In order to become a police officer in the United States, you’ll need to graduate from police academy. To enter police academy, you’ll need to pass an entrance exam. Here, we’re going to detail some Comprehension questions, as well as some tips for answering them effectively in your exam, giving you the best chance to pass your USA Police Officer Tests!
What is the United States Police Test? – USA Police Officer Tests
The United States Police test is the entrance exam which all candidates must pass before beginning their training as a police officer at a police academy. The test encompasses a variety of different areas, from situational judgment and memory to math and your understanding of the law. At the time of taking the test, you won’t be a trained police officer. So, you aren’t expected to understand every single little detail of the law – this is part of what you’ll be learning at police academy.
Instead, the entrance exam is used to assess the general skills that you will need in order to become an accomplished police officer. This means that you need to hone your skills in a number of different areas. Here, we’ve included some Comprehension questions to give you an idea of what you might face in your USA police officer tests!
USA Police Officer Tests – Comprehension Questions
Read the following passage carefully, then answer the proceeding four questions on the following pages, based solely on the information in the passage.
Police Officers Rockwell and Graves were working their 7am to 3pm patrol shift on Friday, March 23. At 11:30am, they received instructions from the radio dispatcher to respond to a robbery on 52nd Street. As they arrived at the scene of the crime, they found Tariq Anderson, a 20-year-old Asian male. Tariq was the victim of the robbery, as he’d had his backpack stolen. Tariq had called 911 on his cell phone after the thief had stolen the bag. The bag had contained his laptop, Law textbooks, and a lunchbox.
Tariq had been walking to college for a class at 12:00pm, when he had stopped for a moment to tie up his shoelaces. He removed his backpack from his back before kneeling down to tie up the laces on his sneakers, when the thief ran past, grabbed the bag, and then turned left on the corner at the end of the block. Tariq attempted to chase the thief, but with his shoelaces untied, he tripped over and was unable to continue running. It was at this point that he called 911.
After taking a report from Tariq, officers Rockwell and Graves began to ask potential witnesses on the street if they had seen anything, such as a local shopkeeper, John Redman. Mr Redman said he had not seen the robbery take place, but said he had witnessed a similar incident at around midday two days before. Graves and Rockwell could not find any evidence that this previous crime had been reported, but Mr Redman insisted that he had seen a white male in a blue, hooded sweater steal a handbag from a lady as she stopped to cross at the lights. After conferring with Tariq, he said that he remembered that the person who robbed him was also wearing a blue hoodie.
1. Which of the following items was not in Tariq’s backpack?
a. Laptop.
b. Cell phone.
c. Lunchbox.
d. Textbooks.
2. On which day had Mr Redman witnessed a woman having her handbag stolen?
a. Wednesday.
b. Thursday.
c. Saturday.
d. Monday.
3. At approximately what time had Tariq been robbed at?
a. 11:00am.
b. 10:30am.
c 12:00pm.
d. 11:30am.
4. Which of the following is true about the previous crime that Mr Redman mentioned?
a. It occurred on the same day as the crime Officers Rockwell and Graves were responding to.
b. The crime had happened at night.
c. There were no witnesses.
d. The crime had not been reported.
USA Police Officer Tests – Comprehension Answers
- b = Cell phone.
Explanation = The final line of the first paragraph states that the bag contained Tariq’s laptop, Law textbooks, and lunchbox. Therefore, the only answer option left is his cell phone.
- a = Wednesday.
Explanation = This incident has occurred on Friday. On the same day, officers Rockwell and Graves questioned Mr Redman as a witness. Mr Redman states that he had seen a similar incident occur two days before. Two days prior to Friday is Wednesday.
- d = 11:30am.
Explanation = Officers Rockwell and Graves received the call from the dispatcher at 11:30am. Therefore, it is fair to assume that the incident occurred at approximately 11:30am.
- d = The crime had not been reported.
Explanation = In the final paragraph, it is made clear that Rockwell and Graves could find no evidence that the crime had been reported. Therefore, one has to assume that the crime was not reported.
Tips for Answering Comprehension Questions – USA Police Officer Tests
- These questions require a significant level of attention to detail. You will need to carefully read through the passage, possibly multiple times, before reaching the correct answer;
- Read the passage at least once before even looking at the questions. Then, once you’ve read the questions, re-read the passage looking for information which helps you to answer them;
- If you’re allowed to, and if it helps, you can underline or highlight any details which you might believe are important. This will make it easier to find key information without having to search through the entire passage;
- Read the questions and answer options carefully. The answer might seem obvious, but that’s possibly a red herring being used to trick you;
Some answers might be plain to see in the text, whilst others may require closer attention to detail and even some reading between the lines may be necessary.
