What is the purpose of including times and dates in a complete timeline?

• A. To impress superiors with exact numbers.
• B. To establish sequence, support corroboration, aid investigation and court review, and detect inconsistencies.
• C. To fill space in the narrative.
• D. To confuse readers with extraneous details.

Answer: (B)

Precise times and dates in a complete timeline establish the order of events and provide a fixed reference frame for what happened when. This makes it possible to reconstruct the sequence accurately, see how one event leads to another, and align the narrative with other evidence like dispatch logs, surveillance footage, phone records, and physical evidence. Having exact timestamps also supports corroboration—different sources can be checked against the same timeline to see if they agree—strengthening reliability for investigations and for court review. When the timeline is precise, it’s easier to spot inconsistencies between statements or records, which can reveal memory gaps, embellishments, or deliberate misstatements and guide further inquiry. The emphasis is on usefulness and trustworthiness, not on impressing anyone or filling space; extraneous or vague details would undermine clarity and could obscure important chronology.