Police Promotion Information and Resources.
Everything You Need to Know to Plan For and Achieve Promotion Up the Ranks in Law Enforcement!
How Should You Prepare For Your
Written Promotion Exam?
By Lt. Paul Patti (ret) - Director
Police
Career and Promotion Services, LLC.
What you need to know
about all aspects of preparing for and achieving your promotion in
law enforcement can be found in these pages.
About us: I spent 27 years in law enforcement, and since 1985 I have directed an organization that has worked with individuals and agencies in finding and promoting the right people into the higher ranks of police and sheriff's departments. We include a Ph.D. in Personnel Management, as well as a staff attorney focusing on criminal law applications and legal-oriented promotion exams in law enforcement. We specialize not only in writing promotion textbook exams for police agencies, but also written exam preparation for individuals, along with in-basket, oral board and assessment center preparation for both agencies and individual training. Our individual client base of thousands of career law officers has a 99%+ pass rate on their written exams!
More information about me, my organization and affiliates can be found at these links; PoliceCareer.com, About Us, PoliceCareer.net, PolicePromotion.com, Finests.com, In-Basket.net and PoliceAssessmentCenter.com.
Master List of Articles. Questions? Contact me - Paul@PolicePromotion.com
The Written Promotional Exam - What It Covers and How To Prepare
By Lt. Paul Patti (ret.), Director,
Police Career and Promotion Services, LLC — 40+ years of law
enforcement promotion expertise.
Key study points: When reviewing departmental manuals, officers should focus on information that applies to the position being tested for — if going for sergeant, look specifically for what a sergeant "shall, should, or may" need to know.
Studying for a promotional exam is quite different from reading for pleasure — it's hard work aimed at retaining material for future use on a civil service test.
Arranging books and study materials in a logical sequence grouped by subject matter is a another recommended starting point.
The first-line supervisor exam focuses on key knowledge areas such as leadership, supervision, interpersonal communication, and critical incidents.
From Police1 — a practical, usable tip:
When studying for the written exam component, hone in on
key criminal law, standard operating procedures, department
policies, case law and even union contract rules. Make/print
copies, highlight, take notes and make flashcards. Study with a
friend who is testing as well.
On the importance of networking to identify what will be on
the exam: Network with sergeants, lieutenants, training managers
and aides to identify important topics. Review new policies and
training bulletins, as they highlight departmental priorities.
On mastery vs. mere memorization: the PolicePromotion.com
page on exam writing puts it clearly — candidates must master
the material, not just memorize a few key concepts, and must be
able to score at the top repeatedly, in random order, before the
material is truly mastered.
There
are many topics you need to review. Look over the below general
topic areas and decide which topic areas apply to your
situation, and check our KEY LINKS as well as do your own due
diligence on how each topic applies specifically to your own
law enforcement agency's promotion process.
Master Topic List:
The Right
Way to Read a Promotional Textbook (vs. Reading for Pleasure) The Most
Tested Textbooks for
Detective,
Corporal,
Sergeant,
Lieutenant, and
Captain Exams
The Ten Steps to Written
Exam Mastery - the USA's #1 Police Promotion Study System
Open-Book
vs. Closed-Book Promotional Exams: Different Strategies for Each
How to
Organize Your Study Materials into a Three-Ring System That
Works
Flashcards vs. Practice Tests: Which Study Method Produces
Better Scores
When to
Start Studying — and Why 6 Months Is the Minimum
Mastery
vs. Memorization: Why You Must Know the Material Cold
How to
Handle Exam Anxiety on Test Day
Study
Groups: Helpful Tool or Dangerous Distraction?
- Police1 - Winning Strategies for Police Promotion Exams
- Police1 - 5 Keys to Survive Promotional Preparation
- PoliceCareer.com - Actual Promotion Exams From 150+ Textbooks
- PoliceCareer.net - Promotion Textbooks and Exam Strategies by Rank
- University of San Diego - Online Degrees For Promotion
- Indeed.com - How To Gain Higher Rank in Law Enforcement
Key Links to further understand these topics;
Your Police Promotion Timeline — When Should
Preparation Begin?
Field Training — Your First Defining Chapter
Building Your Promotional Reputation Over Time
Recordkeeping —
Your Evaluations, and Training Documentation
The Two Tracks —
Supervision vs. Specialization
The Role of College Education
in Law Enforcement
The FTO As an Early Promotion Credential
The Written Promotional
Exam — What It Covers and How to Prepare
The Oral Board — the
Promotion First-Timer's Biggest Challenge
The In-Basket Exercise
— NOT as
Easy as You Think!
Assessment Center Exercises
—
Don't Fear — Prepare!
Making it To The Top — Or — How High is
High Enough?
When it's Time to Leave it All Behind — And What to
do Next.Do You REALLY Want the Promotion? — Links to help you prepare for:
Police Corporal
Police Detective
Police Sergeant
Police Lieutenant
Police Captain
Police
Administration and Upper Management
Understanding Police Leadership Concepts
Understanding Police Ethical Considerations
Understanding Police
Patrol and Field Operations
Understanding Community
and Problem-Oriented Policing
Understanding Intelligence-Led Policing
Police Case Law
Application with Case Law Pro