CJBAT Situational Judgment Questions and Answers 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: You arrive at the scene of a car accident where one driver appears intoxicated but is also injured. What is your first priority?
- Administer a field sobriety test immediately
- Ensure the safety and medical needs of all parties are addressed first (Correct answer)
- Arrest the intoxicated driver before medical help arrives
- Secure the scene and wait for paramedics before approaching
Correct answer: Ensure the safety and medical needs of all parties are addressed first
Life safety is always the first priority; medical needs must be addressed before conducting a DUI investigation.
Question 2: A citizen approaches you and provides a tip that a neighbor is selling drugs. The tip is unverified. What is the most appropriate next step?
- Immediately search the neighbor's home based on the tip
- Document the tip and pass it on to detectives for further investigation (Correct answer)
- Confront the alleged dealer directly to see their reaction
- Arrest the tipster for wasting police time if the tip cannot be verified
Correct answer: Document the tip and pass it on to detectives for further investigation
Unverified tips alone do not provide sufficient legal grounds for a search and should be documented and forwarded to investigators.
Question 3: During a foot patrol, a young child approaches you crying and says they are lost. The child cannot remember their address. What do you do first?
- Leave the child where they are so the parents can find them
- Bring the child to the nearest occupied building
- Comfort the child, stay with them, and broadcast a description to locate the parents (Correct answer)
- Ask the child to walk you to where they last saw their parents
Correct answer: Comfort the child, stay with them, and broadcast a description to locate the parents
Comforting the child and using radio communication to locate parents quickly ensures the child's safety.
Question 4: You stop a vehicle and the driver hands you a driver's license that appears to be altered. The driver claims it is valid. What should you do?
- Accept the license if the driver seems truthful
- Run the license number through dispatch to verify its validity (Correct answer)
- Immediately arrest the driver for fraud
- Return the license and issue a warning
Correct answer: Run the license number through dispatch to verify its validity
Running the license through dispatch allows you to verify authenticity before making any determination about the document's legitimacy.
Question 5: You are completing paperwork at the station when you receive a call about a fight in progress nearby. You are off-duty and close to the scene. What should you do?
- Respond immediately and intervene physically
- Call 911 and provide your location and details, identify yourself as an off-duty officer if you can safely intervene (Correct answer)
- Ignore it since you are off-duty and not responsible
- Drive to the scene and observe but take no action
Correct answer: Call 911 and provide your location and details, identify yourself as an off-duty officer if you can safely intervene
Off-duty officers should follow department policy on intervention, but at minimum should report via 911 to ensure proper response.
Question 6: A suspect you have detained is requesting to speak with an attorney before answering questions. What is the correct response?
- Continue questioning since they are only detained, not arrested
- Immediately cease questioning and honor their request for an attorney (Correct answer)
- Inform them they can have an attorney only after formal charges are filed
- Tell them they can call an attorney after you finish your questions
Correct answer: Immediately cease questioning and honor their request for an attorney
Once a suspect invokes their right to counsel, all questioning must stop until an attorney is present.
Question 7: You notice a fellow officer using excessive force on a suspect who is no longer resisting. What should you do?
- Do nothing to avoid conflict with your colleague
- Tell the suspect to stop resisting to justify your colleague's actions
- Intervene to stop the excessive force and report the incident through proper channels (Correct answer)
- Wait until after the incident and quietly advise your colleague to be careful next time
Correct answer: Intervene to stop the excessive force and report the incident through proper channels
Officers have a duty to intervene when they witness excessive force and to report it through proper channels.
CJBAT Situational Judgment Questions and Answers 4
You arrive at the scene of a car accident where one driver appears intoxicated but is also injured.
What is your first priority?