NYPD NYPD Spatial Orientation 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An officer on foot begins at the southwest corner of a city block and walks clockwise around the entire block, returning to the start. In what order does the officer pass the corners?
- SW → NW → NE → SE → SW
- SW → SE → NE → NW → SW (Correct answer)
- SW → NE → SE → NW → SW
- SW → SE → SW → NW → SW
Correct answer: SW → SE → NE → NW → SW
Clockwise from the southwest corner: east to SE, north to NE, west to NW, south back to SW.
Question 2: Radio: 'Suspect vehicle last seen northbound on 7th Ave passing 34th St.' Officers blocking at 36th St should position on which side of that intersection to intercept?
- South of 36th St on 7th Ave (Correct answer)
- North of 36th St on 7th Ave
- On 36th St east of 7th Ave
- On 36th St west of 7th Ave
Correct answer: South of 36th St on 7th Ave
The northbound vehicle passed 34th St and heads toward 36th St; officers should be south of 36th St to intercept before the vehicle crosses.
Question 3: A patrol memo reads: 'Walked post from corner A north to corner B, then east to corner C, then south to corner D.' In what direction is corner D from corner A?
- North of A
- West of A
- East of A (Correct answer)
- South of A
Correct answer: East of A
North to B then south to D cancel out vertically; the eastward leg to C places D directly east of A at the same latitude.
Question 4: A building fire is on Oak Street between Maple Ave (north) and Elm Ave (south). An officer responding from the north should enter Oak Street from which end?
- From the Maple Ave end (Correct answer)
- From the Elm Ave end
- From either end equally
- From a parallel street only
Correct answer: From the Maple Ave end
Maple Ave is the northern cross-street, so an officer coming from the north enters Oak Street at the Maple Ave end first.
Question 5: Officer Davis learns a missing child was last seen 'across the street' from a community center whose front faces south. 'Across the street' from the front of the building is in which direction?
- North
- South (Correct answer)
- East
- West
Correct answer: South
The front faces south, so 'across the street' from the front is on the south side of the street — directly south.
Question 6: A precinct is at grid coordinates (0,0). A robbery is reported at (3,4), where x = blocks east and y = blocks north. What is the minimum number of blocks an officer must travel on the street grid to reach the scene?
- 4 blocks
- 5 blocks
- 7 blocks (Correct answer)
- 9 blocks
Correct answer: 7 blocks
Grid (Manhattan) distance = |3| + |4| = 7 blocks; straight-line distance (5 blocks) cannot be traveled on a grid.
Question 7: A patrol sergeant instructs officers to cover every corner of the block bounded by Washington Ave, Lincoln Ave, 10th St, and 11th St. How many corners must be covered?
- 2 corners
- 3 corners
- 4 corners (Correct answer)
- 8 corners
Correct answer: 4 corners
A standard rectangular city block has exactly four corners, one at each intersection of the bounding streets.
NYPD NYPD Spatial Orientation 5
An officer on foot begins at the southwest corner of a city block and walks clockwise around the entire block, returning to the start.
In what order does the officer pass the corners?