse is closely related to. It is commonly known that passive contributes to impersonality, objectivity and non-involvement, provides the sense of authority and greater rhetorical effect. However, the results show that, in some cases, passive constructions are used in this type of discourse in order to achieve a higher degree of formalization and impersonality even though their active correspondents would be more natural, which proves that overuse of passive can lead to lack of clarity as well as less effective and less forceful communication with the reader.

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