APCAT Logical Reasoning in Policing 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An officer reads: 'No person shall park within 5 meters of a fire hydrant.' A vehicle is found 4.8 meters from a hydrant. Should a parking violation be issued?
- No, because 4.8 meters is approximately 5 meters
- Yes, because 4.8 meters is less than the required 5-meter minimum (Correct answer)
- No, because the difference is negligible and enforcement is discretionary
- Yes, but only if the hydrant is currently in use
Correct answer: Yes, because 4.8 meters is less than the required 5-meter minimum
4.8 meters is strictly less than the 5-meter minimum clearance required by law, so a violation exists regardless of how close the measurement is.
Question 2: Crime data shows 60% of shoplifting incidents at Store A occur between 3–5 PM. A store manager asks when to increase security coverage. What is the most evidence-based recommendation?
- All day, to avoid any gaps in coverage
- 3–5 PM, since that is when the majority of incidents occur (Correct answer)
- After 5 PM, when the store is busiest
- Overnight when staff numbers are lowest
Correct answer: 3–5 PM, since that is when the majority of incidents occur
Directing security resources to the 3–5 PM window targets 60% of incidents, providing the greatest return on security investment based on actual data.
Question 3: Premise 1: Suspects who flee on foot are more likely to discard evidence. Premise 2: The suspect fled on foot. Conclusion: The suspect likely discarded evidence. Is this reasoning valid?
- No, because the premises are unrelated
- Yes, the conclusion follows logically from the premises (Correct answer)
- No, because fleeing on foot proves guilt
- Yes, but only if the suspect was caught
Correct answer: Yes, the conclusion follows logically from the premises
This is a valid deductive syllogism — the conclusion follows directly from the two premises without requiring additional assumptions.
Question 4: Three witnesses give different descriptions of a getaway car: 'dark blue,' 'dark green,' and 'black.' Which investigative action is most logical?
- Dismiss all witness testimony as unreliable
- Focus on dark-colored vehicles as the common thread across all descriptions (Correct answer)
- Prioritize only the first witness's description
- Conclude the car's color is unknown and disregard it
Correct answer: Focus on dark-colored vehicles as the common thread across all descriptions
The common element across all three descriptions is a dark color, so focusing on dark-colored vehicles represents the most logical synthesis of available witness information.
Question 5: An officer discovers that a bylaw violation report filed last Tuesday is missing from the system. Today is Monday. The filing deadline is 7 days from the incident. What is the most urgent action?
- Wait to see if the report appears in the system on its own
- Immediately re-file the report and notify a supervisor of the discrepancy (Correct answer)
- File the report next week during normal administrative hours
- Assume the report was filed correctly and take no action
Correct answer: Immediately re-file the report and notify a supervisor of the discrepancy
With the 7-day deadline approaching and no record found, immediate re-filing and supervisor notification protects legal compliance and departmental accountability.
Question 6: A logic grid: If it rains, the outdoor event is cancelled. The outdoor event was not cancelled. What can be concluded?
- It rained
- It did not rain (Correct answer)
- The weather cannot be determined
- The event organizer cancelled it for another reason
Correct answer: It did not rain
By contrapositive logic — if rain causes cancellation and the event was NOT cancelled, then it did NOT rain.
Question 7: An officer must process four tasks: file an arrest report (due in 2 hours), respond to a non-emergency call (due in 4 hours), submit overtime forms (due in 6 hours), and attend a briefing (starting in 1 hour). In what order should the tasks be completed?
- Overtime forms, briefing, arrest report, non-emergency call
- Briefing, arrest report, non-emergency call, overtime forms (Correct answer)
- Arrest report, briefing, non-emergency call, overtime forms
- Non-emergency call, overtime forms, arrest report, briefing
Correct answer: Briefing, arrest report, non-emergency call, overtime forms
The briefing starts first (1 hour), followed by the arrest report deadline (2 hours), then the non-emergency call (4 hours), and overtime forms last (6 hours).
APCAT Logical Reasoning in Policing 4
An officer reads: 'No person shall park within 5 meters of a fire hydrant.' A vehicle is found 4.8 meters from a hydrant.
Should a parking violation be issued?