At some point in the application and/or the exam process, you are going to have to write something. You may not see an essay portion on the test you take, but you will have to give extended answers to some questions in the application itself. You will also find yourself having to write various kinds of reports during your career as a police officer. Some exams will even have you write sample reports.
No one is expecting Pulitzer Prize material here. You just need to get your point across clearly and honestly—though using correct grammar also helps.
Here are some suggestions for writing effective responses:
Whether you’re writing a sample report or a response to a question, developing a strong structure before you begin writing will save you time in the long run. It doesn’t really matter what style you use to write your outline. You are the only one who is going to see it. But you should always start with an outline to keep your thoughts focused and organized.
First, write down the most important thing you want to say. Don’t worry about how you write it now. It doesn’t even have to be a complete sentence at this point. Just summarize your main point. Think of it as the direct answer to the question.
Now you have to come up with some support for your main point. If your main point is the direct answer to the question, the supporting examples are the answers to the follow-up questions. The support material can be examples from your own experience or reasoning that you’ve worked out. The examples can be more or less separate, or one can build on top of another.
Finally, you need to wrap it up with a conclusion. You don’t need to get fancy. You can just restate your original main point.
Once you’ve got your outline finished, you are more than halfway there. All you have to do is flesh out the sentences or sentence fragments, and you are done.
The big mistake people make here is that they get a little too fancy. Remember, you are writing to express, not impress. No one reading a police report cares about the writer’s literary craft. So skip the 10-dollar words and the mile-long sentences. Just say what you want to say and stop.
Verbs can be categorized as active or passive. Some people think that the passive voice is more formal; it’s really just blander and more boring. You will automatically sound like a better candidate if you just eliminate any passive verbs in favor of active verbs.
Here are some examples:
Passive: I was introduced to the importance of hard work by my grandfather.
Active: My grandfather taught me the importance of hard work.
Passive: Offensive line is what I played for the All-Region football team during my senior year of high school.
Active: During my senior year in high school, I played offensive line for the All-Region football team.
Passive: My most difficult situation occurred shortly after my older brother was diagnosed with leukemia.
Active: I faced the most difficult period of my life after my older brother was diagnosed with leukemia.
Once you have written your first draft, let it sit for a day or two and then come back to it. You will be able to see mistakes or awkward sentences that you didn’t notice when you wrote them down.
Obviously, on a timed test you won’t have a couple of days to mull over what you’ve written. But you should always reread your written material before turning in the test. Look for misspellings and grammatical errors, along with holes in your logic and other structural mistakes.