Deck 4: Becoming A Police Officer

Question 1

The purpose of the medical examination is to screen out ____________________.

A) as many candidates as possible
B) candidates who cannot do the police job
C) candidates who may suffer a future knee injury
D) candidates who suffer from chronic health conditions

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Among local law enforcement agencies in 2007, the percentage of officers employed by a department with some type of college requirement was ____________________ percent.

A) 29
B) 32
C) 18
D) 41

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Regarding police educational requirements, most departments require:

A) a four-year college degree
B) a two-year college degree
C) some college
D) no college, but at least a high school degree or its equivalent

Answer 3

D

Question 4

The majority of police departments:

A) have a height requirement
B) have eliminated the height requirement
C) have maintained the height requirement but allow officers to be measured while wearing shoes
D) have lowered the height requirement to 5 feet 2 inches

Question 5

A ____________________ identifies the important tasks performed by police officers and then identifies the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform those tasks.

A) job evaluation
B) job analysis
C) job screening
D) job selection procedure

Question 6

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, ____________________ percent of local police departments provide college tuition reimbursement to their officers.

A) 6
B) 37
C) 76
D) 87

Question 7

The U.S. Census Bureau predicts that by 2050, minority populations will be ____________________ percent of the population.

A) 25
B) 33
C) 54
D) 64

Question 8

Physical agility testing has been criticized for discriminating against:

A) Hispanics
B) African Americans
C) women
D) people with disabilities

Question 9

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, approximately ____________________ percent of police departments require applicants to take a polygraph.

A) 15
B) 26
C) 50
D) 80

Question 10

Younger applicants are showing an increased dependence on texting and social media to communicate and seem to have less experience in:

A) crisis management
B) dispute resolution
C) life situations
D) face-to-face communication

Question 11

Rather than lose an otherwise quality candidate, departments often provide training or guidance before the:

A) background investigation
B) psychological examination
C) physical agility test
D) written entrance exam

Question 12

Many departments use tests specifically developed for:

A) the police selection process
B) women and minority applicants
C) young applicants
D) veteran applicants

Question 13

____________________ tend to be costly in human and dollar resources, and although many departments use them for promotional exams, most do not use them for hiring selection.

A) Written exams
B) Polygraph exams
C) Assessment centers
D) Oral exams

Question 14

The former height and weight requirements were challenged in court because it was believed that they discriminated against:

A) people with disabilities
B) African American and Hispanic candidates
C) younger candidates
D) women and minority candidates

Question 15

What stage of the police selection process receives the most litigation?

A) background examination
B) written entrance exam
C) physical agility test
D) medical exam

Question 16

If a competent job analysis is done, tests in the police screening process are considered to be:

A) occupationally related
B) department related
C) discriminatory
D) job related

Question 17

What police department has served as the model for field training programs since the 1970s?

A) San Jose, California
B) Reno, Nevada
C) Dallas, Texas
D) Chicago, Illinois

Question 18

The typical police officer of today is ____________________ than previous generations of police officers.

A) better educated
B) less educated
C) similarly educated
D) none of these choices

Question 19

The Sherman Report criticized current police higher education and suggested that higher education programs for the police should offer them a ____________________ experience.

A) definitive
B) realistic
C) broadening
D) collective

Question 20

What does researcher Hrand Saxenian say is the single most important criterion in the police selection process?

A) courage
B) maturity
C) attitude
D) age

Question 21

Most police agencies require the vision of a police applicant to be correctable to:

A) 20/20
B) 20/30
C) 20/40
D) 20/50

Question 22

Adverse impact or different rate of selection occurs when the selection rate for any gender, race, or ethnic group is less than ____________________ percent of that for the group with the highest selection rate.

A) 50
B) 60
C) 80
D) 90

Question 23

The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice recommended that police departments provide an absolute minimum of ____________________ hours of classroom work.

A) 800
B) 500
C) 400
D) 600

Question 24

Hrand Saxenian, a former professor at Harvard's Business School, determined that __________ is the single most important criterion in the police selection process.

Question 25

Which of the following is not considered when selecting police applicants?

A) education
B) physical abilities
C) vision
D) criminal history of parents

Question 26

The U.S. Supreme Court case of Dothard v. Rawlinson (1977) dealt with what?

A) height and weight requirements for necessary job performance
B) age limits for prospective police candidates
C) minimum educational requirements
D) the admissibility of a polygraph in the selection process

Question 27

After the conditional offer of employment has been made to a potential police applicant, the final stage of the selection process is:

A) polygraph and medical evaluation
B) psychological and polygraph evaluation
C) physical agility and medical evaluation
D) psychological and medical evaluation

Question 28

The initial training a police officer receives is called __________

Question 29

The __________ identifies the important tasks that must be performed by police officers, and then identifies the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform those tasks.

Question 30

According to John Firman, the research director for the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), the most common restriction on hiring applicants for police service with a history of drug use within the recent past is ____________________ years free from using hard drugs and ____________________ years free from marijuana.

A) 5, 5
B) 10, 5
C) 10, 10
D) 20, 10

Question 31

Recruiters will have to tap into the desires of the:

A) Baby Boomer Generation
B) Millennial Generation
C) Me Generation
D) Generation Next

Question 32

If a competent job analysis is performed, the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary for performance in that department are judged to be __________

Question 33

Most federal law enforcement agencies have the following education requirement:

A) some college
B) 60 hours of college
C) associate's degree
D) bachelor's degree

Question 34

The Sherman Report suggested recruiting police applicants from what college program?

A) liberal arts
B) law enforcement
C) medicine
D) science and technology

Question 35

What position is considered a "learning position" for potential police candidates while they are pursuing their education?

A) police dispatcher
B) police cadet
C) public service attendant
D) community service attendant

Question 36

The label given to the current generation of 18- to 25-year-olds is:

A) Generation X
B) Generation Y
C) Yuppie
D) Generation Next

Question 37

The federal government program that gave grants for police officers to attend college was called:

A) GRAD
B) LEEP
C) DIPLOMA
D) GAIN

Question 38

In __________ programs, targets that depict "good guys" and "bad guys" pop up, requiring officers to make split-second decisions.

Question 39

What selection process can be used to examine a candidate's characteristics that might be otherwise difficult to assess, including poise, presence, and communication skills?

A) one-on-one interview
B) oral board
C) polygraph
D) interview with the chief

Question 40

Regarding arrests and the police screening process, most departments reject applicants with:

A) an adult or juvenile felony conviction
B) an adult or juvenile misdemeanor conviction
C) adult felony arrests
D) juvenile felony arrests

Question 41

__________ is the ability to interpret, understand, and manage one's own and others' emotions.

Question 42

Detail the criticisms of physical agility testing.

Question 43

Courts typically have supported the need for maximum weight standards or a height-to-weight proportion ratio.

Question 44

List and discuss the major steps in the police selection process.

Question 45

On-the-job training of recently graduated recruits from the police academy is called __________.

Question 46

The average probationary period for police officers ranges from __________

Question 47

Courts have traditionally upheld police department no-smoking policies.

Question 48

All police departments have the same hiring standards that have to be met by applicants.

Question 49

The first use of the polygraph was by the Berkeley, California, police department in the late 1970s.

Question 50

Describe some of the ways in which a candidate for police employment can locate police job openings.

Question 51

At one time, the main requirement for becoming a police officer was the applicant's physical strength and courage.

Question 52

Most police departments administer polygraph examinations to candidates for the police officer position.

Question 53

Police applicants must be at least 5 feet 8 inches tall to be selected for employment.

Question 54

As an alternative or in addition to the FTO program, a field training program that is designed to produce graduates capable of providing customer-centered, responsible, community-focused police services is called the __________

Question 55

The police selection process is relatively simple and enables a candidate to become hired as a police officer within several months after taking the entrance examination.

Question 56

Explain both sides of the argument that police applicants should be required to have a college degree.

Question 57

Younger applicants are showing an increased dependence on texting and social media to communicate and seem to have less experience in face-to-face communications than their predecessors.

Question 58

The period of time that a department has to evaluate a new officer's ability to perform his or her job effectively is called the __________.

Question 59

Describe the field training process.

Question 60

Why is emotional intelligence so necessary for law enforcement officers today?

Question 61

Why are field training programs and probationary periods vital phases in the police hiring process?

Question 62

Describe the use of police management schools, and give at least two examples of these schools.

Question 63

Explain the effect that the case of Guardians Association of New York City Police Department v. Civil Service Commission of New York had on police selection.

Question 64

Describe the Hiring in the Spirit of Service project.