PPAER Problem-Solving and Analytics 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A police department tracks response times. The average response time is 8 minutes, but 20% of calls exceed 15 minutes. Which analytical action is most appropriate?
- Report only the average and ignore outliers
- Investigate the causes of the 20% exceeding 15 minutes (Correct answer)
- Raise the target average to 15 minutes
- Reduce the number of calls accepted
Correct answer: Investigate the causes of the 20% exceeding 15 minutes
A significant percentage of outliers signals a systemic issue that warrants investigation rather than statistical concealment.
Question 2: An investigator finds that a suspect's cell phone pinged a tower 2 miles from the crime scene at the time of the offense. What is the most accurate analytical statement about this evidence?
- The suspect is definitively innocent
- The suspect was definitely at the crime scene
- The ping is consistent with being near but not at the scene and should be weighed with other evidence (Correct answer)
- Cell tower data is never admissible and should be disregarded
Correct answer: The ping is consistent with being near but not at the scene and should be weighed with other evidence
Cell tower pings indicate proximity within a range, not a precise location, so this evidence must be evaluated alongside other corroborating or contradicting information.
Question 3: A department's use-of-force incidents increased by 15% year-over-year. However, calls for service also increased by 20% in the same period. What does this data most accurately suggest?
- Use of force is out of control and requires immediate intervention
- The rate of use-of-force per call actually decreased (Correct answer)
- The data is contradictory and should be discarded
- Officers are becoming more aggressive
Correct answer: The rate of use-of-force per call actually decreased
When calls increased 20% but use-of-force only 15%, the per-call rate of force actually declined, showing improvement relative to workload.
Question 4: During a traffic stop analysis, an officer finds that of 100 stops, 60 resulted in warnings and 40 in citations. Of the citations, 30 involved speeding. What fraction of all stops resulted in speeding citations?
- 30% (Correct answer)
- 40%
- 75%
- 50%
Correct answer: 30%
30 speeding citations out of 100 total stops equals 30%.
Question 5: An officer receives conflicting information: a victim states the assault occurred at 9 PM, but a store receipt places the suspect elsewhere at 8:55 PM. How should this discrepancy be handled analytically?
- Accept the victim's account automatically as more credible
- Accept the receipt as definitive proof of innocence
- Document the discrepancy and seek additional corroborating evidence (Correct answer)
- Dismiss the case due to conflicting information
Correct answer: Document the discrepancy and seek additional corroborating evidence
Conflicting evidence requires additional investigation to resolve the discrepancy rather than automatically favoring one source.
Question 6: A crime prevention unit identifies that 70% of residential break-ins occur through unlocked doors or windows. Which is the most cost-effective analytical recommendation?
- Install surveillance cameras on every street
- Launch a public awareness campaign about securing entry points (Correct answer)
- Increase prison sentences for burglary
- Add more officers to the night shift
Correct answer: Launch a public awareness campaign about securing entry points
Addressing the root cause affecting 70% of incidents through low-cost awareness campaigns offers the highest return on intervention effort.
Question 7: A sergeant reviews a patrol officer's daily logs and notices the officer consistently logs 'no activity' during the 2-4 PM window. Other officers in the same zone log 3-5 incidents during that same window. What is the most analytically appropriate response?
- Commend the officer for maintaining a quiet zone
- Investigate whether the officer is actually patrolling during that time period (Correct answer)
- Reassign the officer to a busier district immediately
- Accept the logs without question as accurate
Correct answer: Investigate whether the officer is actually patrolling during that time period
A consistent zero-activity pattern that diverges sharply from peer data in the same zone warrants a supervisory review of actual patrol activity.
PPAER Problem-Solving and Analytics 3
A police department tracks response times.
The average response time is 8 minutes, but 20% of calls exceed 15 minutes.
Which analytical action is most appropriate?