OACP - Ontario Association of Chief of Police Written Communication and Grammar Questions and Answers — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct for use in an official police report?
- The witness, who seemed nervous, provided a detailed account of the events. (Correct answer)
- The witness who seemed nervous provided a detailed account of the events.
- The witness, that seemed nervous, provided a detailed account of the events.
- The witness whom seemed nervous, provided a detailed account of the events.
Correct answer: The witness, who seemed nervous, provided a detailed account of the events.
The correct sentence uses commas to set off the non-restrictive clause 'who seemed nervous.' This clause adds extra information but is not essential to the sentence's meaning. 'Who' is the correct relative pronoun for a person, and the commas are necessary to properly structure the sentence.
Question 2: An officer is writing a report about a traffic stop. Select the sentence that uses the correct word.
- The driver's demeanor did not seem to affect his ability to operate the vehicle. (Correct answer)
- The driver's demeanor did not seem to effect his ability to operate the vehicle.
- The drivers demeanor did not seem to affect his ability to operate the vehicle.
- The driver's demeanor did not seem to have an affect on his ability to operate the vehicle.
Correct answer: The driver's demeanor did not seem to affect his ability to operate the vehicle.
'Affect' is a verb meaning 'to influence,' which is the intended meaning in this context. 'Effect' is typically a noun meaning 'a result.' The other options contain possessive errors ('drivers' instead of 'driver's') or incorrect word usage.
Question 3: While reviewing your partner's notes, you find the following sentence. Which version is punctuated correctly? 'The suspect fled the scene jumped a fence and was last seen running towards the park.'
- The suspect fled the scene, jumped a fence, and was last seen running towards the park. (Correct answer)
- The suspect fled the scene, jumped a fence and was last seen running towards the park.
- The suspect fled the scene; jumped a fence; and was last seen running towards the park.
- The suspect fled the scene jumped a fence, and was last seen running towards the park.
Correct answer: The suspect fled the scene, jumped a fence, and was last seen running towards the park.
This sentence contains a list of three actions (a series of verbs). Standard grammar requires commas to separate items in a series. The comma before 'and' (the serial or Oxford comma) is crucial for clarity in report writing to ensure the items in the list are distinct.
Question 4: Which of the following sentences demonstrates correct subject-verb agreement?
- The box of evidence files was left on the table. (Correct answer)
- The box of evidence files were left on the table.
- Each of the officers have their own patrol car.
- The details of the case is still under investigation.
Correct answer: The box of evidence files was left on the table.
The subject of the sentence is 'box,' which is singular. The prepositional phrase 'of evidence files' describes the box but does not change the subject's number. Therefore, the singular verb 'was' is correct. In the other options, 'Each' is singular and requires 'has,' and 'details' is plural, requiring 'are.'
Question 5: An officer needs to document who responded to a call. Which sentence is written correctly?
- Officer Smith and I were the first to arrive on the scene. (Correct answer)
- Officer Smith and me were the first to arrive on the scene.
- Me and Officer Smith were the first to arrive on the scene.
- Myself and Officer Smith were the first to arrive on the scene.
Correct answer: Officer Smith and I were the first to arrive on the scene.
When a pronoun is part of the subject of a sentence, the subjective case ('I') must be used. A simple way to check is to remove the other person from the sentence: 'I was the first to arrive' is correct, whereas 'Me was the first to arrive' is incorrect. 'Myself' is a reflexive pronoun and should not be used as a subject.
Question 6: Select the sentence that correctly uses the words 'their', 'there', and 'they're'.
- They're going over there to retrieve their equipment. (Correct answer)
- Their going over they're to retrieve there equipment.
- There going over their to retrieve they're equipment.
- They're going over their to retrieve there equipment.
Correct answer: They're going over there to retrieve their equipment.
This sentence correctly uses all three words. 'They're' is a contraction of 'they are.' 'There' indicates a place or location. 'Their' is a possessive pronoun indicating ownership.
OACP - Ontario Association of Chief of Police Written Communication and Grammar Questions and Answers
Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct for use in an official police report?