Written Clarity and Grammar Flashcards
6 cards from real LASD practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 6 Written Clarity and Grammar flashcards as text
Which of the following sentences is the MOST clearly and correctly written for a law enforcement report?
Answer: Having been identified by the witness, the suspect was placed under arrest.
This sentence is the best choice because it is written in the active voice (implied 'I' placed the suspect under arrest), is concise, and clearly states the sequence of events without unnecessary words or awkward phrasing. Law enforcement reports should be clear, direct, and objective.
A deputy is writing a report about a theft. Which of the following sentences uses the most professional and precise language?
Answer: The victim stated that the suspect stole her property and fled the scene on foot.
This sentence uses clear, professional terminology ('victim', 'suspect', 'stole', 'property', 'fled') without resorting to slang or overly legalistic jargon. It accurately and concisely describes the event, which is the goal of effective report writing.
Read the following sentence: 'The vehicle failed to stop at the red light, it continued through the intersection at a high rate of speed.' What is the grammatical error in this sentence?
Answer: Comma splice
This is a comma splice, which occurs when two independent clauses (complete sentences) are joined together with only a comma. 'The vehicle failed to stop at the red light' and 'it continued through the intersection' could each stand alone as a sentence. They should be separated by a period, a semicolon, or joined with a conjunction like 'and'.
Which of the following sentences is grammatically correct?
Answer: The witness described the suspect's car, a blue sedan with a broken taillight.
This sentence is grammatically correct. It properly uses an appositive phrase ('a blue sedan with a broken taillight') to rename and provide more information about the 'car'. The other options are incorrect: 'myself' is used incorrectly (should be 'I'), 'Each' is singular and requires a singular verb ('has'), and 'reports' is plural but is paired with a singular verb ('was').
In a report, a deputy needs to describe the actions of herself and her partner. Which sentence is written in the correct person and voice?
Answer: Officer Tran and I arrived at the location at approximately 2200 hours.
Law enforcement reports should be written in the first person (I, we) and use the active voice. This sentence correctly identifies both officers by name (or 'I' for the reporting officer) and clearly states the action they took. Using 'undersigned' or passive voice constructions like 'was effected' should be avoided for clarity.
A deputy is proofreading his report and finds the following sentence: 'The witness, who seemed nervous, provided a statement'. What is the correct way to punctuate this sentence?
Answer: The witness, who seemed nervous, provided a statement.
The phrase 'who seemed nervous' is a non-restrictive clause, meaning it adds extra information but is not essential to the sentence's main meaning. Such clauses must be set off by commas, one before and one after. The original sentence is already correctly punctuated.