UDEE Critical Thinking 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A witness reports seeing a suspect run north immediately after a theft. Another witness says the suspect ran east. An officer should:
- Arrest the first witness for filing a false report
- Dismiss both accounts and close the case
- Document both statements and seek additional evidence to reconcile the conflict (Correct answer)
- Assume the suspect ran northeast and search accordingly
Correct answer: Document both statements and seek additional evidence to reconcile the conflict
Conflicting witness accounts require documentation and corroboration rather than dismissal or arbitrary reconciliation.
Question 2: Which of the following best exemplifies deductive reasoning?
- All sworn officers carry badges; Officer Smith is sworn; therefore Officer Smith carries a badge (Correct answer)
- Most suspects are nervous; this person seems nervous; therefore this person is a suspect
- The last three incidents happened on Fridays; the next incident will probably happen on a Friday
- Witnesses are usually reliable, so this witness is probably telling the truth
Correct answer: All sworn officers carry badges; Officer Smith is sworn; therefore Officer Smith carries a badge
Deductive reasoning moves from a general rule to a specific conclusion that must be true if the premises are true.
Question 3: An officer notices a pattern: burglaries in a neighborhood always occur between 2 AM and 4 AM. This observation is most useful for:
- Proving who committed past burglaries
- Establishing probable cause to make an arrest
- Allocating patrol resources during high-risk hours (Correct answer)
- Charging residents with conspiracy
Correct answer: Allocating patrol resources during high-risk hours
Identifying a time-based pattern allows commanders to deploy resources proactively during the window of highest risk.
Question 4: Which argument contains a logical fallacy?
- If the door was locked, the intruder had a key or broke in
- The crime scene shows forced entry, so the door was not left unlocked
- Officer Jones made an error once, so we cannot trust any of his reports (Correct answer)
- The suspect's alibi is unverified, so it requires further investigation
Correct answer: Officer Jones made an error once, so we cannot trust any of his reports
Dismissing all of someone's work because of one past error is the ad hominem or 'poisoning the well' fallacy.
Question 5: A report states: 'No evidence of forced entry was found.' What can be logically concluded?
- The owner committed the crime
- The perpetrator had authorized access or used an undetected method of entry (Correct answer)
- The crime did not occur
- The locks were faulty
Correct answer: The perpetrator had authorized access or used an undetected method of entry
Absence of forced entry narrows entry methods to authorized access or methods that leave no detectable trace.
Question 6: During an investigation, an officer develops a hypothesis. The most critical next step is to:
- Announce the hypothesis publicly to generate tips
- Seek only evidence that supports the hypothesis
- Test the hypothesis against all available evidence, including contradicting evidence (Correct answer)
- Close the investigation if the hypothesis seems plausible
Correct answer: Test the hypothesis against all available evidence, including contradicting evidence
A valid hypothesis must be tested against all evidence, including disconfirming evidence, to avoid confirmation bias.
Question 7: An officer reads: 'Residents who reported suspicious activity were 40% more likely to experience a burglary.' The most accurate interpretation is:
- Reporting suspicious activity causes burglaries
- Residents who are more vigilant may live in higher-crime areas (Correct answer)
- Officers should discourage residents from reporting suspicious activity
- Suspicious activity reports are a reliable predictor of future crime nationwide
Correct answer: Residents who are more vigilant may live in higher-crime areas
Correlation does not imply causation; vigilant residents may simply reside in areas with higher baseline crime rates.
UDEE Critical Thinking 2
A witness reports seeing a suspect run north immediately after a theft.
Another witness says the suspect ran east.
An officer should: