Learn about the test topics that may be found on the Police Officer Selection Test (POST)
Before diving into the details of what types of questions are entry-level police exams, it is important for you to understand what the term “POST” means and how police Written exams are determined throughout the U.S.
The Police Officer Selection Test, or POST, is a generic name for the entrance exam given by law enforcement agencies for entry-level positions. It may also be referred to as the Civil Service Exam for Police or the Police Written Exam. Surprisingly, there is not a national standard POST in the U.S. One popular variety of POST is called the National Police Officer Selection Test (NPOST), but this is a commercial name given to this exam by its provider. There are over a dozen different police exams used in the U.S. It is critical for job applicants to find out what exam format their targeted agency is using. A link to a valuable resource for this purpose is provided at the end of this article.
The types of questions that may be found on most police exams are listed in the following paragraphs. Most police entry-level tests nowadays use multiple choice questions. Multiple choice questions are easy to grade and remove any subjectivity. The exception to this would be writing an essay – which is not common anymore.
Reading Comprehension Tests
Reading comprehension is surely the most common skill included on the entry-level exam. There are two categories of reading comprehension questions found on Police Written Exams: the traditional, multiple-choice Reading Comprehension Test and the CLOZE Reading Test.
The traditional multiple-choice Reading Comprehension Test involves reading a passage and being able to identify specific points and draw conclusions about the main ideas that are presented. The applicant chooses the best answer from 4 or 5 answer choices.
CLOZE Reading Test
The CLOZE reading test is used in California on their recommended police written exam known as the PELLETB. It is rarely found at other agencies throughout the U.S. The only other agency I know of is the Maine State Trooper exam. Most applicants have never been exposed to the CLOZE test. The CLOZE presents the student with a passage where words are omitted. The applicant is to fill in the correct word. This test is a powerful way of testing a whole range of English skills including grammar, spelling, and vocabulary, as well as reading comprehension. Special practice is required in order to pass the CLOZE since few of us have ever taken this type of exam.
Writing Skills Questions
Law enforcement agencies place high priority on the ability to write clearly due to the courts’ requirements for accurate and clearly written police reports. The most common elements of the writing abilities tests found on police written tests include:
Writing Clarity (Grammar and Punctuation)
Vocabulary
Spelling
Incident Report Writing (Can you observe and remember the important details presented in an incident and summarize them in a clear and complete manner?)
Written Essay (not common nowadays)
Preparation for these questions is very important, as most of us have forgotten much of what we learned in high school about proper grammar and how to write clearly.
Mathematics on Police Exams
Math used to be found on most police entry-level exams, but in recent years it has become less common. The term Arithmetic Reasoning is a fancy word sometimes used for “math questions.” The math requirements on police written exam are usually minimal and frequently presented as word problems. It is useful to know how to solve time, distance and speed problems.
Logical Reasoning Questions
There are several types of logical reasoning questions on the police written exam.
There are several types of logical reasoning questions that police written exams include. Sometimes these are called “Judgment and Problem Solving” questions. It is important for applicants to study all of these potential classes of logical reasoning questions:
Deductive Reasoning
Deductive Reasoning tests one’s ability to apply general rules to specific problems and come up with logical answers. It involves deciding if an answer makes sense.
Inductive Reasoning
Inductive Reasoning involves the ability to combine separate pieces of information and form general conclusions. It reveals one’s ability to think of possible reasons for why things go together. Questions generally have you read a procedure then draw conclusions from what you read.
Verbal Reasoning
Verbal Reasoning is the ability to use words correctly and to understand meaning from the use of words (as opposed to non-verbal reasoning using pictures and diagrams.) Examples include common sense questions, analogy questions and classification questions.
Non-verbal Reasoning
Non-verbal Reasoning tests measure one’s ability to recognize visual patterns and sequences, interpret diagrams and maps, and memorize visual features. Many tests break these out as their own section as described in the next paragraph.
Spatial Orientation and Visualization
Spatial Orientation is an important ability that is measured on most police written exams.
This topic covers a broad range of abilities that are clearly important to law enforcement work. How well can you read maps and give verbal directions to others that are clear and understood? How well can you identify specific objects or activities that may be occurring in a large crowd? How good are you at facial recognition? These are some of the questions you may encounter on Spatial Orientation problems.
Observation and Memorization
How good are you are observing and remembering details that you read or see in an image? The questions may will present material in either written form or visual format, and then ask you to recall and describe what you saw. You may or may not be able to refer back to the original document that you studied. These questions are challenging!
Police Essay Writing
Since writing an essay requires time and effort to grade, the written essay is not very common nowadays. The big exception is the LAPD, where their entire entry-level exam is based upon how you answer three questions about how you view life, etc. The FBI Police also use this approach to measure the attitudes and integrity of applicants.
Situational Judgment Test for Police
Situational Judgment Test (SJT) are becoming more commonplace on police entry exams. This form of question measures how you would instinctively react to various stressful situations you will run into as a police officer. These exams frequently use video to present the situations you are to respond to and therefore, may be referred to as Video-based testing. More sophisticated versions of this test measure certain personality traits that are desirable for the job like Integrity, Openness, Cooperation, Focus, Stability, Interpersonal Skills and more. Good preparation will help on this type of test.
Police Personality Tests
In order to determine how good a fit an applicant will be for the job, more and more agencies are including Personality Profiles or Work Experience Profiles in the pre-screen process. To prepare for this assessment, candidates need to me familiar the standards and qualities expected in a police officer and then, be able to align their personal traits and strengths with these qualities.
How to Find Out what Entry-level Exam a Police Agency uses?
Here is a great database of over 1,500 police agencies and the exams they use organized by state.
How to Prepare for the Police Written Exam?
Prepare for the Police Written Exam with a great prep course by Sgt. Godoy.
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