NYPD NYPD Deductive and Inductive Reasoning 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A department rule states: 'No officer may accept gifts valued over $25 from any member of the public.' Officer Nguyen receives a gift basket from a grateful citizen valued at $40. What is the correct conclusion?
- Officer Nguyen may keep it since it is a gift, not a bribe
- Officer Nguyen violated the rule by accepting a gift valued over $25 (Correct answer)
- Officer Nguyen may keep half and return the rest
- The rule only applies to cash gifts
Correct answer: Officer Nguyen violated the rule by accepting a gift valued over $25
The rule explicitly prohibits accepting any gift over $25 from the public; a $40 gift basket falls above the threshold and violates the rule.
Question 2: An officer is reviewing surveillance footage. She sees a man in a yellow jacket enter a bank at 2:02 PM and leave at 2:08 PM. The bank alarm triggered at 2:05 PM. What can be logically deduced?
- The man in the yellow jacket triggered the alarm
- The man in the yellow jacket was inside the bank when the alarm triggered (Correct answer)
- The man in the yellow jacket is the robber
- The alarm malfunctioned because only one person was inside
Correct answer: The man in the yellow jacket was inside the bank when the alarm triggered
The man entered at 2:02 and left at 2:08; since the alarm triggered at 2:05, he was definitively inside the bank at that moment.
Question 3: Officer Reyes notes that in her precinct, bicycle thefts occur most frequently near coffee shops. She is asked to prioritize patrol routes to reduce bicycle thefts. Which route choice reflects the best use of inductive reasoning?
- Patrol areas with the highest foot traffic regardless of business type
- Prioritize routes near coffee shops based on the observed theft pattern (Correct answer)
- Avoid coffee shop areas to reduce conflict with business owners
- Focus only on areas where thefts occurred last week
Correct answer: Prioritize routes near coffee shops based on the observed theft pattern
The consistent pattern linking bicycle thefts to coffee shop locations provides inductive justification for prioritizing those areas in her patrol route.
Question 4: A logical argument states: 'All evidence must be logged before it is stored. This item was stored without being logged.' What must be true?
- The storage officer made a clerical error that can be corrected
- The proper procedure for this item was not followed (Correct answer)
- The item is inadmissible in court
- The item was not actually stored — the record is wrong
Correct answer: The proper procedure for this item was not followed
If all evidence must be logged before storage and this item was stored without logging, the required procedure was definitively not followed.
Question 5: Over six months, Officer Hayes observes that a particular intersection has a traffic accident every Thursday between 5 PM and 6 PM. Command asks for a recommendation. What does inductive reasoning support?
- Closing the intersection permanently on Thursdays
- Deploying traffic control at that intersection on Thursday evenings (Correct answer)
- Redesigning the entire road network in the area
- Issuing warnings to all drivers who use the intersection
Correct answer: Deploying traffic control at that intersection on Thursday evenings
A six-month consistent pattern of Thursday evening accidents inductively supports deploying targeted traffic control during that specific window.
Question 6: A police department regulation states: 'Detectives may carry an off-duty firearm only if they have a valid annual certification.' Detective Simmons's certification expired last month. Which conclusion is certain?
- Detective Simmons must surrender her firearm immediately
- Detective Simmons is not authorized to carry her off-duty firearm until she recertifies (Correct answer)
- Detective Simmons may carry her firearm for a 30-day grace period
- Detective Simmons must request a waiver from the commissioner
Correct answer: Detective Simmons is not authorized to carry her off-duty firearm until she recertifies
The regulation makes carrying contingent on a valid certification; since Simmons's certification has expired, she is no longer authorized to carry the off-duty firearm.
Question 7: Three bank robberies occurred on consecutive Tuesdays. On Wednesday of the following week, another bank in the same area is robbed. A lieutenant argues all four robberies are by the same person based on geography. How strong is this inductive argument?
- Very strong — geography is the only relevant factor
- Moderately weak — the day-of-week pattern broke, undermining the series connection (Correct answer)
- Conclusive — four robberies in the same area must be one suspect
- Invalid — inductive arguments can never connect crime series
Correct answer: Moderately weak — the day-of-week pattern broke, undermining the series connection
While geography supports a connection, the established Tuesday pattern not holding for the fourth robbery weakens the inductive argument that all four share the same perpetrator.
NYPD NYPD Deductive and Inductive Reasoning 5
A department rule states: 'No officer may accept gifts valued over $25 from any member of the public.' Officer Nguyen receives a gift basket from a grateful citizen valued at $40.
What is the correct conclusion?