POST Writing Ability 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An officer writes: 'The suspect, who was wearing a red jacket, run from the scene.' What is the grammatical error?
- Incorrect pronoun use
- Subject-verb agreement error (Correct answer)
- Misplaced modifier
- Comma splice
Correct answer: Subject-verb agreement error
'Run' should be 'ran' because the past tense is required in this context.
Question 2: Which sentence correctly uses a semicolon?
- The officer arrived; and secured the scene.
- The report was complete; it was filed on time. (Correct answer)
- She identified the witness; who lived nearby.
- He ran the plates; but found nothing.
Correct answer: The report was complete; it was filed on time.
A semicolon correctly joins two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.
Question 3: In a police report, which word choice is most appropriate?
- The victim appeared really scared.
- The victim exhibited signs of visible fear. (Correct answer)
- The victim was like totally freaking out.
- The victim seemed kinda upset.
Correct answer: The victim exhibited signs of visible fear.
Police reports require formal, precise language free of slang or informal expressions.
Question 4: Which sentence uses the active voice correctly?
- The suspect was apprehended by Officer Jones.
- A gun was found at the scene by the officer.
- Officer Jones apprehended the suspect. (Correct answer)
- The scene was secured before backup was called.
Correct answer: Officer Jones apprehended the suspect.
Active voice places the subject performing the action, making reports clearer and more direct.
Question 5: An officer must document a witness's exact words. Which format is correct?
- The witness said that she saw the man leave.
- The witness stated, 'I saw the man leave through the back door.' (Correct answer)
- The witness told me she seen the man leave.
- The witness exclaimed how she saw him leave.
Correct answer: The witness stated, 'I saw the man leave through the back door.'
Direct quotes must be placed in quotation marks and attributed clearly to preserve evidentiary accuracy.
Question 6: Which of the following best demonstrates concise report writing?
- At approximately 2200 hours, I, the undersigned officer, did observe and witness a vehicle that was traveling at what appeared to be an excessive rate of speed.
- At 2200 hrs, I observed a vehicle traveling at excessive speed. (Correct answer)
- I saw a car going really fast around 10 PM at night.
- The vehicle in question was noted by myself to be speeding late at night.
Correct answer: At 2200 hrs, I observed a vehicle traveling at excessive speed.
Concise writing eliminates redundancy and unnecessary phrases while retaining all essential facts.
Question 7: Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?
- Running from the scene, the officer observed the suspect.
- Running from the scene, the suspect was tackled by the officer. (Correct answer)
- The officer tackled the suspect, who was running from the scene.
- The suspect, running from the scene, was tackled by the officer.
Correct answer: Running from the scene, the suspect was tackled by the officer.
In this sentence, 'running from the scene' incorrectly modifies 'the officer' rather than 'the suspect.'
POST Writing Ability 2
An officer writes: 'The suspect, who was wearing a red jacket, run from the scene.' What is the grammatical error?