Police written tests · practice by test and by department
Practice questions for four US police entry tests: California's PELLETB, the NPOST, NTN's FrontLine National and Florida's CJBAT. Every answer option has its own explanation, including the wrong ones. You don't pick the test, though. The department or the state does, so check yours before you study.
PELLETB
California agencies and academies
FrontLine National
Departments that test through NTN
NPOST
Iowa (by rule), Utah agencies, others
CJBAT
Every Florida academy
Pick a card to open that test's practice page. The four tests are built differently. The FrontLine has a video section and a report you write yourself. The NPOST is the only one with math. The CJBAT opens with a behavioral section, then tests your memory of pictures. The PELLETB is reading and writing only, on paper.
| Test | Questions | Testing time | Format | Where you test | How it is scored | Passing score | Go to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PELLETBCalifornia Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training | 65–78 | 1 h 45 min | Paper and pencil | California only, through agencies and academies | T-score (mean 50) | Set by the agency | Practice Facts |
| FrontLine NationalNational Testing Network | Not published | About 2 h 15 min | Video, online or center | Home or NTN center | Score per section | Set by the department | Practice Facts |
| NPOSTStanard & Associates | 75 | 75 min | Paper or online | Agency or its test site | Percent per section | Set by the agency | Practice Facts |
| CJBATFlorida Department of Law Enforcement | 97 | 1 h 30 min | Computer, Pearson VUE | Florida centers only | Pass/fail | 70, plus 30 of 50 | Practice Facts |
“POST test” can mean two different tests
Stanard & Associates sells the NPOST under the name POST, so a posting outside California that asks for a “POST test” may mean the NPOST. Many state training boards are also called POST, though. In California, POST's own entry test is the PELLETB. The two tests share no sections: the NPOST has math and written answers, while every PELLETB item is multiple choice. Go by the name in your job posting, not by the word “POST”.
PELLETB prep made before 2025 is out of date
What changed: CLOZE reading sub-test removed on January 1, 2025. Older books and videos still drill CLOZE, so skip those chapters and study from POST's current Applicant Preparation Guide.
Select the sentence that is written most clearly and correctly.
Answer explanations
Incorrect: The second unit has no subject and no main verb, so it is a fragment cut off from the sentence it modifies.
Correct: The participle phrase stays attached to the main clause, so the sentence reads as one complete thought.
Neighbors were asked to stay "vigilant" after the burglaries. As used in this sentence, "vigilant" most nearly means:
Answer explanations
Incorrect: Vigilant says nothing about being armed.
Correct: Watchful is the match: a vigilant person stays alert and keeps an eye out for danger.
Incorrect: Careless is close to the opposite of vigilant.
Incorrect: Neighbors may feel fearful after burglaries, but vigilant describes alertness, not fear.
The case fell outside the local department's JURISDICTION, so it was referred to the sheriff. Choose the word that most nearly means the capitalized word.
Answer explanations
Incorrect: A caseload is the amount of work on hand, not the power to take a case.
Incorrect: Expertise is skill or knowledge, which a department can have without the legal power to act.
Correct: Authority fits: a jurisdiction is the official power to handle a case within set limits.
Incorrect: Judgment is the ability to decide well, not the legal reach of a department.
Officer Diaz is questioning a nervous nine-year-old boy who saw how a neighbor's garage fire started. Each time the boy begins to answer, his father cuts in: "Tell him you were at home, son." What should Officer Diaz do?
Answer explanations
Correct: The boy is the witness, so his own words are what the officer needs. A polite request keeps the father in the room and lets the child speak for himself.
Incorrect: Separating a nine-year-old from his parent without a word to the father breaks trust with both of them and skips a step that a simple request could handle.
Incorrect: The father did not see the fire start. Recording his words as the boy's account puts a coached version in the report.
Incorrect: Stopping the interview and coming back another day gives the father time to shape the story further and lets the boy's memory fade, when a calm word to the father could fix the problem now.
Neither of the witnesses _____ willing to give a written statement.
Which word best completes the blank?
Answer explanations
Incorrect: "Are" is plural and present tense, while the subject "neither" is singular.
Correct: Neither is the subject, and in formal writing it takes a singular verb, so the sentence reads "Neither of the witnesses was willing."
Incorrect: Being is not a complete verb on its own, so the sentence would have no main verb.
Incorrect: "Were" matches "witnesses," but that word sits inside the phrase "of the witnesses" and is not the subject.
At 4:50 p.m., Joan Beck walks into the lobby of the Westside police station and hands Officer Tim Moss a brown leather wallet. She says she found it at 4:15 p.m. on a bench at Cedar Park, near the fountain. Inside are a driver's license for Luis Ramos, three credit cards and $47 in cash. Beck says a man in a blue tracksuit was sitting on the other end of the bench but left before she picked it up.
Where did Joan Beck find the wallet?
Answer explanations
Incorrect: The station lobby is where she handed the wallet in, not where she found it.
Correct: Beck says she found it on a bench at Cedar Park, near the fountain.
Incorrect: The wallet was not on the ground. Beck says she found it on a bench.
Incorrect: Beck mentions no parking lot. The bench she describes is by another landmark in the park.
The stolen truck was found with ___ license plates removed.
Which word correctly completes the sentence?
Answer explanations
Incorrect: There names a place or starts a sentence like "there is"; it never shows ownership.
Incorrect: It's is short for it is, and "found with it is license plates removed" makes no sense.
Incorrect: Their points to more than one owner, but the owner here is a single truck.
Correct: The plates belong to the truck, and the possessive pronoun its never takes an apostrophe.
Incorrect: Its' is not an English word; the possessive its has no apostrophe at all.
A police auctioneer is paid $200 per event plus a 10% commission on sales ABOVE $1,000. If an event's total sales are $6,000, what is the auctioneer's total pay?
Answer explanations
Incorrect: $900 counts the $200 base twice on top of the commission.
Incorrect: $800 takes 10% of the full $6,000 and adds the base, but the first $1,000 earns no commission.
Correct: $700 is the $200 base plus 10% of the $5,000 in sales above $1,000.
Incorrect: $600 is 10% of all $6,000 with no base pay and no $1,000 threshold.
Incorrect: $500 is the commission alone; the $200 per-event pay was left out.
Choose the word that most neutrally completes the report sentence: "Witness Joan Park ___ that she saw a blue van leave the parking lot at 11:40 p.m."
Answer explanations
Incorrect: "Confessed" implies guilt, but she only reported what she saw.
Incorrect: "Admitted" suggests she was owning up to something wrong, which seeing a van is not.
Incorrect: "Claimed" hints that the officer doubts what Joan Park said.
Incorrect: "Argued" suggests a dispute that the sentence does not describe.
Correct: "Stated" reports what Joan Park said without hinting at doubt, pressure or guilt.
Worthless checks. A person who issues a check knowing there are not enough funds to cover it, and obtains property in exchange, commits an offense. If the check is for $150 or more, it is a felony of the third degree; under $150, it is a misdemeanor. The person is presumed to have known of the lack of funds if the check is dishonored and the person fails to pay within 15 days after written notice. A postdated check that the payee accepts knowing it is postdated is not covered by this offense.
Ed Lowe buys a $400 used motorcycle from Sal Price and hands him a check dated the following Friday. Sal knows the check is dated ahead and agrees to wait until then to cash it. On Friday the check bounces. Sal sends Ed written notice, and Ed ignores it for a month. Sal asks Officer Tate to charge Ed. Which conclusion is correct?
Answer explanations
Incorrect: The rule makes no distinction for private sales, and the check is excluded anyway.
Correct: Sal knowingly accepted a postdated check, and the rule leaves such checks out of the offense entirely.
Incorrect: The $150 line matters only for a check the rule covers, and this one is excluded.
Incorrect: Ignoring the notice raises a presumption of knowledge, but only for a check the offense covers.
Read the following training announcement and answer the question: 'ACTIVE SHOOTER RESPONSE CERTIFICATION: Mandatory training for all sworn personnel will be held October 10-14, 2023 at the Regional Training Center. Each officer must attend one full 8-hour session (0800-1600 hours). Officers must bring their duty weapon (unloaded), duty belt, and BDU uniform. Training ammunition and eye and ear protection will be provided. Squad supervisors must submit an attendance roster with each officer's preferred date by September 15.'
Which item will be provided to officers rather than brought by them?
Answer explanations
Correct: The notice says training ammunition, plus eye and ear protection, will be provided.
Incorrect: Officers must bring their own duty weapon, unloaded.
Incorrect: The BDU uniform is also something officers bring themselves.
Incorrect: The duty belt is on the list of things officers bring.
Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?
Answer explanations
Incorrect: "Suspect already run" drops "had," so the verb is incomplete.
Incorrect: "Had already ran" uses the simple past "ran" where the participle "run" belongs after "had."
Incorrect: "Has already ran" uses the present perfect with the wrong form, and the moment is in the past.
Correct: "Had already run" pairs "had" with the past participle "run."
Answer every question to see your score
Each question is tagged with its test section, so a miss tells you what to review. Some formats are adapted for the web. The FrontLine video scenes and the CJBAT pictures are written out as text, and NPOST report answers, which you write by hand on the real test, are multiple choice here. None of these is a real test item.
Three things settle it, in this order:
The table shows a few agencies. Every row links the agency's own page for its rule.
| Department | State | Written test | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | CA |
| CA POST: Peace officer candidate selection standards (Regulation 1951) · JoinSFPD: Written test · City of Oakland police officer trainee job on NTN · National Testing Network: open law enforcement jobs and the exam each requires (read 2026-10-21) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| California Highway Patrol | CA |
| CHP: Written Exam | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Los Angeles Police Department | CA |
| JoinLAPD: Multiple Choice Test and waivers | Oct 21, 2026 |
| San Francisco Police Department | CA |
| JoinSFPD: Written test | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Florida | FL |
| Fla. Admin. Code R. 11B-35.0011 (via LII) · Florida Statutes s. 943.17 · Orlando Police Department police officer job on NTN | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Iowa | IA |
| Iowa Admin. Code r. 501—2.2 | Oct 21, 2026 |
| New York City Police Department | NY |
| NYC DCAS Notice of Examination: Police Officer, Exam Nos. 7311–7322 | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Pennsylvania | PA |
| MPOETC: Employing a municipal police officer · 37 Pa. Code § 203.11 · Join Philly PD: Exam information | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Utah | UT |
| Utah POST: Entrance requirements · SLCPD: Utah NPOST · City of West Jordan: NPOST testing | Oct 21, 2026 |
PELLETB practice app
More PELLETB practice questions with explanations, in a study app. Not affiliated with California POST.
FrontLine National practice app
More FrontLine National practice questions with explanations, in a study app. Not affiliated with NTN.
NPOST practice app
More NPOST practice questions with explanations, in a study app. Not affiliated with Stanard.
CJBAT practice app
More CJBAT practice questions with explanations, in a study app. Not affiliated with FDLE.
Optional. Everything above stays on this page, with no sign-up.
It depends on the test. The PELLETB has 65–78 items, the NPOST 75 and the CJBAT 97. NTN doesn't publish an item count for the FrontLine. A department with its own test sets its own length.
Study the sections of the test your department names. All four tests here check reading and writing. Only the NPOST adds math. The FrontLine adds video judgment scenes and the CJBAT adds memorization and reasoning. The police written exam guide links each skill to its practice page.
For three of the four tests, the bar is set by the department, not by the test. POST recommends a PELLETB T-score of 42 or higher. Iowa (by rule), the United States Capitol Police and West Jordan Police Department ask for 70% on each section on the NPOST. A CJBAT pass needs 70, plus 30 of 50, and the handbook describes the 70 as a score across all three sections, not a percentage correct. None of these tests asks about law or procedure. They check reading, writing and reasoning under a time limit, so practice against the clock.
No. They are practice questions written to each test's published sections. Every answer key is checked, and a reviewer who didn't write the question goes through it. Test owners don't release live items, and we don't publish questions recalled by candidates.
No. If a department uses a polygraph, it's a separate step later in hiring. The written test is one of the first steps.
No. There is no national police exam. California uses the PELLETB or another validated test, Florida uses the CJBAT and Iowa uses the NPOST, and some departments, such as NYPD and LAPD, write their own. Look up your agency on the departments page.