LEAB Work Styles Questionnaire 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: You witness a fellow officer accepting a free meal from a local restaurant owner who often calls for service. You:
- Join in since small courtesies are an accepted part of community relations
- Report it immediately to internal affairs without speaking to the officer first
- Speak privately with the officer to remind them of department gift policies (Correct answer)
- Ignore it since no money changed hands and the gesture seems harmless
Correct answer: Speak privately with the officer to remind them of department gift policies
Addressing the issue privately first gives the officer a chance to correct their behavior while upholding department ethics.
Question 2: When handling physical evidence from a crime scene, your primary concern is to:
- Process it as quickly as possible to accelerate case closure
- Maintain strict chain of custody protocols at every step (Correct answer)
- Store items informally if the case appears straightforward
- Allow trained civilian witnesses to help catalog lower-priority items
Correct answer: Maintain strict chain of custody protocols at every step
Strict chain of custody preserves evidence integrity and ensures admissibility in court proceedings.
Question 3: You discover a factual error in an incident report you submitted last week. You:
- Hope no one notices and leave the report as submitted
- Wait to see if the error causes any problems before taking action
- Notify your supervisor immediately and submit a corrected supplemental report (Correct answer)
- Quietly correct the digital record without mentioning it to anyone
Correct answer: Notify your supervisor immediately and submit a corrected supplemental report
Proactively correcting errors demonstrates integrity and prevents compounding problems in future proceedings.
Question 4: A supervisor instructs you to skip a required procedural step during a busy night to speed up processing. You:
- Comply without question since supervisors set operational standards
- Follow the shortcut but document your objection in your personal notes
- Comply this once but plan to use the shortcut regularly for efficiency
- Respectfully explain your concern and follow the established procedure (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Respectfully explain your concern and follow the established procedure
Procedures exist for legal and safety reasons, and raising concerns professionally is both protective and ethical.
Question 5: You suspect a fellow officer may be under the influence of alcohol while on duty. You:
- Confront them loudly in front of colleagues to address it immediately
- Ignore it to protect the professional relationship and departmental cohesion
- Report your concern through appropriate supervisory channels immediately (Correct answer)
- Wait to see if their performance visibly deteriorates before acting
Correct answer: Report your concern through appropriate supervisory channels immediately
Public safety requires immediate action when a fellow officer may be impaired, regardless of relationship concerns.
Question 6: When completing use-of-force reports following an incident, you:
- Minimize descriptive detail to reduce potential scrutiny of your actions
- Align your account with what you heard other officers describe
- Document the exact circumstances and actions taken as objectively as possible (Correct answer)
- Wait to see how media and supervisors characterize the incident before writing
Correct answer: Document the exact circumstances and actions taken as objectively as possible
Accurate, objective use-of-force documentation is a legal requirement and a core professional obligation.
Question 7: A member of the public offers you cash to expedite processing of a records request. You:
- Accept it as a voluntary gratuity for good service
- Refuse the payment and report the attempted bribe through proper channels (Correct answer)
- Accept it but donate the money to a law enforcement charity
- Decline but do not report it since the amount was small
Correct answer: Refuse the payment and report the attempted bribe through proper channels
Accepting any payment for official services constitutes bribery; reporting the offer protects you legally and upholds the law.
LEAB Work Styles Questionnaire 3
You witness a fellow officer accepting a free meal from a local restaurant owner who often calls for service.
You: