Illinois Police Officer Written Exam Online Preparation and Tips – 2024

Becoming a police officer in the state of Illinois (IL) is no small feat. The state has already employed over 41,000 police officers. If you want to join these ranks, you need to know what to prepare for. Each city and county in Illinois may have their own hiring requirements, but one requirement will always be the same: a written exam. Learn more about the type of written exam you may be required to take, as well as tips for receiving a high score on these exams.

What Is the Illinois Police Officer Hiring Process?

Job seekers over the age of 21 may be interested in becoming an Illinois police officer. However, Illinois is a highly populated state, meaning the police officer hiring process is competitive. Before applying, candidates will need to meet one of the education requirements set forth by the state of Illinois. After that, it is up to each police department to determine any follow-on hiring requirements. With that being said, each police department will generally require every future cadet to complete an approved version of the Illinois police officer exam. Please verify with your local police department their specific requirements to ensure you are completely prepared.

What Is the Illinois Police Officer Written Exam?

Police departments throughout Illinois are free to use any written exam of their choosing. Each police department will have specific requirements for its candidates, which means one police department may choose to use a different exam than other police departments. The good news is, Illinois police departments generally use the same three standardized tests, with several exceptions. Illinois police departments most often use the following three tests:

• The National Criminal Justice Officer Selection Inventory (NCJOSI) published by I/O Solutions
• The Frontline National Testing System published by Ergometrics
• The National Police Officer Selection Test (NPOST) published by Standard and Associates
• The Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test published by CWH Research
• The Law Enforcement Selection Tool (LST) published by I/O Solutions

Chicago Police Officer Written Exam

As the second-largest police department in the United States, the Chicago Police Department, or CPD, employs over 13,000 people. The Chicago Police Department uses their own written exam known as the Chicago Police Officer Exam, or CPOE. This test is developed and published by I/O solutions and includes a total of 80 questions. The total number of multiple-choice questions will be split between ten individual sections, and the test will have a 2.5-hour completion time limit.

The types of questions asked on the CPOE assessment revolve around the basic abilities expected of a future Chicago police officer. The CPOE is divided into the ten sections listed below:

• Inductive Reasoning: These questions require you to combine specific information together to draw a reasonable conclusion.
• Deductive Reasoning: These questions require you to apply a particular rule to a certain case.
• Information Gathering: These questions require you to arrange pictures, sentences, numbers, mathematical, or logical operations in a logical order.
• Flexibility of Closure: These questions require you to identify a specific pattern between words, objects, and sounds between distracting material.
• Problem Sensitivity: These questions require you to identify a specific problem within a certain situation. You will start by reading a passage and then answering questions related to issues described in the passage.
• Spatial Orientation: These questions require you to navigate between certain spaces and get between certain points.
• Selective Attention: These questions require you to complete certain tasks while being distracted.
• Visualization: These questions require you to visualize how an object would look if it were manipulated.
• Verbal Expression: These questions require you to identify correct word spelling, punctuation, and phrasing.
• Verbal Comprehension: These questions require you to read and comprehend a given passage.

Aurora Police Officer Written Exam

The next largest police department in Illinois is the Aurora Police Department. This police department uses the Frontline National Testing System to identify candidates with the most potential. The Frontline National Testing System has a time limit of 2.5 hours and is divided into three sections. In order to be considered by the hiring managers, you will be required to pass every single section. The Frontline National Testing System is divided into the three sections mentioned below:

• Judgment and Human Relations Video Test: This test section includes roughly 50 police officer scenarios that you would often encounter on the job. For each situation, you will have around 10 seconds to determine the best plan of action. The scenarios may deal with public relations, common sense, decision making, teamwork, and flexibility. You will have a completion time limit of 1 hour and 45 minutes.
• Reading Test: This test section assesses your aptitude for reading through and understanding written passages. You will be required to reach a sentence that may be missing one or more words. Based on the sentence’s meaning, you need to choose a word that makes the most logical sense. You will have a completion time limit of 15 minutes.
• Report-Writing Video Test: This test section is further divided into two subsections. The first subsection requires you to watch a situation unfold and then write a follow-up report about the situation. The first subsection has a completion time limit of 31 minutes. The second subsection includes 15 multiple-choice questions designed to assess your understanding of the English language. The second subsection has a completion time limit of 10 minutes.

Addison Police Officer Written Exam

The primary police test used by the Addison Police Department is the National Police Officer Selection Test, or NPOST. The NPOST has a time limit of 1 hour and 15 minutes and is divided into four sections. The first three sections will include multiple-choice questions as well as true or false questions. The fourth section requires you to use complete sentences to answer questions. The NPOST is divided into the four sections mentioned below:

• Arithmetic Test: This test section includes 20 questions revolving around basic mathematical concepts. This multiple-choice section has a completion time limit of 20 minutes. Please keep in mind that calculators are not permitted.
• Grammar Test: This test section includes 25 questions revolving around spotting grammatical errors. This multiple-choice section has a completion time limit of 15 minutes.
• Reading Comprehension Test: This test section includes a combination of 25 questions that can either be multiple-choice or true or false. Questions may require you to complete an incomplete sentence or answer questions regarding a written passage. This section has a completion time limit of 25 minutes.
• Incident Report Writing Test: This test section includes ten questions requiring you to write in complete sentences. Sentences should be free of grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors. This test section has a completion time limit of 15 minutes.

Rockford Police Officer Written Exam

The primary police officer test used by the Rockford Police Department is the Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test. This test is designed to assess each candidate’s behavioral traits and cognitive abilities. The entire test has a completion time limit of 3 hours and 15 minutes and is split between two sections. During the first test section, you will be asked questions that measure your basic abilities, such as reading and writing. The second test section will present you with specific scenarios and will ask you questions about your reactions. In total, the test will include 168 multiple-choice questions.

Skokie Police Officer Written Exam

The primary police officer test used by the Skokie Police Department is the Law Enforcement Selection Tool, or LST. Candidates will only be required to answer two different types of questions. Some questions will be related to general knowledge and basic skills. Other questions will be related to personal experiences and preferred behavior. The LST is divided into the following two sections:

• Section 1: Non-Cognitive Abilities: This section includes 120 questions and a completion time limit of 30 minutes. You may need to answer behavioral statements or multiple-choice questions about how much you agree with a given statement.
• Section 2: Cognitive Abilities: This section includes 70 questions and a completion time limit of 2 hours. You will need to answer various multiple-choice questions about inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, flexibility of closure, spatial orientation, information ordering, written comprehension, and written expression.

Arlington Heights Police Officer Written Exam

The primary police officer test used by the Arlington Heights Police Department is the National Criminal Justice Officer Selection Inventory (NCJOSI). The NCJOSI is divided into two sections that will assess your basic skills and knowledge. It’s important to note that there are two versions of the NCJOSI. Both sections are relatively similar to each other but do hold some differences. Check with your local police department to verify which version they use.

• NCJOSI Version 1: Version 1 includes a cognitive section and a behavioral section with a completion time limit of 1.5 hours. During the cognitive section, you will need to answer 45 multiple-choice questions that cover four individual topics: reading comprehension, writing ability, problem-solving ability, and mathematics. There will also be a behavioral section that includes 43 statements and an agreement scale. The agreement scale will range from 1 to 5, with 1 meaning you strongly agree and 5 meaning you strongly disagree. You will choose a number that best represents your opinion on the matter.
• NCJOSI Version 2: Version 2 includes a cognitive section and a behavioral section with a completion time limit of 2.5 hours. During the cognitive section, you will need to answer 80 multiple-choice questions that cover ten individual topics: verbal comprehension, problem sensitivity, verbal expression, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, information ordering, visualization, spatial orientation, flexibility of closure, and selective attention. There will also be a behavioral section that includes 120 statements and an agreement scale. The agreement scale will range from 1 to 5, with 1 meaning you strongly agree and 5 meaning you strongly disagree. You will choose a number that best represents your opinion on the matter.

Other Illinois Police Officer Written Exams by City or Position

How to Prepare for the Illinois Police Officer Written Exam?

The amount of information covered on any given police officer exam can be overwhelming. The written exam is just a single hurdle that you must overcome in order to become an Illinois police officer. Each Illinois police department will have their own requirements and may ask you to take a more difficult exam. The good news is, applicants can prepare for any of the aforementioned tests by preparing with online resources, like practice exams and free example questions. These practice exams give you a pretty accurate glimpse of what the actual police officer exam looks like. They also allow you to understand which sections are your stronger sections and which ones are your weaker sections. Any problem areas should be repeated until you feel that you can confidently answer the questions correctly. Make sure you give yourself several weeks to study and soak up all of the information. If you wait until the night before to start preparing, you may overwhelm yourself and wind up failing the exam. If you create a solid preparation plan, you will undoubtedly ace the Illinois Police Officer Written Exam.