Assessing the Police – Part 3 – Writing, Reading, Reasoning, and Physical Ability Exams

Every police applicant in California is required to demonstrate writing, reading and reasoning ability by passing an entry level exam to work as a police officer. The most common test is the POST entry-level law enforcement test battery, better known as the PELLETB, however another examination designed to measure reading and writing ability per POST Commission regulation 1951 can be used. In addition, most law enforcement agencies also administer a physical ability test (PAT) in some form; however, POST does not require this type of test as part of the selection process. Because performance on the entry exam is highly correlated with performance in the academy, many agencies and police academies use the PELLETB as an indicator of readiness for a career in law enforcement and as an indicator to success in passing the police academy, the field training program, and their probationary period.

UPDATE: After many conversations and an analysis of the testing process, as of April 2021, POST will now accept a bachelor’s degree or higher as an acceptable replacement to the Reading and Writing Ability Assessment Test (the Pellet B or equivalency test). Pursuant to San Diego Police Department’s latest recruitment efforts, they are waiving the requirement for the Pellet B or equivalency test if the candidate possesses a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college or university.?Once a trainee finishes the RBC, it automatically remedies the need for the assessment test, which refers back to the agency discretion on when the test is administered. It is the opinion of POST that the purpose of the assessment is to determine if an applicant can read and write, if someone has a college degree from an accredited university or college, it should meet this standard. Because the regulation is written in the manner it is, POST is going to allow the practice of accepting the degree in lieu of the PELLET B. POST will be working on cleaning up the verbiage in regulation to make this clear and unambiguous.

After evaluating the Government Code and Regulation, and have determined that the PELLETB (or equivalency in Regulation 1951) only needs to be met by the “date of employment,” which is?required?before they become a peace officer, or an?option?if the agency hires them as a cadet or recruit.?Whether or not an agency wants to require a Bachelor’s Degree is entirely up to the agency, at least until and/or unless AB 89 or a similar Bill is signed into law.

An agency may allow an applicant to go to the Academy without taking the PELLETB.?Just remember that they cannot be appointed as an actual peace officer until they have taken the PELLETB, or passed the Academy (which is in and of itself an equivalency by regulation.) As soon as they pass the Academy they have met the?Reading and Writing Ability Assessment?requirement in Regulation 1951?since the Regs just require satisfactory completion of the?Reading and Writing Ability Assessment??“…any time prior to date of employment.?

There is no “passing” score set by POST on the PELLETB, as it is just an assessment tool to help an agency or academy predict future success and performance in the academy.?If an agency is satisfied that an applicant has the necessary communications skills based on having a Bachelor’s Degree, that is their prerogative.?So, an agency can elect to eliminate the PELLETB as a requirement to enter the Academy, but they cadets must either take the PELLETB (or other professionally developed and validated test of reading and writing ability) or have successfully passed the Academy before they are formally appointed a peace officers.

Test Composition

The PELLETB is a multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank written examination designed to measure writing and reading ability, it does not ask specific questions such as what are the elements of a robbery or how do you investigate a traffic accident, these are things you will learn in the police academy. Applicants are given 2 ? hours to complete the PELLETB, which contains five sections including spelling (applicants select the correct spelling of a word from a list of options), vocabulary (applicants select the correct meaning of a word from a list of options), clarity (applicants select the sentence that is most clearly written from a pair of options), reading comprehension (applicants read a passage and answer questions about the passage’s content), and CLOZE (applicants use contextual clues to complete a passage that contains blanks/missing words). The exam is only administered in paper and pencil format and cannot be taken online at this time.

The POST Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery (PELLETB) measures skills that are associated with successful performance as a California peace officer. This is not a test you can start preparing for a few weeks in advance, hopefully the applicant learned this material during all of their school years, a high school diploma or its equivalence is required to be a police officer in California. The skills measured are acquired gradually over a long period of time (usually years or a lifetime). There is no quick or easy way to improve these skills in preparation for the exam. The only way to predictably improve scores on an aptitude test is through extensive learning and practice (e.g., coursework, training).

Writing Ability

The Writing Test is comprised of a 45-item multiple-choice examination test which contains three sub-tests, including spelling, vocabulary, and clarity. The spelling sub-test uses a standard multiple-choice format. A sentence is given with one word omitted. A blank indicates the location of the omitted word. Four alternative spellings of the same word are given. The test-taker is asked to identify the word that is correctly spelled for the given context. No specific word list was used to identify the words that comprise the spelling test and, therefore, there are no specific words to study. The words that comprise the test are words that could likely find themselves in police reports or in the other writing done by police officers.

The vocabulary sub-test also uses a standard multiple-choice format. One word in a sentence is underlined and the test-taker is instructed to select the alternative that is the most accurate synonym or definition. The words included in the spelling and vocabulary tests are common words that may be encountered in law enforcement work. Vocabulary is not a skill that can be improved quickly. The best way to improve vocabulary is to immerse oneself in language for prolonged periods of time through activities such as reading and writing. Using and interacting with language is the only real way to achieve mastery. For example, a sample question may look like:

Question: The witness corroborated the suspect's story.

a. verified??????????b. contradicted????????????????c. added to????????d. questioned

The correct answer is “a”. In this question, verify means to corroborate, confirm, or attest. The incorrect responses are contradicted which means to express the opposite; added to which means augmented; and questioned which means to cast doubt upon.

In the clarity sub-test, sentences are presented, and the test-taker is asked to identify which sentence is most clearly and correctly written. Only common writing errors (e.g., unclear references, misplaced modifiers, sentence fragments, and run-on sentences) are included in the clarity portion of the exam. In the following example, a pair of sentences is listed, the applicant must identify the sentence which is most clearly written. For example:

?a. The officer was hoping to get a new partner, one that had a great deal of experience.

b. The officer was hoping to get a new partner. One that had a great deal of experience.

Sentence “a” is the correct answer, alternative "b" is incorrect because "One that had a great deal of experience" is a sentence fragment.

Reading Ability

The first is a reading comprehension sub-test. This test presents passages which vary in length from a single paragraph to one page. After reading the passage, applicants answer multiple-choice questions about the information contained in the passage. All passages cover common concepts and contain the information necessary to answer the questions. This test is designed to measure your ability to read and understand various types of written material. For example, the applicant will be given sample paragraphs that they must read.?After reading each paragraph, the applicant will choose the statement which best answers the question. The following is a sample paragraph:

The case of Gideon v. Wainwright, decided by the Supreme Court in 1962, granted court appointed counsel to people charged with felonies who could not afford to pay for their own attorneys. In a more recent case, the Supreme Court declared that the right extends to persons who are charged with any crime for which prison is a potential penalty. According to these court decisions, a defendant may waive his or her right to be represented by counsel at trial, but the state must at least provide the defendant with the opportunity to have free counsel.

Question: Based on the above passage, which of the following statements is most correct regarding defendants who cannot afford an attorney?

a. Anyone who must appear in court has the right to a free attorney.

b. Anyone whose charges may result in prison must have an attorney representing him or her at trial.

c. Anyone charged with a felony must have an attorney present for his or her trial.

d. Anyone charged with an offense that could lead to prison must have the option of a free attorney.?

The correct answer is “d”. Alternative "a" is incorrect because it states that "anyone who must appear in court has the right to a free attorney" while the text states that "persons who are charged with any crime for which prison is a potential penalty" have a right to a free attorney. Alternative "b" is incorrect because it states that "anyone…must have an attorney representing him or her at trial." The passage, however, states that "a defendant may waive his or her right to be represented." Alternative "c" is incorrect because it states that "anyone charged with a felony must be represented for his or her trial" while the passage only addresses individuals charged with a crime "for which prison is a potential penalty."

The second measure is of reading ability is the 40-item CLOZE sub-test. Test-takers are presented with a passage of text. In each passage, the first and last sentences of the passage are complete. Between the first and last sentences, every seventh word is systematically deleted from the text. No word is deleted that cannot be deduced from the context. In place of each deleted word is a dashed line. Each dash represents one letter in the deleted word. The test taker must use contextual clues to determine what words would logically complete the passage. The word must come from the test-taker's vocabulary as no alternative words or lists of words are presented in the test. A word is considered correct if it is syntactically correct and semantically appropriate (i.e., words selected by the test-taker must be the right part of speech and must make sense in the passage). In some instances, there is more than one correct response; in others, only one word can correctly fill the blank. In instances where more than one word is correct, the test-taker receives credit if he/she selects a word that fits within the context.

Reasoning Ability

Reasoning is the process of forming conclusions, judgments, or inferences from facts or premises. Officers often face situations where they need to determine how different pieces of information relate to one another. In this section, the applicant is presented with information such as a group or ordered series of facts, numbers, letters, or words. The applicant’s task is to study the various pieces of information and try to understand how they relate to one another. The reasoning ability sub-test uses a standard multiple-choice format. Information such as groups or ordered series of facts, numbers, letters, or words are presented. The applicant analyzes information and uses patterns, commonalities, and relationships to answer questions about the information presented. For example:

Question: Suspect A was in the house longer than Suspect B. Suspect C was the house for less time than Suspect B. Who was in the house the longest?

a. Suspect A??????b. Suspect B??????c. Suspect C??????d. Not enough information.

The correct answer is “a”. Suspect A spent more time in the house than B, and Suspect B spent more time in the house than C; therefore, A was in the house the longest.

Another example is completed by supplying missing words in sentences and then coding those words on your answer sheet. Every place you see a dashed blank line, you must supply the correct word. The dashes tell you how many letters make up the word that has been deleted. For a word to be scored as being correct it must make sense in the passage and it must have the same number of letters as there are dashes. All words that meet these two conditions will be scored as being correct. For example, a sentence in the test might read… "The driver was injured when his 1) _ _ _ crashed into the tree." You would complete the sentence by printing "CAR" in the blank space provided: "The driver was injured when his 1) C A R crashed into the tree." The word B U S could have been used, as it both makes sense in the blank space, and has the proper number of letters, therefore would also be correct. The words truck, auto and vehicle are incorrect, because even though they make sense in the blank, they have the wrong number of letters. There were three dashes in the blank space. Therefore, only words with three letters can be used. Also, only one word has been deleted in each blank space, so make sure that you put only one word in each blank space with a dashed line.

Testing Process

For test security reasons, current test materials are not provided for review. Copies of the PELLETB are only provided to agencies that use the PELLETB as part of their hiring process. All PELLETB proctors are required to complete two online proctor training courses, the Jumpstart and the PELLETB. The Jumpstart course covers general test security information pertinent to all of POST's secure tests. The PELLETB course covers procedures specific to the ordering, storage, administration, mailing, and scoring of the PELLETB. All users of the PELLETB must comply with this requirement. Additional questions about the Online Proctor Training can be directed to [email protected]?If your agency has a current Security Agreement on file, you may submit your test request to POST at [email protected] All requests must be made at least 15 business days prior to your testing date.

Given the diverse needs of California law enforcement agencies, agencies can locally determine the passing score that best fits their hiring needs and standards. POST does not require all agencies to use the same passing score, however POST recommends that agencies select a passing score of 42 or above. Research shows that the likelihood of successful academy completion increases for every point above an applicant score of 42. Upon receipt, POST electronically scans the answer sheets and renders a score report which includes a breakdown of each applicant’s reading, writing, and total T-scores. The score report is sent to the agency (either as a hard copy or electronically, depending on the agency’s preference) within 10 business days. When POST electronically scans test answers, statistical calculations are performed to convert raw test scores (the number of items answered correctly) into “T-scores.” T-scores are standardized scores that place an individual applicant’s performance on the test into a distribution (bell-shaped curve) with a midpoint (average) of 50 and a standard deviation of 10. If an applicant’s score falls around 50, his/her performance is considered “average” when compared to other applicants who have taken the test. If an applicant’s score is 40 or below, his/her performance is considered “below average” when compared to other applicants who have taken the test. If an applicant’s score is 60 or above, his/her performance is considered “above average” when compared to other applicants who have taken the test.

For security reasons, POST is unable to provide test results directly to applicants or other unauthorized persons. POST does not charge a fee for this test and a score on the POST test has no shelf life. POST requires the candidate must wait 30 days before he/she can retake the exam. If taken within the 30-day window, the exam is not scored. There is no expiration date for the exam; it is up to the hiring authority as to whether the candidate can/must retake the test or not.

Physical Ability Tests

POST does not require a physical ability test prior to hire. However, many agencies?administer their own physical ability test during the selection process.?As such, POST has no standards or guidelines for administering a PAT. Such tests, as we have seen must be job related to on-duty performance and can be met by individuals already occupying police positions, if so, they are likely to be upheld by the courts. POST does, however, require the administration of a physical conditioning program during the academy. The?physical conditioning program?consists of aerobic, strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility conditioning. Usually, jogging is the mode of aerobic conditioning. Calisthenics circuit training or weight circuit training is most used for strength and muscular endurance conditioning.

In 2017, POST began a project to develop a valid pre-academy physical fitness test and to update the validity of its required physical conditioning program and its must-pass, Work Sample Test Battery (WTSB) academy graduation requirement. The purpose of the pre-academy fitness test is to provide reasonable assurance that persons entering a POST-certified Regular Basic Course will sustain significantly fewer injuries and will be unlikely to fail out of the course because of inadequate preparation to meet the physical demands of the program. The purpose of the WSTB is to assure that trainees graduating from a POST-certified basic course can perform physically demanding patrol officer job tasks at a minimally acceptable level. The purpose of the conditioning program is to maximize trainee physical fitness on those factors that underlie performance of physically demanding tasks.

In addition to passing the WSTB, trainees participate in a mandatory physical conditioning program, and train to perform a variety of arrest methods (e.g., control holds, and searching and handcuffing techniques), and tactical self-defense procedures. The WSTB simulates actual physical tasks that are encountered by patrol officers during normal patrol procedures, such as moving injured persons out of harm’s way, and pursuing dangerous suspects through urban areas which involves scaling fences and walls and running through parking lots. The objective of the present physical demands study is to provide a foundation for assuring that the tasks simulated in the WSTB are still performed by patrol officers; to assure that the conditioning program in the RBC focuses on those physical abilities that are necessary to perform the physically demanding aspects of the patrol officer’s job; and to develop a pre-academy fitness test which can reduce academy injuries and attrition.

The WSTB was designed to reliably simulate five physically demanding patrol officer job tasks which were found to be common and critically important in all California law enforcement agencies with patrol functions. The simulated tasks in the WSTB are as follows:

1. 99-Yard Obstacle Course. This test event simulates a foot pursuit through a parking lot. The obstacles and parameters of the event are based on ergometric findings in the 1983-84 job analysis. The distance of 99 yards was the average distance reported. The obstacles (i.e., curb-height and 34-inch barriers) and changes in direction are based on those reported by the officers who took part in that study.

2. 6-Foot Solid Fence Climb. This test event simulates an officer surmounting a 6- foot high solid wooden fence while in the line of duty. The 6-foot height was the average (mode) of solid fences and walls climbed by officers throughout the State. The event requires examinees to make a 5-yard approach to the fence, get over the fence and then run 25 yards to a finish line. The approach and finishing distances were based on a combination of study findings and advise from exercise physiologists regarding candidate safety and injury prevention during the test.

3. 6-Foot Chain Link Fence Climb. Like the 6-foot solid fence climb, this simulation reflects what officers reported on the job in the 1983-84 study. It was included as a separate event from the 6-foot solid fence climb based on a biomechanical analysis of the body mechanics and physical abilities required to over a flexible chain-link fence as opposed to a solid fence.

4. 32-Foot, 165 Pound Body Drag. This event simulates an officer moving an incapacitated person 32 feet out of harm’s way. The distance was based on the average distance officers reported dragging an incapacitated/injured person on the-job. The weight of 165 pounds corresponds with the average weight of persons dragged as reported by officers in the 1983-84 job analysis. The test simulation requires the candidate to grip a 165-pound dummy under the arms from behind at the beginning of the event. This parameter is based on candidate injury prevention and was recommended by the exercise physiologists who were contracted to participate in the study.

5. 500-Yard Run. This event simulates a longer foot pursuit. The distance of 500 yards was the average distance reported by officers in the 1983-84 job analysis. The event was included in the WSTB on advice from the contract exercise physiologists who explained that running 500 yards, as opposed to 99 yards, requires different physiological mechanisms (aerobic vs. anaerobic capacity) to engage and thus has critical implication for training and performance. The distance of 500-yards was the average distance (mean) that officers reported running that was greater than 100 yards during the 1983-84 job analysis.

Good luck to our future police applicants.