UDEE Officer Writing 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When writing an incident report, which tense should be used throughout the narrative section?
- Future tense to describe anticipated outcomes
- Past tense to describe what occurred (Correct answer)
- Present tense to make events seem immediate
- Mixed tenses depending on the paragraph
Correct answer: Past tense to describe what occurred
Incident reports use past tense because they document events that have already occurred.
Question 2: An officer writes: 'The suspect, who was wearing a red jacket, ran from the scene and was apprehended two blocks away.' What is the grammatical structure of this sentence?
- Simple sentence
- Compound sentence
- Complex sentence with a relative clause (Correct answer)
- Compound-complex sentence
Correct answer: Complex sentence with a relative clause
The sentence is complex because it contains a main clause and a subordinate relative clause ('who was wearing a red jacket').
Question 3: Which of the following best demonstrates proper use of active voice in a police report?
- The vehicle was pursued by Officer Jones for three miles.
- A pursuit of the vehicle was conducted over three miles.
- Officer Jones pursued the vehicle for three miles. (Correct answer)
- The three-mile pursuit was initiated against the vehicle.
Correct answer: Officer Jones pursued the vehicle for three miles.
Active voice places the subject (Officer Jones) as the doer of the action, making writing clearer and more direct.
Question 4: Which word correctly completes the sentence: 'The officer documented the _______ of the stolen property.'
- where abouts
- whereabouts (Correct answer)
- where-abouts
- ware-abouts
Correct answer: whereabouts
'Whereabouts' is one word meaning the location or place where someone or something is.
Question 5: In official law enforcement writing, abbreviations such as 'DOB,' 'DOA,' and 'MVA' should be:
- Avoided entirely in all reports
- Defined upon first use if the audience may not know them (Correct answer)
- Used freely without definition since all readers understand them
- Written in lowercase letters only
Correct answer: Defined upon first use if the audience may not know them
Abbreviations should be spelled out on first use to ensure clarity for all potential readers of the report.
Question 6: Which sentence contains a dangling modifier?
- Running down the alley, the officer spotted the suspect.
- Running down the alley, the suspect was spotted by the officer. (Correct answer)
- The officer, running down the alley, spotted the suspect.
- As the officer ran down the alley, he spotted the suspect.
Correct answer: Running down the alley, the suspect was spotted by the officer.
In the second sentence, 'Running down the alley' appears to modify 'the suspect,' but it was the officer who was running.
Question 7: When an officer must include a direct quote from a witness in a report, the statement should be:
- Paraphrased in the officer's own words for clarity
- Enclosed in quotation marks and attributed to the speaker (Correct answer)
- Written in italics without quotation marks
- Summarized as a bullet point
Correct answer: Enclosed in quotation marks and attributed to the speaker
Direct quotes must be placed in quotation marks and attributed to preserve the exact words and their legal integrity.
UDEE Officer Writing 2
When writing an incident report, which tense should be used throughout the narrative section?