Prepare for the Philadelphia Police Officer Exam
Philadelphia has established a standard law enforcement hiring process that involves a number of steps, including a reading comprehension exam. You can prepare for this test with JobTestPrep's sample tests. Our practice packs also includes question & answer analysis, study guides, and learning exam strategies.
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Philadelphia Police Department (PPD)
As the primary law enforcement organization serving Philadelphia County, the PPD is the fourth largest police department in the U.S. The sworn officers number 6,600, with an additional 800 civilian employees. The PPD protects 1.5 million residents and covers 140 square miles. The Philadelphia Police Test is one of the most common Philadelphia civil service exams in the city.
Philadelphia Police Department Application Process
The Philadelphia Police Department has its own recruitment process and administers a different test than the PA State Police Exam. Working your way from the application through to police officer selection involves 11 distinct phases:
- Police Officer Recruit Application – The application form can be found online during the open enrollment time period. Meeting the minimum Philadelphia Police requirements will send candidates to the next hiring stage.
- Written Test – The exam used by the Philadelphia Police Department is the Nelson-Denny Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Test.
- Physical Fitness Agility Test
- Drug Screening
- Personal Data Questionnaire
- Background Investigation
- Medical Evaluation – This is a complete physical examination.
- Psychological Evaluation – Candidates who pass the written exam are scheduled for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory – 2 (MMPI-2), which is followed by a one-hour psychological evaluation with a State of Pennsylvania licensed psychologist.
- Polygraph
- Eligibility List – Pass all of the above, and you will be placed on the PPD eligibility list, ranked in accordance with test and evaluation performance. As vacancies materialize, candidates at the top of the list become Police Officer Recruits and are tapped for a 30-week training class.
- Probationary Officer – Successful completion of the training program places the recruit into the position of Probationary Officer, assigned to a patrol district. With a favorable evaluation at the end of one year, the recruit is transformed into a permanent PPD police officer.
Philadelphia Police Written Test
The Philadelphia police exam is an entry-level written standardized reading exam. Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary comprise the two sections of the Philadelphia Police Test. The Nelson-Denny Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary Test is administered by police departments in various U.S. cities, such as Austin, TX and Appleton, WI.
Format – You can expect to encounter a one-hour long, multiple-choice test.
Reading Comprehension Content – Moderately-long passages are presented, each followed by questions pertaining to the analysis and content of the essay. The information and data contained in the passages do not necessarily involve law enforcement topics.
Vocabulary Content – At the beginning of this section, you will find a list of 300 common words that are expected to be familiar to you. Each item contains one base word, either seen alone or within a sentence. The task is to select the one alternative that correctly reflects the meaning of the word.
Psychological Evaluation
A psychological evaluation is generally administered as a pre-employment screening device for high-risk jobs such as police work. The psychological portion of the Philadelphia Police Officer Test process includes the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory – 2 (MMPI-2).
Format – The MMPI-2 consists of 567 questions, administered within a timeframe of 60–90 minutes. With a True/False construction, the personality inventory may be administered through any one of a number of different formats: online, computer-based, CD, or paper & pencil.
MMPI-2 Content – This examassesses your preferences and behaviors regarding every conceivable element of daily life.
By working on personality inventory practice exams with Q&A analysis, you can gain a familiarity with the types of questions and format of the MMPI-2, as well as an understanding of the underlying focus of questions and expected answers. JobTestPrep presents Philadelphia police practice exams along with a thorough Philadelphia police exam study guide on both the reading test and the personality inventory.
Prepare for the Police Test
As one of the largest police forces in the country, Philadelipa has a large candidate pool. When the recruitment officers are considering who to accept, they use a ranking system. Both the Philadelphia written exam and psychological test are ranked. To ensure that you name appears at the top of the list, preparation is key. JobTestPrep’s Philadelphia police preparation package is tailor-made to give you the best preparation and to allow you to excel on the Philadelphia Police Exam.