Police Exam Practice Questions


Question 1
An officer is preparing a burglary report. He reviews the rough draft of his report, which contains the following two sentences.
1. The forensics team noted that the suspect did not leave no fingerprints at the crime scene.
2. However, the team also discovered several fibers that may provide clues to the suspect’s identity.
Which of the following answer choices best describes the sentences above?
A. Only sentence #1 is grammatically correct.
B. Only sentence #2 is grammatically correct.
C. Neither sentence #1 nor sentence #2 is grammatically correct.
D. Both sentence #1 and sentence #2 are grammatically correct.


B: Sentence #1 contains a double negative—”did not leave no”—which is grammatically incorrect. Sentence #2 contains no errors. Therefore, Choice (B) is the best answer.


Question 2
On Thursday, May 11, 2017, at 5:03 p.m., Michael Coklyat calls 911 to report that his 9-year-old daughter, Ana, has gone missing. Mr. Coklyat explains that his daughter was expected home at 3:00 p.m. that day after being released from Jimmy Carter Elementary School at 2:50 p.m. Officers Hester Derden and Janely Rodriguez are dispatched to the Coklyat residence at 376 Jackson Avenue, Apt. B, to fill out a missing persons report. They arrive at 5:09 p.m. Mr. Coklyat describes his daughter as 4 feet 2 inches, 100 lb, with black hair and brown eyes. She has a small scar on her left cheek, which resulted from a fall from a tree when Ana was 5 years old.
Officer Derden inquires about Ana’s mother. Mr. Coklyat explains that his wife, Zelda, died when Ana was 2 years old. He has not remarried, and has sole custody of Ana.
The officers inquire about the route Ana takes home from school, and Mr. Coklyat explains that his daughter usually walks down Crescent Avenue, where Jimmy Carter Elementary is located, before making a left onto 4th Avenue, before turning right onto Jackson Avenue where his residence is located. However, on Thursdays, Ana normally goes to piano lessons at the home of Mrs. Agatha Krieg, who lives at 121 Murray Street. Mrs. Krieg had called on the afternoon of May 10 to explain that she had to cancel this week’s lesson for personal reasons.
Officer Rodriguez then leaves Mr. Coklyat’s residence in the patrol car to visit Mrs. Krieg. There, Officer Rodriguez discovers Ana Coklyat, who had forgotten that her piano lesson had been canceled. Upon Ana’s arrival, Mrs. Krieg decided to proceed with the piano lesson, explaining that she’d originally canceled the lesson because of a scheduled doctor’s appointment. When Mrs. Krieg returned home after getting out of the appointment earlier than expected, she found Ana waiting on her doorstep. At 5:18 p.m., Officer Rodriguez places a call to her partner, and Officer Derden explains to Mr. Coklyat that his daughter has been found.
On which street is Jimmy Carter Elementary School located?
A. Jackson Avenue
B. 4th Avenue
C. Crescent Avenue
D. Murray Street


C: The passage states that Jimmy Carter Elementary is located on Crescent Avenue.


Question 3
Officer Escalante follows up on a report of a fire. She gathers the following information: 
Location: 850 Hiram Boulevard 
Time: 9:15 p.m. 
Crime: arson 
Victim: Jamal Ferrell 
Suspect: Kennedy Cochran 
Damage: carport destroyed by fire 
Action Taken: suspect arrested and taken into custody
Which of the following answers expresses the information in the report most clearly and accurately?
A. Jamal Ferrell reported that at 9:15 p.m. at his home at 850 Hiram Boulevard, Kennedy Cochran started a fire that destroyed Ferrell’s carport. Kennedy Cochran was arrested and was taken into custody.
B. At 9:15 p.m., a fire lit by someone at 850 Hiram Boulevard destroyed a carport. The owner of the carport was Jamal Ferrell. The arsonist was Kennedy Cochran. Kennedy Cochran was taken into custody after having been arrested for arson.
C. A carport at 850 Hiram Boulevard was destroyed by a fire lit by alleged arsonist Kennedy Cochran, who did not own the property. The owner is Jamal Ferrell, whose carport was destroyed at 9:15 p.m. Kennedy Cochran was arrested and taken into custody.
D. Jamal Ferrell’s carport was destroyed by arson at 850 Hiram Boulevard by a man he says is Kennedy Cochran, who was arrested and taken into custody. The fire destroyed the carport at 9:15 p.m., which was before Kennedy Cochran was arrested.


A: Choice (A) best presents the information completely, clearly, and accurately, without redundant, unclear, or missing information. Choice (B) is misleading. It states the fire was lit “by someone,” and then later notes the arsonist is Kennedy Cochran. Choice (C) includes unnecessary information by stating Cochran is not the property owner. Finally, Choice (D) presents a confusing time line.


Question 4 
Officer Guthrie is assigned to patrol a portion of the area between the boardwalk and Hill Street that lies between 30th Street and 75th Street. He reviews the crime statistics for the past year for the area prior to the start of duty. He finds that the majority of drug deals occurred during the weekend on the corner of 45th Street and Hill Street between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. Vandals sprayed graffiti and broke windows on buildings along the boardwalk near 32nd and 33rd Streets between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. after ladies’ night on Thursday nights. All assaults, on every day of the week, occurred between 70th Street and 75th Street along Hill Street between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. Parking violations occurred along the boardwalk during the morning hours when people were competing for parking spaces for their beach outings.
To reduce the number of buildings being vandalized, Officer Guthrie should patrol
A. the boardwalk in the morning on all weekdays.
B. between 70th Street and 75th Street along Hill Street between 9 p.m. and midnight on weekdays.
C. between 30th Street and 34th Street along the boardwalk from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Thursdays.
D. the corner of 45th Street and Hill Street between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Thursdays.


C: This is a lot of area to cover on patrol. To use the statistics wisely, you need to identify the location where the buildings are being vandalized, the time of day during which this occurs, and the day of the week. Buildings were vandalized on 32nd and 33rd Streets, along the boardwalk, on Thursdays between 12 a.m. and 3 a.m. Therefore, Choice (C) is the best answer.


Question 5
Based on the information below, what is the cash register value now?
A business owner reports that his cash register value was reduced to 25 percent of its previous value after a robbery. The value before the robbery was $2,200. 
A. $500
B. $550
C. $1,000
D. $2,750


B: Before you begin making any calculations, see where you can eliminate obviously incorrect answer choices. If the amount of money in the cash register was reduced, the total money in there now cannot exceed the original amount—you can automatically eliminate Choice (D). You are given that the reduced amount is 25 percent of the original. Look at your choices. Choice (C) looks closer to around 50 percent than 25 percent, so you can eliminate it as well. Finally, now that you only have two choices left, you can calculate. Half of $2,200 is $1,100 (50 percent), and then half of $1,100 is $550 (25 percent).


Question 6
The woman shown here has since changed her hairstyle. Which face below represents the same woman with a different hairstyle?
police exam
A. police exam
B. police exam
C. police exam
D. police exam


A: Choice A is correct. Choice (A) is the only option that is the same face as the original, but with a new hairstyle. The women in Choices (B) and (C) both have thicker eyebrows, and the woman in Choice (D) has a thinner, wider mouth.


Question 7
Read the information below. Which of the following situations would most likely require an officer to place a traffic cone on the roadway?
A police officer may have to place traffic cones on the roadway to mark potential safety hazards.
A. A car has stalled in a store parking lot.
B. A truck has parked illegally in front of a residence.
C. A deep pothole has opened up in the middle of a paved street
D. A panhandler has been seen standing on the median of a busy street, begging for change.


C: Choices (A) and (B) do not appear to represent safety hazards. Choice (D) may represent a safety hazard, but placing a traffic cone does not seem like an appropriate solution.C: Choices (A) and (B) do not appear to represent safety hazards. Choice (D) may represent a safety hazard, but placing a traffic cone does not seem like an appropriate solution.


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