NPOST Police Test Grammar and Punctuation Questions and Answers

Question 1

Which of the following sentences, intended for a police report, is grammatically correct and avoids common sentence structure errors?

Accepted Answer

The suspect fled the scene; he was last seen running northbound.

Answer

This sentence correctly uses a semicolon to join two closely related independent clauses. Choice A is a comma splice, Choice B is a run-on sentence, and Choice D uses a comma incorrectly before the conjunction 'and' because 'was last seen...' is not an independent clause.

Question 2

An officer is writing a report about multiple pieces of evidence. Which sentence demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?

Accepted Answer

The collection of fingerprints from the scene was completed by the forensics team.

Answer

The subject of the sentence is 'collection,' which is a singular noun. Therefore, the singular verb 'was' is correct. In the other options, the verbs do not agree with their subjects ('bag,' 'list,' 'evidence').

Question 3

Which of the following sentences correctly uses apostrophes to show possession and contractions?

Accepted Answer

The vehicle lost its front license plate, and it's now being held as evidence.

Answer

'Its' is a possessive pronoun indicating the license plate belongs to the vehicle. 'It's' is a contraction for 'it is'. This sentence uses both forms correctly.

Question 4

An officer must file a report on the new departmental policy. Select the option that correctly completes the sentence: 'The policy change will _______ the procedure for filing reports, and its primary _______ will be improved clarity.'

Accepted Answer

affect, effect

Answer

'Affect' is a verb meaning 'to influence or change.' 'Effect' is a noun meaning 'a result or consequence.' The policy will influence (affect) the procedure, and the result (effect) will be improved clarity.

Question 5

When documenting an interview, an officer needs to ensure pronouns are used clearly. Which sentence is written with correct pronoun-antecedent agreement?

Accepted Answer

After the briefing, every officer returned to his or her assigned vehicle.

Answer

The antecedent 'every officer' is singular. The pronoun phrase 'his or her' is also singular and correctly refers back to the antecedent. Choice A is ambiguous. Choice B incorrectly uses the plural 'their' with the singular 'Each officer'. Choice C uses the singular 'any citizen' with the plural 'they', which, while common in speech, is often considered grammatically incorrect in formal report writing.

NPOST Police Test Practice Test

NPOST Police Test Practice Test

NPOST Police Test Grammar and Punctuation Questions and Answers