Situational Questions Oral Interview

You are dispatched to a traffic accident. Put these three things in the order you would do them and give a reason for doing so; control traffic, check for injuries, interview witnesses.

Always check for injuries first and get paramedics in route if necessary. Secondly, I would take control of traffic so no one else would get hurt. Third I would be talk to witnesses after everyone is safe.

One of the officers on your squad, who is a very good friend of yours, shows up for work and you smell beer on his breath. You believe that he has been drinking. You also believe that this officer who is your friend has a drinking problem. What are you going to do?

I would immediately inform my supervisor. Even though he is a good friend, his actions could put many people in jeapordy, not to mention the police department's reputation. This officer carries a gun and will likely be driving a patrol car. Being under the influence of alcohol puts far too many people at risk to ignore this behavior.

You have conducted a traffic stop and youre in the middle of issuing a traffic citation when a violent crime in progress in your assigned area comes over the radio. What course of action would you take?

I would immediately stop writing the citation and tell the driver of the vehicle that he can go with a warning and I would rush to the violent crime in progress. Since it is a violent crime, there's a good chance someone could be hurt or worse and protecting someones life is far more important and takes priority over a traffic citation.

You respond to backup another unit in an alley. When you arrive you see a man running away and the officer at the scene is yelling at you, "Shoot him, shoot him" what will you do?

I would not shoot the man unless I knew that the person is about to severely injure or cause the death of someone. Shooting someone requires imminent danger. If you do not see someone's life being in imminent danger then you do not shoot, no matter what another officer tells you.

You are dispatched to a fight in progress at a local bar. When you arrive, you see that the fights is still in progress. What actions would you take to stop the fight?

I would separate the parties involved. At that time, I will interview witnesses separately to get to the heart of the matter so that I can take the next step (arrest, citation, trespass, etc.)

You are flagged down by a woman in a parking lot. The woman tells you that she found her son playing with a gun and she would like you to have a talk with her son about the dangers of playing with guns. What do you do?

I would take the time to talk with the child about the dangers of playing with guns.

You and a fellow officer are eating lunch at a local restaurant. When your meal is finished, the waitress brings you the bill and you find that you were not charged and the waitress tells you that your meal is free. What would you do?

I would thank the waitress and explain that the gratutity is not necessary. If the waitress insists, I would leave enough money to cover my half of the bill. While I don't want to tell the restaurant how to conduct their business, accepting gratuities can shed a poor light on the department and the profession and could cause bigger problems down the road.

You and your partner arrest a subject for a theft at a local department store. After the subject is handcuffed and taken into custody, he is placed in the back of your patrol car. As you are getting ready to leave, the suspect begins calling your partner names. Your partner opens the door and punches the suspect in the face and walks away. What do you do?

If the suspect is already handcuffed and under control, punching the suspect is uncalled for. The first thing I would do is get the suspect medical attention if needed. I would address my partner to see what was said and what had happened, I would then notify my supervisor and request him to respond to the scene. Once he arrived, I would explain what happened. I understand my partner is angry, but he is not legally allowed to commit a crime against someone in custody.

While off duty, you go to a convenience store to purchase a few items. No one in the store knows you are a police officer. While you are paying for the items, the cashier engages in a conversation with you. She mentions that the believes she received a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill today. What would you do?

Tell her she should report the crime to the police right away. Advise her that if possible, she should secure any surveillance tape evidence and write down a description of the suspect who passed the bill.

You and another officer respond to a burglary call at a home. As you go through the house and find no one there, you observe your partner take a 20$ bill off a dresser and put it in his pocket. No one else witnesses this but you. How would you address this situation?

This officer has committed a theft. I would speak to him about it immediately. I would tell him that I saw him take it and I would also immediately report it to my supervisor. If an officer will steal 20$ while someone is there watching, what could he be stealing when no one is around?

You are off-duty at a party when you notice several of the partygoers begin to smoke marijuana. What would you do?

You should leave this situation immediately and report it to the police. You do not want to be around illegal activity and you do not want someone to report that you remained at this party when you knew illegal activity was occurring regardless of whether or not you participated.

You and your partner are driving a dangerous prisoner to the jail. While en route to the jail, you observe an accident involving three vehicles. It appears that damage to the vehicles is significant. What would you do?

You stop to render aid and radio for additional units and medical personnel (if needed) while your partner stands by with the prisoner still locked in the vehicle.

You are on patrol in a business district at 2:00 am when you find the front door of a business that appeared to be pried open. What do you do first?

Your first action should be to notify dispatch and to get a backup unit to your location. For safety reasons, you do not enter scenes like these by yourself.

In this state, it is mandatory that you make an arrest when a domestic battery occurs. You respond to a domestic violence call and upon arrival you discover that the male in the situation is a police officer with another local law enforcement agency. The female is claiming he beat her and has several marks on her face consistent with being beaten. Your investigation is consistent with her story. He takes you aside and tells you that he cannot go to jail or he will lose his career as a police officer. After you finish speaking with him he approaches you again and says that she does not want to press charges, and begs you not to arrest him. Explain what you would do?

because it is mandatory to make an arrest, I have no discretion in the matter even though the male is a police officer and the female does not want to press charges. Therefore, I would arrest the male.

For the past several months, there have been many assignments which required someone to work late at night. Everyone in your office has done their share of working late hours except for one person. His continual refusal to work after hours is causing a strain with his co=workers. What would you do?

I would confront this officer because he is bringing the morale of the shift down by not carrying his weight. If there is a problem at home or in his personal life, I would urge him to get help. If it turns out that he is being selfish and unconcerned about the other members of the shift, then I would bring the matter to my supervisor.

During a traffic stop, the driver of the car seems inebriated and smells of alcohol. When you initiate a field sobriety test, the driver fails. As you are preparing to take the offender to jail, he tells you that he is the son of the city manager. He goes on to tell you that if you take him to jail, he will make sure that his father has you fired. What do you do?

He broke the law and as an officer I could not release someone who would be endangering himself and others by driving while intoxicated. I would make sure that my report was detailed and captured every event of the traffic stop, including the threat about my job. Further, because he is the relative of a high-ranking official, I would notify my supervisor while at the scene.

You get called to a home because someone believed child abuse was going on. You hear a child crying in the home but when you ask to come in the man will not allow you and tells you to get a warrant. What do you do?

I have a community caretaking role that allows me to enter to ensure the safety of the child without a warrant. The immediate safety of human beings is necessary in this situation as this could be a life and death matter.

You are assigned to conduct traffic enforcement in a local school zone because of numerous complaints of speeders in the area. You observe a car traveling at a high rate of speed and effect a traffic stop. When you get up to the driver's window, you find that the driver is your mother-in-law. What course of action would you take?

I know that police have discretion in issuing tickets vs. giving a warning. In this case, I would issue a warning. However, I'd inform my mother-in-law that she's putting me in a bad position and I'd warn her to slow down and advise her of the dangers of speeding in a school zone.

You are patrolling your assigned area when you see what appears to be a shop owner in front of his store with a gun in his hand.

I would approach this situation in a safe manner. I would notify dispatch and request backup before trying to make contact with the subject. Anytime a gun is involved I understand it can be a possible deadly situation.

You arrive at a report of a burglary at a convenience store. The store is closed for the night. After you and your backup officer check out the store, it appears that the person has stolen the register drawer and is nowhere to be found. Dispatch tells you that the storeowner is on his way to assess the damage. While waiting, your fellow officer opens a package of chips and eats them, and throws the bag away. He then takes a few candy bars off the shelf and puts them in his patrol car. He says that the owner will never miss them. What do you do?

I would be comfortable knowing that I didn't do anything wrong. However, I would not be comfortable with my fellow officer's actions and I would tell him so. I would try to get him to put the candy back. If he didn't I would report it to my supervisor after we were finished with the situation