NTN police practice test, every option explained

Incorrect: Handing the money back and saying nothing lets a bribery attempt go unreported.

Incorrect: Letting him off with a warning right after he offered money looks like the payoff worked, even if the cash goes back.

Correct: Slipping cash to an officer to drop a ticket is a bribery attempt. He should refuse it and report it, not just hand it back.

Incorrect: Laughing it off and telling him to put his money away treats a crime committed in front of him as a joke.

Incorrect: A sudden rush toward someone on a railing can startle him into falling or jumping.

Correct: Rushing a person in crisis can make him jump. Keeping distance, talking calmly and calling trained help gives the best chance of ending it safely.

Incorrect: Closing the bridge and staying silent leaves the man alone at his most dangerous moment.

Incorrect: Threats of arrest add pressure to a man who already feels nobody cares.

Incorrect: Animal control is the right help to call while the owner is found. This is a sensible action, not the worst one.

Incorrect: Watching the dog while staff page the owner lets the officer act quickly if it gets worse, so this is a reasonable step.

Correct: This is the worst action. A dog panting heavily in a hot car can be in real danger, and leaving a note and returning to patrol leaves the animal alone.

Incorrect: Repeated paging is a quick way to find the owner, so this is not the worst choice.

Incorrect: Taking a kit from another car without telling anyone just moves the gap to car 12 and leaves nothing on record.

Incorrect: Calling an officer at home does not get a kit into the car, and reporting it is the faster fix.

Correct: A missing first-aid kit should be reported, and the car should not go out without one. Getting a proper replacement fixes both problems.

Incorrect: Working a whole shift without a first-aid kit leaves him unequipped if he needs it.

Incorrect: Explaining that it is only about parking fines does nothing about the danger of standing next to a threatening man with a shotgun within reach.

Incorrect: Pushing into a house toward a man with a shotgun within reach risks a shooting over unpaid fines.

Correct: A shouting man next to a shotgun is a danger that one officer should not face alone over parking fines. Moving to safety and calling backup lets the arrest happen safely.

Incorrect: Walking away from the warrant leaves an armed and threatening man unchecked. The danger is a reason to get help, not to drop the case.

Incorrect: A full story through a teenager takes time while she bleeds and the husband may be inside. The basics come first.

Incorrect: Going in alone after a possible attacker without backup puts the officer at risk and leaves the bleeding woman unattended.

Correct: There is an injured woman and a possible suspect inside an open apartment. Calling for backup and medical help while watching the door covers both before anything else.

Incorrect: Waiting for an interpreter before doing anything ignores an injury and a possible suspect who are there now.

Incorrect: A stern warning in front of his friends over a harmless move embarrasses the teen and serves no purpose.

Incorrect: Asking other officers to watch for signal violations on a closed street pulls them away from crowd safety.

Incorrect: A ticket for crossing a street with no traffic uses enforcement where there is no safety issue.

Correct: The street is closed to all traffic, so crossing against the signal puts no one at risk. The officer's attention belongs on the crowd.

Incorrect: Brushing off his reaction tells him to keep quiet about it, which can make things worse over time.

Incorrect: Changing the subject leaves him alone with a problem he has just trusted you with.

Correct: Trouble sleeping and seeing the child's face are common after a traumatic call. Listening and urging him to talk with a counselor is how a partner helps.

Incorrect: He is doing his job normally. Reporting him as unfit goes behind his back and is out of proportion.

Correct: Ruiz is the primary officer, and a partner backs the primary at the scene. A different view can be shared after the call.

Incorrect: Questioning Ruiz in front of the host airs a disagreement in public and weakens both officers.

Incorrect: Leaving to sit in the car means not covering your partner at the door.

Incorrect: Stepping in to tell the host a citation is being written overrules the primary officer and confuses who is in charge.

Incorrect: Dropping the complaint because the caller is a jealous competitor ignores what the officer can hear himself.

Incorrect: Telling them to sort it out themselves leaves the music going past the permit limit.

Correct: The officer can hear the music himself, and the permit sets an 11 p.m. limit. The violation is real whatever the caller's motive.

Incorrect: Checking the bar too looks fair, but it does nothing about the violation the officer has already confirmed.

Incorrect: Warning him loudly in public embarrasses him and can turn insults into a confrontation.

Incorrect: The coach asked for help with a parent shouting insults at a teenager. Brushing it off leaves the problem going and tells the coach the police will not help.

Correct: He is loud but not threatening, so talking to him quietly and asking him to tone it down is the lowest step that can work.

Incorrect: Ordering him to leave jumps straight to the strongest step against a man who has not threatened anyone.

Incorrect: Calling the landlord to order the deposit returned goes beyond an officer's role in a dispute over money owed.

Correct: A dispute over a withheld deposit is a civil matter. Explaining that and pointing him to small claims court gives him a real way to get his money.

Incorrect: A landlord keeping an $800 deposit in a contract dispute is not normally a theft, so a theft report does not fit.

Incorrect: Saying "we can't help" and leaving sends him away with nothing, when a simple pointer to small claims would help.

Incorrect: She needs to get to work now. Telling her to wait an hour leaves the problem unsolved.

Incorrect: Calling a tow truck takes longer than reaching a driver who is close by, and it punishes someone who could simply drive off.

Correct: The owner is close by and can move the car in minutes. Paging him clears the driveway fast and keeps relations with the church good.

Incorrect: Ticketing the whole street goes far beyond one blocked driveway and does not move the car that is blocking her.

Incorrect: Noting the plate leaves the woman to face the other driver alone while the officer keeps eating, when he is the one who should go out.

Correct: The other driver is about to leave, so going out right away is the only way to catch him. Lunch can wait.

Incorrect: Another unit would arrive after the other driver has gone. The officer is already here.

Incorrect: By the time he finishes eating, the other driver will be gone.

Incorrect: If backup is going to the wrong address, waiting for it to arrive means it may never get there.

Correct: His backup and dispatch both have the wrong address. A short radio call fixes it for everyone at once, and that is what the radio is for.

Incorrect: A short correction does not block the fire units, and staying silent may send backup to the wrong place.

Incorrect: A voice message may not be heard in time, and dispatch would still have the wrong address.

Incorrect: Changing her patrol route on her own to fit the practices uses duty time without approval.

Incorrect: Many departments support officers in youth programs. Turning it down on a rule she has not checked gives up a good chance for no reason.

Correct: The practices fall during her shift, so she needs her sergeant's approval first. Showing interest and asking keeps the door open the right way.

Incorrect: Agreeing first and telling her sergeant afterward commits duty time without approval.

Incorrect: Pointing to supervisors brushes off a tip from a community member, when passing it on takes a minute.

Incorrect: Driving behind the church now is unlikely to find anything, since the selling happens in the evening, and questioning anyone there has no basis.

Correct: This is new information about a regular drug problem. Writing it down and passing it to the sergeant gets it to the person who can change patrols.

Incorrect: One officer cannot promise to be there every night. That is not his decision, and the promise may not be kept.

Incorrect: Sending her away delays the report and asks her to come back when help is available right now.

Correct: The break-in is over, so there is time to get it right. Protecting the scene and having his partner interview her in about ten minutes gives an accurate statement.

Incorrect: Broken English and gestures produce a thin, error-prone report when a speaker of her language is minutes away.

Incorrect: A stranger from the line may translate badly and will hear details of her business.

Incorrect: Letting the drivers just exchange information and leave skips the police handling a crash with an at-fault driver needs.

Correct: A close family friend at fault is a conflict of interest. Handing the call to another officer keeps the crash report fair.

Incorrect: Handling it while saying nothing about knowing the driver hides a personal tie that could make his report look biased.

Incorrect: Going easy on a friend who appears to be at fault is exactly the bias the situation calls for avoiding.

Incorrect: Many goes with things you can count, and "surface" here cannot be counted. The meaning is also the reverse of the advice.

Incorrect: "As plenty of" is not an English phrase, and the idea of touching more is wrong anyway.

Incorrect: Touching as much of the surface as possible is the opposite of what protects fingerprints.

Correct: Fingerprints are easily destroyed, so the officer should touch as little of the glass as possible. "As little as possible" also fits "surface," which cannot be counted.

Incorrect: Nothing in the passage is about the information being written. The point is getting key facts fast.

Incorrect: The point of short questions is to get useful facts, not irrelevant ones.

Correct: Yes-or-no questions help get the most important facts quickly from a caller who cannot talk clearly. Essential fits that purpose.

Incorrect: A dispatcher would not set out to gather optional information first from a frightened caller.

Correct: The passage says criminals can learn when the area will be empty. That happens when a patrol is predictable.

Incorrect: A patrol on the same path every night is not invisible. The problem is that people learn its timing.

Incorrect: A patrol cannot become arrested. The word does not fit the meaning.

Incorrect: The passage never calls the patrol unnecessary. It says a fixed routine can be learned.

Correct: The passage says a diabetic emergency can look like being drunk, so officers should not assume intoxication from stumbling and slurring alone.

Incorrect: "Should not doubt" would tell officers to accept that the person is drunk, which is the opposite of the warning.

Incorrect: "Forget that a person is intoxicated" does not fit a passage about not jumping to a conclusion.

Incorrect: Nothing here asks officers to prove anything. The warning is about jumping to a conclusion.

Incorrect: The passage gives a single 90-day holding period for found items. Nothing doubles it for valuable items.

Incorrect: Two-officer counting and signing apply to cash in the passage, not to high-value items.

Correct: The passage says items valued at more than 500 dollars are kept in the property room safe.

Incorrect: The passage bars a finder only from claiming weapons, drugs and cash, so valuable items are not "never released" to the finder.

Incorrect: "Similarly" signals a matching idea, but the second clause is a warning about what goes wrong, not a parallel point.

Correct: Planning first avoids pauses and repetition, and "otherwise" introduces what happens if they do not plan.

Incorrect: "Meanwhile" signals something happening at the same time, which does not link the two ideas.

Incorrect: "Therefore" would mean planning causes long pauses and repeated words, which reverses the passage.

Incorrect: "Never" would forbid noting the officer's own actions, but the example shows they belong in the report.

Correct: The sentence adds a second requirement to writing events in order, so "also" fits.

Incorrect: "Rarely" conflicts with the example given, which treats the officer's actions as something to include.

Incorrect: "Instead" would mean the officer's actions replace the chronological account, which the sentence does not say.

Correct: The blank describes how the officer is speaking, so it needs the adverb "calmly," which pairs with "in plain words."

Incorrect: "Calmness" is a noun and cannot describe how someone speaks.

Incorrect: "Calm" is an adjective. "Speaking calm" is nonstandard in formal writing.

Incorrect: "Calmer" is a comparative adjective, and nothing in the sentence is being compared.

Incorrect: Darkness does not stop a burglar from being heard. Light has to do with sight.

Incorrect: A burned-out light has no link to whether a burglar is followed.

Incorrect: Nobody in the passage is warned, and a light has nothing to do with warning a burglar.

Correct: A dark doorway makes a burglar hard to see. "Without being seen" is the point of the warning.

Correct: The car belongs to the suspects, so the sentence needs the possessive "their."

Incorrect: "There" points to a place, not ownership.

Incorrect: "Them" is an object pronoun and cannot show ownership.

Incorrect: "They're" is short for "they are," which does not fit before "car."

Correct: The sergeant asked Ruiz and me. "Me" is the object of "asked," just as it would be without Ruiz.

Incorrect: "Mine" shows possession and cannot be the object of "asked."

Incorrect: "I" is a subject pronoun. Dropping Ruiz shows the problem: "asked I" is wrong.

Incorrect: "Myself" is reflexive and needs a matching subject earlier in the sentence, which is missing here.

Incorrect: A paraphrase can be longer or shorter, but the passage's worry is accuracy, not length.

Correct: Paraphrasing can change the meaning of a statement, which is why the exact words matter.

Incorrect: Spelling has nothing to do with paraphrasing a spoken statement.

Incorrect: Paraphrasing does not change the author of a statement. The suspect still said it.

Incorrect: "Might not be guilty in the lineup" makes no sense, since guilt is not something a lineup contains.

Incorrect: Being convicted comes after a trial and is not part of the lineup instruction.

Correct: Witnesses are told the culprit might not be in the lineup at all, so they do not feel they must pick someone. "Included" fits that.

Incorrect: Whether the culprit has been arrested is not what the witness is told about the lineup.

Incorrect: "In contrast" signals an opposite idea, but the footprints support the first sentence.

Incorrect: "Even so" signals something surprising given what came before, which is not what the sentence does.

Incorrect: "As a result" would make the footprints an effect of the first sentence, but they illustrate it.

Correct: "For example" fits: footprints in snow are one case of evidence that must be collected right away.

Incorrect: "It's" means "it is," which does not fit before "own bag."

Incorrect: "Each item" is singular, so the plural "their" does not agree with it in formal writing.

Incorrect: "His" refers to a male person, not an item of evidence.

Correct: Each item owns the bag, and "its" is the possessive for a thing. It needs no apostrophe.

Correct: When an officer clears a call, the unit is free for the next one, which dispatch calls available.

Incorrect: "Dispatched" means the unit has already been sent somewhere, not that it is ready for a new call.

Incorrect: A unit cannot be arrested. The word does not fit the meaning.

Incorrect: The officer is reporting being free. "Occupied" means the reverse.

Incorrect: "Better than leave" is ungrammatical. The sentence needs a phrase that compares two actions.

Incorrect: "Faster than" compares speed, which is not the point of the sentence.

Incorrect: "Other than" means except for, which does not fit this comparison.

Correct: "Rather than" sets turning the camera on against leaving it off, which is the choice the sentence describes.

Incorrect: "Within" means inside one thing, not a spot separating two objects.

Correct: "Between" is used for a position separating two things, here the seat and the console.

Incorrect: "Throughout" means spread across a whole area, which does not fit a set of keys in one spot.

Incorrect: "Among" is for a group of three or more, not for two named objects.

Correct: The action was finished before the fire department arrived, so the past tense "evacuated" fits.

Incorrect: "Evacuate" is present tense and does not match "arrived," which places the action in the past.

Incorrect: "Evacuation" is a noun, and the sentence needs a verb.

Incorrect: "Evacuating" needs a helping verb such as "were" to form a complete verb.

Incorrect: "Stolen through the window" is the owner's account plus an inference. The officer saw neither the theft nor how it happened.

Correct: The rock and the glass are things Officer Pena saw for himself. The sentence makes no claim about who did what.

Incorrect: Saying the rock shattered the window turns two things Pena saw into a cause he did not see.

Incorrect: "The thief broke" assumes a theft and a cause that the officer did not see.

Correct: Every person is named, and the order is clear: Hale struck the officer, then Diaz handcuffed him.

Incorrect: "He struck him" could mean either man, so the sentence does not say who hit whom.

Incorrect: The phrase "after striking, by Diaz" is garbled and does not say who struck whom.

Incorrect: "By him" has no clear person to point to, so the reader cannot tell who struck Hale.

Incorrect: The tablet is on the list of items missing from the car floor.

Correct: The passage says her wallet is still in the glove box.

Incorrect: The gym bag is on the list of items missing from the car floor.

Incorrect: The checkbook is one of the missing items.

Incorrect: The passage never mentions his right front pocket.

Incorrect: The wallet was in the back pocket on his right side, not his left.

Incorrect: His left front pocket held his phone, which was not taken.

Correct: Webb says the wallet was in his right back pocket.

Incorrect: No adult daughter appears in the passage.

Correct: Grace Obi, the home health aide, found Lee and called 911.

Incorrect: No next-door neighbor appears in the passage.

Incorrect: A responding paramedic arrived only after the 911 call. Someone else found her first.

Correct: "I checked my mirror but didn't see her" is what Hale said, word for word.

Incorrect: Liu said she was in the bike lane. Nobody in the passage mentions the sidewalk.

Incorrect: "She wasn't there" changes his statement. He said he did not see her, not that she was absent.

Incorrect: Hale never said this. His words were about checking his mirror, not a denial that he opened the door.

Correct: "Each" is singular, so it takes "has."

Incorrect: "Are holding" uses a plural verb, which does not agree with "each."

Incorrect: "Were given" uses a plural verb, which does not agree with "each."

Incorrect: "Have" agrees with "officers," but that word sits inside "of the officers" and is not the subject.

Incorrect: "Left side of the body" could mean anywhere from shoulder to ankle.

Incorrect: "Small" and "one of the hands" give no size and no side.

Incorrect: "About 2 inches or so" is vague about size and still does not say which hand or where on it.

Correct: A 2-inch cut on the back of the left hand gives the size, the exact spot and the side, so a reader can picture the injury.

Correct: Grant says four signs were taken from his own lawn.

Incorrect: Six is the total for both lawns.

Incorrect: The passage never gives three as a number of signs.

Incorrect: Two is the number taken from the neighbor's lawn, not from Grant's.

Correct: 3, 2, 4, 1: they knocked, he let them in, the partner took him to the kitchen, and only then, with her husband out of the room, did Mrs. Ortiz speak.

Incorrect: 3, 4, 2, 1 has the partner taking Mr. Ortiz into the kitchen before he had let the officers into the apartment.

Incorrect: 3, 2, 1, 4 cannot work: sentence 1 says the husband was already out of the room, so it has to come after the partner took him to the kitchen.

Incorrect: 2, 3, 4, 1 has Mr. Ortiz opening the door before anyone knocked, and officers do not knock on a door already opened to them.

Incorrect: "The van past the school" uses a direction word where the sentence needs a verb.

Correct: "Passed" is the past-tense verb (the van passed the school), and "past" describes going by a place (turned past the gas station).

Incorrect: The first verb is right, but "turned passed" uses the verb where a direction word is needed.

Incorrect: "The van past the school" and "turned passed" both put the wrong word in the slot, so the sentence has no correct verb and no correct direction word.

Incorrect: No vehicle count of four appears in the passage.

Incorrect: Two is too few. The passage names more vehicles than that.

Correct: Converters were cut from three vehicles: a Honda, a Prius and a Ford.

Incorrect: Seven is the number of customer vehicles in the lot, not the number hit.

Incorrect: The passage never mentions a roof panel.

Incorrect: The left-side panel was not damaged, according to the passage.

Correct: Price says the right-side panel, facing the street, was smashed.

Incorrect: The back glass panel was not damaged, according to the passage.

Incorrect: No small diamond is mentioned.

Incorrect: No small sapphire is mentioned.

Correct: The passage describes a gold ring with a small ruby.

Incorrect: No small emerald is mentioned.

Incorrect: Level 2 is never mentioned.

Incorrect: Level 1 is where the man ran toward, not where the attack happened.

Incorrect: 18 is the street number of the garage, not a level.

Correct: Hill says she was grabbed on Level 3.

Incorrect: His car is never mentioned.

Correct: Marsh says a rocket landed on his roof at about 9:30 p.m.

Incorrect: The porch of the blue house is where the boys were sitting when the officer arrived.

Incorrect: His backyard is never mentioned.

Incorrect: A citation for being in the park after closing does nothing for a man at risk from the cold who has nowhere to go.

Incorrect: Telling him the park is closed and sending him away into the cold ignores the risk to his health.

Correct: A thinly dressed elderly man who is slow to wake on a January night may be in danger from the cold. His health and a warm place come before the park rule.

Incorrect: Leaving him sleeping on the bench in January ignores the danger from the cold.

Correct: "Told" takes the listener directly as its object, which this sentence needs.

Incorrect: "Talked" needs "to" before the listener and does not introduce a clause like this one.

Incorrect: "Spoke" needs "to" before the listener, so it cannot fit here.

Incorrect: "Said" does not take the listener directly. You say something to someone.

Incorrect: No black beanie is mentioned.

Incorrect: The man's headwear was camouflage, but Vega did not describe a bandana.

Correct: Vega says the man wore a camouflage cap.

Incorrect: The man's white item was a tank top, not a cap.

Incorrect: The first man, who had the gun, took the cash pouch.

Incorrect: No car keys are mentioned.

Incorrect: The handgun was held by the first man. Nobody took it.

Correct: Martin says the second man took the pizzas.

Incorrect: $28 is not a price in the passage. The 28 comes from the model name, D-28.

Correct: Grant says he paid $200 for the guitar.

Incorrect: $20 is not mentioned.

Incorrect: $280 is not mentioned.

Correct: Officer Kim checked for injuries, then had the vehicles moved to the shoulder.

Incorrect: A tow truck is never called in the passage.

Incorrect: Written statements from the drivers are not mentioned in the passage.

Incorrect: Photographing the damage came after the vehicles were moved, not right after the injury check.