While there are many variations of the police test, the general question categories are generally similar. Let’s take a look at the typical components of law enforcement entrance exams:
Reading Comprehension
As with most job positions with any employer, reading comprehension is an essential ability. Speaking specifically to the role of a police officer, it is absolutely vital that you can properly read and comprehend written information. This is so that you can adequately perform your everyday duties which will often involve reading written reports and other such tasks.
Vocabulary
Another vital element of your capacity to operate as a police officer is how wide-ranging your lexicon is. Police officers are society’s primary peacekeepers, and so it is important that you are able to express complex lines of thought to those with whom you are interacting – after all, a police officer’s ability to persuade is largely contingent on his ability to say what he means in a way which will deescalate situations, which will calm down altercations and potentially save lives.
Written Communication/Report Writing
It should come as no surprise that an officer of the law would be expected to be competent in written communication. The daily activities of law enforcement officers require thorough documentation, so it is vital for officers to be able to communicate in written form with accuracy and concision. In addition to broader written communication police test prep material, our course offers specific material offering guidance on your report writing skills, so that you will be prepared for the exact specifications of your police test.
Memorization
A police officer’s ability to memorize is critical to their ability to properly recall events, which is key to adequately summarizing information in reports, as well as properly addressing criminal incidents. If a police officer is not capable when it comes to memorization, this will severely impair their ability to deal with the daily duties expected in the line of work. Our police prep course includes a fully-elaborated module on memorization to ensure that you go into the exam fully prepared, and carry these skills into the job itself.
Situational Judgement
Policing is a particularly difficult job role because a great deal of frontline law enforcement is subjective, meaning that an officer needs to make value judgements as to how they should approach different situations. While the letter of the law is clear, real-world situations are often less so and as such the proper resolution of problems comes down to an officer’s ability to interpret and properly apply the spirit of the law. In order to get a feel for how police candidates would handle situations, a situational judgement test is administered. Our police prep course will help prepare you for this, so you know how to show your best self to the department you’re applying to.
Locational Orientation
As a police officer, you will be covering a great deal of ground. In emergency situations, you ability to navigate to certain locations can be a life-or-death factor for those in danger. As such, you will be assessed on your ability to read maps and navigate the optimal route to certain locations, taking into account any temporary restrictions on routes and other factors. This course comes with full prep material for this topic, along with thorough practice questions to ensure that your navigation skills are sharp when you sit the test.
Panel Interview
Becoming a police officer isn’t just about your ability to answer questions on paper. While the previous sections in this section cover the quantitative means of measuring your ability, the interview and background check cover the qualitative aspects of your application. The panel interview aims to get a feel for who you are on a personal level, in a way which can only be done face-to-face. For many, this is the most nervewracking part of the application process. Our police prep courses come with a full guide on how to prepare for this part of the application process.
Background Check
If you’re applying to become a police officer, it should go without saying that your record needs to be sufficiently clean. While you won’t be automatically disqualified for petty crimes on your record, it is important to be aware of the implications these can have for your application. Of course, felony convictions will automatically disqualify an applicant. While this is not an area of the application which you can really improve your score on (other than advising that you do not commit any crime between now and your application!), our module on the subject will help you familiarise yourself with what you should expect so you can make the process as smooth as possible.