POLICE OFFICER

ENTRANCE EXAM
STUDY GUIDE

The Entrance Exam for police officers measures the basic skills necessary to perform
successfully as a police officer. The test covers four areas: (1) math skills, (2) reading
comprehension skills, (3) language skills, and (4) writing skills.

Each test section is timed (between 15 and 25 minutes each), and contains between 10 and 25
questions. The tests will be graded based on how many questions are answered correctly and the
minimum passing score is 75% on all four sections combined. Specifically, the math portion of
the exam contains 20 questions, the reading comprehension section contains 25 questions, the
language skills portion contains 20 questions, and the writing sample contains 10 questions. In
order to score 75% on the entire exam, at least 57 questions must be answered correctly.
Therefore, given the limited time in which to answer questions, examinees should focus
their time and attention on the questions that they find easier. Spending too much time on
one question can result in the examinee running out of time and not being able to answer
other questions. Based on past results of the test, examinees should pay particular
attention to appropriately budgeting their time on the math portion of the exam.

Scratch paper will be provided, but otherwise, examinees will not be allowed to utilize
calculators, dictionaries, or any other aid.
 POLICE OFFICER
ENTRANCE EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Math Skills
In the math portion of the exam, examinees are provided with situations that require the use of basic
arithmetic. Examinees will be required to read a word problem, apply the appropriate arithmetic
operations, and then select the correct multiple-choice answer. On the math section of the exam, there
are 20 questions similar to the ones below, and examinees are given 20 minutes to complete the section.

Sample questions

1. Following the arrest of 3 drug dealers, police officers took cash from the arrested persons in the
following bill amounts:
100s 50s 20s
Johnson 20 2 10
Reed 50
Thompson 10 10 50

How much cash did the officers retrieve from suspect Johnson?
 $2,300
 $2,500
 $5,000
 $9,800

2. Bail for Mr. Anderson was set at $25,000. In order to be released, he must pay 10% of this in cash.
How much must Mr. Anderson pay?
 $25
 $250
 $2,050
 $2,500

3. A car skidded 8 feet, 11 inches before coming to a complete stop. The accident report must list the
distance in inches only. What distance should be entered on the report?
 12
 88
 107
 132

4. An appliance store is burglarized and 21 clock radios with a total value of $1050 are stolen. What is
the average value of the radios.
 $10.50
 $50.00
 $55.00
 $105.50
 $22,050
 POLICE OFFICER
ENTRANCE EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Math Skills (continued)

5. On Thursday, Officer Jackson worked the 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. shift. At 10:55 p.m. he was called to the
scene of an accident where he remained until 1:30 a.m. How long past his regular shift did Officer
Jackson work?
 55 minutes
 1 hour, 5 minutes
 2 hours
 2 hours, 30 minutes
 3 hours, 5 minutes

6. On her police report, an officer listed the following items as stolen property and damaged property:
Code Quantity Description Value
S 1 Camera $259.99
S 1 Television $389.95
D 1 Laptop Computer $950.00
S 1 Laser Printer $525.50
D 1 Lawn Mower $189.99
D 1 Vacuum $129.95
CODES: D=Damaged Property S=Stolen Property

What is the total value of all the property listed in the report?
 $2,149.38
 $2,399.96
 $2,445.38
 $2,455.38

What is the value of the property listed as STOLEN?

 $1,174.98
 $1,175.44
 $1,210.94
 $1,269.94

7. A police officer is called to an accident scene across town from his present location. If he has to
travel three miles on Miller Road, four miles on route 66, and 14 miles on interstate 30, how many miles
does he have to travel to get to the accident scene.
 19 miles
 21 miles
 66 miles
 73 miles
 96 miles
 POLICE OFFICER
ENTRANCE EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Reading Comprehension Skills
In the reading comprehension portion of the exam, examinees will read passages relating to police duty
and will then answer questions based on these passages. No prior knowledge of law or law enforcement
will be needed to answer the questions. All the information needed to answer the questions will be
provided in the passage. The passages in the exam are not intended to represent actual law of any
particular state. The passages present potential rules and laws relating to police work.
Three different types of questions are asked in this portion of the exam.
(1) True/false questions in which a statement will be given concerning a passage or a sample report
form. The statement will be either accurate and true based on the passage or form, or the statement
will be inaccurate and false according to the passage or form.
(2) Questions in which examinees will be asked to choose the correct answer according to the
information presented in the passage or on a sample report form.
(3) Questions in which examinees will be asked to choose the alternative that best completes the
sentence.
On the reading comprehension section of the exam, there are 25 questions similar to the ones below, and
examinees are given 25 minutes to complete the section.

Sample questions
Read the sample passage below and then answer the sample questions. An example of each type of
question is provided.

Questions 1-3 are based on the following passage:

Every inmate entering the jail must be considered a potential carrier of disease and contraband. In order
to protect the employees and inmates of the jail, a thorough search of each inmate must be conducted.
This search should be performed after booking but before the person has had an opportunity to enter the
cell area.

1. According to the sample passage, inmates entering the jail can enter the cell area before they are
searched:
 True
 False

2. According to the sample passage, who of the following is a potential carrier of disease and
contraband?
 inmates entering the jail
 current employees
 civilians visiting inmates
 all of the above

3. According to the sample passage, a search should be conducted:

 immediately upon an inmate’s arrival to the jail
 after an inmate enters the holding cell
 after an inmate has been booked
 POLICE OFFICER
ENTRANCE EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Reading Comprehension Skills (continued)

Questions 4 and 5 are based on the incident report form and the incident description below.

INCIDENT REPORT – POLICE DEPARTMENT

1. ADDRESS OF INCIDENT 2. OFFENSE 3. CODE 4. DATE

5. NAME OF VICTIM: INDIVIDUAL OR BUSINESS 6. ADDRESS PHONE

7. ASSIGNED OFFICERS / BADGE NUMBERS 8. AGE OF VICTIM 9. RACE OF VICTIM 10. VICTIM’S DATE
OF BIRTH

11. NAME OF SUSPECT 12. ADDRESS

13. AGE 14. RACE 15. SEX 16. DATE OF BIRTH 17. HEIGHT 18. WEIGHT

19. HAIR COLOR 20. EYE COLOR 21. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

22. CHARGES

23. ITEM 24. BRAND 25. SERIAL NUMBER 26. VALUE

27. ITEM 28. BRAND 29. SERIAL NUMBER 30. VALUE

31. ITEM 32. BRAND 33. SERIAL NUMBER 34. VALUE

35. SIGNATURE OF OFFICER/BADGE NUMBER 36. REPORT DATE

Jack Hanson, owner of ABC Tool Store at 1498 S. Hampton Road, Dallas, called police 9-1-1 at 8:00
a.m., Wednesday, August 5, to report that his store had been burglarized during the night. Officers
Susan Mills and Robert Carson arrived at the store at 8:12 a.m. to investigate the incident. Mr. Hanson
reported that a computer and $123.75 from the cash register were missing.

4. The incident report can be fully completed based on the information in the paragraph.
 True
 False

5. The incident was reported to police on August 5.

 True
 False
 POLICE OFFICER
ENTRANCE EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Language Skills
In the language skills portion of the exam, examinees are required to identify errors in grammar,
punctuation, or spelling. There are two types of questions presented in this section. The first type
presents incomplete sentences and the examinee must choose the alternative that best completes the
sentence. The second type presents sentences that contain a spelling error and the examinee must
choose the alternative that contains the misspelled word.

On the language skills section of the exam, there are 20 questions similar to the ones below, and
examinees are given 15 minutes to complete the section.

Sample questions

1. In the past year, the police department handled hundreds of calls. During that time, Officer Smith
_____________ twenty
 receive  received  receives  receiving

2. complimentary phone __________ from private citizens.

 calls  call’s  calls’

3. A police officer must have high regard for his own appearence because police officers are public
figures.
Which word in the sentence above is misspelled?
 officer  regard  appearence  figures  none of the above

4. Officer Hill searched the suspect and found three ________________ in the suspect’s backpack.
 knife  knifes  knives

5. During ______ existence from 1974-1976, the old police dispatch center received 520,000 calls
requesting police services.
 its  it’s  its’

6. The officer ________ working overtime last night.

 was  were

7. Driving an automobile while under the influance of alcohol or drugs is prohibited by law.
Which word in the sentence above is misspelled?
 automobile  influance  alcohol  prohibited  none of the above

8. After arresting the suspect, Officer Carson ___________ the suspect for weapons and found a firearm
in the suspect’s coat pocket.
 search  searched  searches  searching
 POLICE OFFICER
ENTRANCE EXAM STUDY GUIDE
Writing Skills
In the writing skills portion of the exam, examinees will be provided with a completed sampled police
report. From the information contained in the report, examinees are required to answer questions in
complete sentences that are grammatically correct. All words should be correctly spelled.

On the writing skills section of the exam, there are 10 questions similar to the ones below, and
examinees are given 15 minutes to complete the section.

INCIDENT REPORT – POLICE DEPARTMENT

1. ADDRESS OF INCIDENT 2. OFFENSE 3. CODE 4. DATE
1439 Northwest Highway Armed Robbery AR-100 March 26
5. NAME OF VICTIM: INDIVIDUAL OR BUSINESS 6. ADDRESS PHONE
Juan Castro 1429 Northwest Highway 214-207-5483
7. ASSIGNED OFFICERS / BADGE NUMBERS 8. AGE OF VICTIM 9. RACE OF VICTIM 10. VICTIM’S DATE
Mark Lewis #384 48 Hispanic OF BIRTH

Jane Dawson #427 5-17

11. NAME OF SUSPECT 12. ADDRESS
Unknown Unknown
13. AGE 14. RACE 15. SEX 16. DATE OF BIRTH 17. HEIGHT 18. WEIGHT
19 White Male ------- 6’ 1” 175
19. HAIR COLOR 20. EYE COLOR 21. PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Blonde Blue wearing blue jeans, black t-shirt
22. CHARGES
Armed Robbery
23. ITEM 24. BRAND 25. SERIAL NUMBER 26. VALUE
Watch Seiko ---------- $125.00
27. ITEM 28. BRAND 29. SERIAL NUMBER 30. VALUE
Cash $42.00
31. ITEM 32. BRAND 33. SERIAL NUMBER 34. VALUE

35. SIGNATURE OF OFFICER/BADGE NUMBER 36. REPORT DATE

Mark Lewis #384 3/27

Sample question
On what date did the incident take place?

Example of correct answer

The incident took place on March 26.
Note that the answer is a complete sentence and that the grammar and spelling are correct.

Example of incorrect answer

March 27.
The above answer is not a complete sentence and does not contain the correct information.

Example of incorrect answer

incident took place March 26
The above answer is not grammatically correct, because the word “the” is missing.

Example of incorrect answer

The incedent took place March 26.
The above answer is incorrect, because the word “incident” is spelled incorrectly.
 POLICE OFFICER
ENTRANCE EXAM STUDY GUIDE

In addition to the Entrance Exam, Police Officer applicants will also be required to provide a writing
sample. Specific topics will be identified and the applicants will prepare a written response to the topics
within 30 minutes.

Entrance Exam Study Guide Answer Key

Math Skills

#1 $2,300
#2 $2,500
#3 107
#4 $50.00
#5 2 hours, 30 minutes
#6 $2,445.38 / $1,175.44
#7 21 miles

Reading Comprehension Skills

#1 False
#2 inmates entering the jail
#3 after an inmate has been booked
#4 False
#5 True

Language Skills

#1 received
#2 calls
#3 appearence (the correct spelling is appearance)
#4 knives
#5 its
#6 was
#7 influance (the correct spelling is influence)
#8 searched