Passing the Police Officer Exam: The Written Examination

Remember that the types of questions that appear on the Police Officer Exam can vary greatly from department to department. Knowing the specific types of questions, and the specific types of exercises, that you will be required to answer or perform will allow you to be prepared for those specific questions and/or exercises.  

The Police Officer Exam is designed to determine whether you have the basic abilities and skills that are necessary to be a local law enforcement officer.  Its components are designed to determine whether or not you possess the basic physical abilities and the critical thinking skills that a police officer is required to use on a daily basis. 
 
Exam format
In order to prepare for the Police Officer Exam in the most effective way possible, you need to understand how the exam is setup.  This is true for two separate reasons.  First, understanding the setup of the exam help you have a better idea of what you should expect when you take the exam.  This is important because the written examination is timed and the physical ability test requires you to demonstrate certain types of strength that you may not be prepared to demonstrate.  
 
Secondly, it will be easier for you to prepare for each type of question and/or exercise if you understand the format of the exam and the way that each question or exercise is administered.  This is because you can practice answering questions or performing exercises using the same rules and/or time constraints that you will have to face on the actual exam.  This can be extremely important because you will only have a limited amount of time to answer each question or complete each exercise.  You should be prepared to answer each question within the time allowed or demonstrate a specific type of strength in a reasonably short period of time.
 
Unfortunately, it is usually difficult, if not impossible, to explain exactly what will appear on the version of the Police Officer Exam that you will be required to take.  This is because each version of the exam is different and each state, city, or other similar jurisdiction may use their own distinct version of the exam.  As a result, the best way for you to get an idea of the format of the exam that you will be required to take is to read over the exam notice that you will receive from the department to which you are applying.  However, with this in mind, it is important to note two things: 1. The exam notice is the best way to understand the exact format of the exam that you will be required to take.2. There is a certain setup that most versions of the Police Officer Exam will use.
 
The written examination or the video-based examination is typically administered as the first part of the Police Officer Exam and you will typically be allowed 3 – 5 hours to complete the written examination or 20 to 60 minutes for the video-based examination.  Most versions of the written examination and/or the video-based examination will only require you to answer a series of multiple-choice questions, but it is important to note that some versions of the exam may also include fill-in questions and/or short essay questions.  
 
The physical ability test will typically be administered as the second or third part of the Police Officer Exam and it is usually administered on a separate day from the written examination and/or the video-based examination.  Most versions of the physical ability test will require you to perform 4 – 8 exercises and you will typically be required to pass all of the exercise tests in order to pass the physical ability test.  In other words, if you fail any exercise in the physical ability test, you will typically fail the entire test.  
 
The oral interview is usually administered as the second or third part of the Police Officer Exam and it is typically administered on a separate day from the other parts of the Police Officer Exam.  Since the oral interview may be used as an opportunity to test your skills, your responses during the oral interview may be timed, and you may be given a specific amount of time in which you have to answer all of the interviewer's questions.
 
Written examination questions
The written examination consists of a series of multiple-choice questions that are designed to assess whether you have the basic language and critical thinking skills necessary to be a police officer.  The assortment of questions found on the Police Officer Exam may seem odd as the types of questions that are typically included on the Police Officer Exam often seem to have very little in common.  However, each type of question is related to assessing a skill or a series of skills that an individual must have in order to carry out the day-to-day duties and responsibilities of a police officer.  As a result, each of these questions may have more in common than it seems and it is important to note that there are some techniques that you can use to answer these questions regardless of the type of question that you are attempting to answer.
 
First, read the directions thoroughly for each question and related sections before you try to answer the question.  This is extremely important because there may be questions on the exam that look similar to each other, but actually require you to do two very different things.  This means that you may have two questions that look as if they are expecting the same type of answer, but each question is actually looking for an entirely different answer because of the way that the directions are worded.  It is also important to note that you will only have a limited amount of time to answer each question so you should make sure that you understand what the directions are telling so you can find the correct answer as quickly as possible.
 
Secondly, it is important to remember that the Police Officer Exam is designed to test your basic skills and abilities and not your knowledge of any specific police procedure or protocol.  Many of the questions are designed to describe situations that are similar to situations that a police officer would be required to handle on a regular basis, but the questions on the exam will not require you to know anything about what a police officer is actually supposed to do in a particular situation.  You are being tested on what appears to be the logical course of action from the information that you have available, and not on any previous knowledge of police procedure or protocol.  If you are familiar with police procedure or protocol, you should focus on the information that is provided and not necessarily on the procedures or protocols that you know.
 
Third, while you are reading each question or reading the options for a particular question, keep an eye out for words or prefixes that may negate something in the question or something in the answer such as 'no,' 'not,' and 'nowhere.'  These words can easily change the meaning of a question or change the meaning of an option so you need to make sure that you actually understand what the question is saying and what each option is saying before you choose an answer.  
 
Examples: 'Which of the following statements is true?' 'Which of the following statements is not true?'  
 
'This paragraph is describing some of the key words that you should look out for.' 'This paragraph is describing some of the key words that you should not look out for.'  
 
These questions and options look very similar, but they have completely different meanings because of the word 'not.'
 
Fourth, while you are reading each question or option, keep an eye out for quantity words.  
Quantity words describe the number of things that the question or statement applies to, how much of something is present, or how often something occurs.  Quantity words may include:
·    all
·    always
·    any
·    every
·    generally
·    few
·    many
·    much
·    never
·    none
·    nothing
·    occasionally
·    only
·    often
·    several
·    some
·    sometimes
·    typically
·    usually
 
You should also keep an eye out for conditional words such as:·    could·    may·    might·    should·    possible·    probably
These words are just like the words described in the previous paragraph as they can easily change the meaning of a sentence.  
 
Example
'Jacob Smith stole the jewelry from the jewelry store.' 
'Jacob Smith may have stolen the jewelry from the jewelry store.'  
 
These statements are very similar, but the first statement says that Jacob Smith stole the jewelry while the second statement makes it clear that he may have stolen the jewelry.
Fifth, remember that the written examination is usually timed, so you need to use your time wisely.  Pay attention to the amount of time that you are spending on each question, and the amount of time remaining.  If a question is taking too long, make your best guess and move on to the next question.  Most versions of the written examination do not include a penalty for guessing so it is usually better to answer every question on the exam rather than leaving specific questions unanswered.  You may able to score some points with an educated guess instead of getting no points for leaving the question blank.
 
Sixth, if you come to a question that seems to be incredibly difficult or a question that you simply cannot answer, try to take a deep breath and relax, and then eliminate any of the options that are obviously incorrect.  
 
Example
'According to the passage, which suspect probably committed the crime?'
 
In this question, you can safely eliminate any names that weren't mentioned in the passage.  This may seem obvious, but throwing out the options that are obviously incorrect or the options that you believe are incorrect will allow you to greatly increase your chances of guessing the correct answer and/or your chances of solving the question outright.  This technique allows you to focus your attention on the options that may be correct instead of focusing your attention on all of the options that are available.
 
Finally, even though the test is timed, give yourself enough time to at least make an attempt at finding the correct answer to each question.  You will typically have 1 ½ to 2 minutes to answer each of the questions on the written examination.  Don't be afraid to use all of the time that you have available if you need it, as you will be able to score higher on the exam by spending a reasonable amount of time on each question.  In most versions of the Police Officer Exam, you will be allowed to return to previous sections; feel free to review any questions that you guessed on,  try to find the correct answer for as many of these as possible.