Virginia Police Officer Written Exam Online Preparation and Tips – 2024

Virginia (VA) is a populous area that employs hundreds of police officers. Police jobs can be difficult and rewarding. For job seekers looking to become a Virginia police officer, you may be wondering how challenging the police written exams are. You should know that the tests can be tough but easily passed with the right strategy.

What Is the Virginia Police Officer Hiring Process?

Future Virginia police officers will need to pass a background check and drug test after completing their application. Additionally, applicants may be asked to agree to a psychological test, literacy test, or other type of screening test. Throughout the hiring process, candidates will almost certainly need to pass a police officer written exam. The exact exam will vary between each police department. It is important to verify with your police department the type of test you’ll be taking. Try to learn which test you’re taking as soon as possible, in order to give yourself enough time to prepare.

What Is the Virginia Police Officer Written Exam?

Virginia police departments are free to choose a police exam that is tailored to their needs. Because of this, each police department may ask you to take a different exam. The police officer written exam is one of the most important steps in the hiring process, making it essential for you to score well on these exams. Most often, Virginia police departments use one of the following common police exams:

• The Frontline National Test
• Law Enforcement Selection Inventory (LESI)
• Police Officer Entry-Level Exam (PO-EL)
• CHW Entry-Level Police Exam
• Law Enforcement Aptitude Battery (LEAB)

Richmond Police Officer Exam

Richmond is the capital of Virginia and serves more than 200,000 people. The Richmond Police Department uses the Law Enforcement Selection Inventory (LESI) test. The test is divided into the following two sections:

• Cognitive Abilities Section: The first half of the test covers common skills and cognitive abilities. It includes questions that cover reading comprehension, arithmetic, incident report writing, and grammar. The questions will be a mix between true/false and multiple-choice. During the incident report writing section, you will be asked to use complete sentences to answer questions. This section is extremely similar to the National Police Officer Selection Test (NPOST).
• Psychological Section: The second half of the test covers your personality and psychological traits. The questions are designed to learn about your values, opinions, and personality. The way you answer these questions determines how suitable you are for a police officer position.

Virginia Beach Police Officer Exam

The Virginia Beach Police Department is the largest city in Virginia, making it the largest law enforcement agency in the state. This police department administers the Entry-Level Law Enforcement Exam published by CWH Research. This test includes situational judgement test (SJT) features that assess your emotional stability, interpersonal skills, and more. In total, the test will take a maximum of 3.5 hours to complete 130-170 questions. You will answer questions from the following three sections:

• Basic Skills: These questions require you to use reading comprehension, mathematical, and writing skills.
• Situational Judgement: These questions require you to read about a situation and determine how you would react. You will need to consider the situation and the possible approaches. Choose a response that reflects the best and most professional way to react.
• Psychological: These questions ask you about who you are and your experiences. You may be asked to answer questions about how a situation makes you feel or how you can relate to a situation.

Norfolk Police Officer Exam

As one of the oldest cities in the state, the Norfolk Police Department serves and protects an important community. This police department requires their candidates to take the Law Enforcement Aptitude Battery (LEAB). There will be three tests that need to be completed within 3 hours and 40 minutes. Candidates will answer questions from each of these three sections:

• Written Abilities Section: This test includes 48 multiple-choice questions that test your skills on information ordering, reading comprehension, problem sensitivity, inductive reasoning, deductive reasoning, and written expression.
• Work Style Questionnaire: This test includes 173 statements that you need to respond to. Based on a scale of 1-5, you will choose how much you agree or relate to the statements.
• Life Experiences Section: This test includes 108 multiple-choice questions that ask you about your personal experiences and history.

Harrisonburg Police Officer Exam

The Harrisonburg Police Department uses the Police Officer Entry-Level Exam (PO-EL) developed by IPMA-HR. This test has a 1 hour and 45-minute time limit. You will need to complete five cognitive tests and a police interest questionnaire. During the first part of the test, candidates are handed a Technical Information Packet, or TIP. You are given 25 minutes to memorize the information within the packet before being asked to answer relevant questions.

The second part of the test includes cognitive abilities questions. These are multiple-choice questions that ask about the following topics:

• Following Directions
• Problem Solving and Judgment
• Verbal Abilities
• Learning and Information Application
• Observation and Recollection

Finally, you will complete a police interest questionnaire. These questions ask about your motivations, values, and personal characteristics to ensure you’re a suitable fit for a police officer position.

Fairfax Police Officer Exam

The Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office uses the Frontline National Test. This is a test that has a 2 hour and 20-minute time limit and includes three sections. These questions are related to abilities and skills required of a police officer, which is why it’s important to score well on this exam. Candidates will need to accurately respond to questions from each of these three sections:

• Situational Judgment and Human Relations Test: This test includes 50 scenarios that a police officer may encounter. You will have 10 seconds to answer questions about the scenarios. In total, this section will take 90 minutes.
• Reading Test: This test includes various reading passages and multiple-choice questions. In total, this section will take 15 minutes.
• Report Writing and Incident Observation Test: This test includes a video-based exam and a multiple-choice test. The video-based exam includes a situation that requires you to write an incident report within 21 minutes. The multiple-choice test includes 15 questions with a 10-minute time limit.

Other Virginia Police Officer Written Exams by City or Position

How to Prepare for the Virginia Police Officer Written Exam?

Once you’ve determined which police officer exam you’ll be taking, you can easily start preparing. Although each of these tests may seem extremely different, they are fairly similar. The point of these tests is to gauge your ability to do police work. If you do not study and prepare for these exams, you may answer questions incorrectly and hurt your chances of becoming a police officer. When you prepare with practice exams, you familiarize yourself with common testing questions. Free resources like example questions and study guides will show you what to expect on the practice exams. Once you start using practice exams, you can learn your strengths and weaknesses before focusing on difficult sections. The more you use practice exams and sample questions, the better your chances are of scoring well on the Virginia Police Officer Exam.