“AP Style” is a phrase uttered in virtually every newsroom and joint information center. When news breaks or a press release is needed urgently, you only have one chance to get it right. In all aspects of public relations, we have just seconds to earn the attention of journalists.
Additionally, public information officers face more pressure and faster deadlines than any other PR professional. That’s why the Associated Press Stylebook isn’t just a guide for reporters. It’s a lifeline for PIOs in law enforcement, fire/rescue, and school districts alike.
Effective use of AP Style ensures your news releases, media advisories and public statements speak the same language as the journalists who cover your community. It helps your words get picked up, not picked apart. And during a crisis or critical incident — a school lockdown, a missing child, a major fire — clarity, accuracy and consistency shape how the public perceives your agency.
At JGPR, we perform this task dozens of times every day, and we train hundreds of chiefs, supervisors and PIOs every month. This cheat sheet is designed to help you write like a pro and think like a reporter.
📏 Core AP Style Guidelines for PIOs
🕒 Time
- ✅ Correct: 7 a.m., 6:30 p.m.
- ❌ Wrong: 7:00 AM, 6:30pm, 18:30 hours (unless quoting a source)
Always use lowercase a.m./p.m., with a space and no extra zeroes.
📅 Dates
- Abbreviate Jan., Feb., Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec. when used with a date.
- Never abbreviate March, April, May, June, July.
- ✅ Correct: The fire occurred on Oct. 3.
- ❌ Wrong: The fire occurred on October 3rd.
📰 Titles
- Capitalize formal titles only when they appear before a name.
- ✅ Fire Chief William Miller
- ❌ William Miller, the Fire Chief
- ✅ Superintendent Alan Knight
- ❌ The Superintendent said…
- We have seen some agencies keep the formal titles capitalized. It’s technically incorrect AP Style, but many agencies/schools prefer this as their own style. It’s not the end of the world.
Use lowercase for job titles after names or standing alone:
- ✅ Lt. James Perez said…
- ✅ James Perez, a lieutenant with the department, said…
🔢 Numbers
- Generally, spell out numbers one through nine. Use numerals for 10 and up.
- ✅ The fire damaged three homes.
- ✅ Police arrested 14 people during the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
- ✅ She teaches second grade.
- ❌ 2nd grade, unless part of an official title or name.
🗣 Quotes and Attribution
- Always use “said” for attribution. Avoid “stated,” “commented,” or “noted.”
- ✅ “The individuals were known to each other,” said Chief Daniels.
- ❌ “The individuals were known to each other,” Chief Daniels explained.
- Punctuation stays inside the quotation marks.
🏫 Grades and School Levels
- ✅ third grade, sixth-grade student
- ✅ high school, middle school, elementary school
- ❌ 3rd Grade, HS, MS, or ES (avoid most abbreviations anyway…)
🚔 Ranks and Law Enforcement Titles
- Use abbreviations for ranks (Sgt., Lt., Cpl., Capt.) when they appear before a name.
- ✅ Sgt. Mary Brooks
- ✅ Lt. Carlos Ortega
- Spell out rank when used alone.
- ✅ The sergeant arrived on scene at 9:43 p.m.
Avoid over-capitalizing. Do not capitalize “officer,” “detective,” “trooper,” or “firefighter” unless they begin a sentence or are part of a formal name.
🔥 Incident Terminology (Consistency = Credibility)
- ✅ “Fire,” not “blaze”
- ✅ “Crash,” not “accident” (how do you know it was an accident this early in the investigation?)
- ✅ “Dead, Died or Deceased,” only if confirmed and next of kin notified
- Avoid speculation: stick to facts and confirmed timelines
📍 Addresses
- Abbreviate Ave., Blvd., and St. only with a numbered address.
- ✅ 123 Main St.
- ✅ She lives on Main Street.
- Always spell out other roadway types: Road, Circle, Court, Lane.
👥 People
- Always use full names on first reference. Use last names only after that. However, some agency styles will keep the title before the last name. This is not strictly correct AP Style, but it’s not a cardinal sin.
- ✅ Principal Rebecca White said the school is closed. (Principal) White said a water main broke.
- Avoid courtesy titles (Mr., Mrs., Miss, Ms.) — they’re not used in AP Style.
Miscellaneous AP Style (and general style) Tips
- Technology Terms: Use common technology terms appropriately and ensure their spelling is correct (e.g., email, internet, website).
- Social Media References: When citing social media, use the individual’s or organization’s exact username or handle.
- Referencing Posts: When referencing social media posts, include the date of the post and the platform it was posted on. If quoting directly, ensure the quote is exact and attribute it to the correct individual or entity.
- Hashtags and Handles: Use hashtags and handles as they appear on social media, but explain or contextualize them if their meaning isn’t immediately clear to your audience.
- Commas: Use commas to separate elements in a series, but do not place a comma before the conjunction in a simple series (e.g., The flag is red, white and blue). We disagree with this in principle…At JGPR, many of us prefer to use the Oxford of serial comma before the conjunction, but this is strictly an AP Style guide…
- Periods: Use single spaces after periods.
🧠 Bonus Tips for Better Public-Facing Messaging
- Avoid jargon: “Mutual aid” might confuse the public. Instead: “We received assistance from neighboring departments.”
- Generally avoid specific units: Engine 2, Rescue 1, Combination 4, Car 4 — at JGPR we admit we are often guilty of doing this, but the media rarely, if ever, cares about specific units.
- Be consistent: Don’t switch between formats or voice mid-release. It damages credibility.
- Write in the active voice:
- ✅ Officers arrested the suspect.
- ❌ The suspect was arrested by officers.
- Always hyperlink your official website or incident page in digital releases.
✍️ Final Thought: Speak Their Language — and They’ll Listen
Whether you’re writing about a three-alarm fire, a school lockdown, or a community event, using AP Style sends a clear message: “We’re professional, trustworthy and ready for media coverage.”
Reporters are more likely to use your news release if they don’t have to totally rewrite it. Editors will see your agency as reliable. We also focus on “owned media” (website) with news releases, so we also want the public to see an agency or school district that knows how to communicate in times of both calm and crisis.
AP Style isn’t just about punctuation. It’s about professionalism, and when you’re the voice of your agency.
Artificial intelligence was used to generate the bullet point icons and illustrations on this page and to format the lists from raw text.