LAPD Writing Clarity and Grammar 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which sentence correctly uses an apostrophe?
- The officers' vehicles were searched. (Correct answer)
- The officer's' report was late.
- Its' engine was running.
- The witnesses' story's conflicted.
Correct answer: The officers' vehicles were searched.
'Officers'' is the correct plural possessive, showing that the vehicles belong to multiple officers.
Question 2: An officer writes: 'Running toward the vehicle, the gun was dropped.' What type of error is this?
- Comma splice
- Misplaced modifier
- Dangling modifier (Correct answer)
- Subject-verb disagreement
Correct answer: Dangling modifier
This is a dangling modifier — the phrase 'running toward the vehicle' implies the gun was running, which is illogical.
Question 3: In a supplemental report, Officer Reyes states: 'Me and my partner responded to the call.' What correction is needed?
- Change 'responded' to 'had responded'
- Change 'Me and my partner' to 'My partner and I' (Correct answer)
- Change 'the call' to 'said call'
- Remove 'my partner and'
Correct answer: Change 'Me and my partner' to 'My partner and I'
When used as a subject, 'I' is correct; 'me' is an object pronoun and cannot serve as the subject of a verb.
Question 4: Which version of the sentence uses parallel structure correctly?
- The suspect was tall, athletic, and had dark hair.
- The suspect was tall, athletic, and dark-haired. (Correct answer)
- The suspect is tall, was athletic, and has dark hair.
- The suspect: tall, was athletic, and dark hair.
Correct answer: The suspect was tall, athletic, and dark-haired.
Parallel structure requires all items in a list to share the same grammatical form; 'tall, athletic, and dark-haired' are all adjectives.
Question 5: What is wrong with the following sentence? 'The victim stated that they seen the suspect leave.'
- 'They' should be 'he or she'
- 'Seen' should be 'saw' — incorrect verb form (Correct answer)
- 'Stated' should be 'said'
- The sentence is in passive voice
Correct answer: 'Seen' should be 'saw' — incorrect verb form
'Seen' requires a helping verb (had seen); the simple past tense 'saw' is correct here.
Question 6: An officer is writing about two suspects and consistently refers to them as 'they.' Why might this cause confusion in a report?
- 'They' is grammatically incorrect in formal writing
- 'They' could be unclear about whether one or both suspects are meant (Correct answer)
- 'They' implies the suspects are unknown
- Police reports prohibit plural pronouns
Correct answer: 'They' could be unclear about whether one or both suspects are meant
In reports involving multiple subjects, 'they' can be ambiguous; naming suspects (Suspect 1, Suspect 2) or repeating names eliminates confusion.
Question 7: Which punctuation mark is used to introduce a list in a formal report?
- Semicolon
- Dash
- Colon (Correct answer)
- Comma
Correct answer: Colon
A colon is the correct punctuation to introduce a list or to signal that elaboration follows a complete statement.
LAPD Writing Clarity and Grammar 3
Which sentence correctly uses an apostrophe?