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Free Police Communications Technician Practice Test

Police Communications Technicians take 911 calls, and the exam leans on reading, ordering information and spotting what matters. Ten questions from our practice exams.

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Read this, then answer the questions about it.

A call-taker obtains the location before anything else. Where the caller cannot give an address, the call-taker obtains the nearest cross streets, a landmark, or the floor and apartment.

The call-taker obtains a call-back number. Where the caller will not give one, the call is still processed and the refusal is noted.

The call-taker does not leave the line while the caller is in danger, and does not place such a caller on hold.

A call reporting a crime in progress is transmitted to the dispatcher before the call-taker completes the remaining questions. A call reporting a past crime with no injury is completed first and transmitted after.

Question 1

A caller reports a fight and cannot give an address. According to the passage, the call-taker obtains
  1. A. the caller's name and date of birth
  2. B. the cross streets, a landmark, or the floor and apartment
  3. C. a description of the people fighting
  4. D. the caller's cell phone carrier
Show the answer

The answer is B. The passage names those three alternatives when an address cannot be given.

  • A is wrong: The passage puts the location first, before anything else.
  • C is wrong: Descriptions come later; the location comes first.
  • D is wrong: The passage does not mention the carrier.

Question 2

A caller refuses to give a call-back number. According to the passage, the call-taker
  1. A. records the incident as incomplete
  2. B. ends the call
  3. C. insists on a number before continuing
  4. D. processes the call anyway and notes the refusal
Show the answer

The answer is D. The passage keeps the call moving and records the refusal.

  • A is wrong: The passage does not describe the record as incomplete.
  • B is wrong: The passage does not end a call over a call-back number.
  • C is wrong: Insisting stops a call the passage says is still processed.

Question 3

A rule states: "A call reporting a person with a weapon is given a priority of 1. A call reporting a person with a weapon who has left the scene is given a priority of 2. A call reporting a weapon found and unattended is given a priority of 3." A caller reports finding a handgun on a stairwell landing with nobody near it. Under the rule, the priority is
  1. A. 1
  2. B. 3
  3. C. 2
  4. D. 1, because a handgun is involved
Show the answer

The answer is B. A weapon found and unattended is the third sentence, which sets priority 3.

  • A is wrong: Priority 1 is a person with a weapon at the scene.
  • C is wrong: Priority 2 is a person with a weapon who has left the scene.
  • D is wrong: The kind of weapon is not what the rule turns on.

Question 4

A rule states: "A caller who reports an injury is asked whether the person is breathing. Where the person is not breathing, the call-taker gives the breathing instructions before any other question. Where the caller cannot reach the person, the instructions are not given." A caller says their neighbor is not breathing and that they are outside a locked door. Under the rule, the call-taker
  1. A. asks the other questions first
  2. B. gives the breathing instructions at once
  3. C. gives the instructions and then asks the other questions
  4. D. does not give the breathing instructions
Show the answer

The answer is D. The caller cannot reach the person, which is the third sentence, and it removes the instructions.

  • A is wrong: The rule does not simply revert to the normal order; it names this case.
  • B is wrong: The instructions are for a caller who can reach the person.
  • C is wrong: The same objection applies: the caller cannot reach the person.

Question 5

A supervisor reviews these facts. Calls from one address were made on six consecutive nights. Each was a hang-up. Each call-back was answered by a different voice saying it was a mistake. Which conclusion do the facts support?
  1. A. That address produces a hang-up call every night
  2. B. Somebody at that address is being prevented from speaking
  3. C. The telephone at that address is faulty
  4. D. Children at that address are playing with the telephone
Show the answer

The answer is A. Six nights of hang-ups from one address establishes a nightly pattern at that address. The reason is not established.

  • B is wrong: That is one serious possibility among several and nothing here settles it.
  • C is wrong: A fault is another possibility, equally unestablished.
  • D is wrong: Different voices answering does not identify who dialed.

Question 6

A supervisor reviews these facts. Average call length rose by forty seconds last month. The number of calls was unchanged. A new address verification step was added at the start of last month. Which conclusion do the facts support?
  1. A. The new step is what made calls longer
  2. B. Calls got longer in the month the step was added
  3. C. Call-takers were slower last month
  4. D. The verification step should be removed
Show the answer

The answer is B. The rise and the timing are established. That the step caused it is a candidate, not a conclusion.

  • A is wrong: The step is the obvious suspect and the facts do not separate it from anything else.
  • C is wrong: Nothing measures how fast anybody worked.
  • D is wrong: That is a decision, not something the facts support.

Question 7

A call-taker handles a report of a robbery in progress. Put these into the order they happen. 1. Ask the remaining questions. 2. Obtain the location. 3. Transmit the incident to the dispatcher. 4. Obtain a call-back number.
  1. A. 3, 2, 4, 1
  2. B. 2, 4, 1, 3
  3. C. 2, 3, 4, 1
  4. D. 2, 1, 4, 3
Show the answer

The answer is C. The location comes first, a crime in progress is transmitted before the remaining questions, and the number and the rest follow.

  • A is wrong: Nothing can be transmitted before the location is known.
  • B is wrong: The transmission waits until the end, which is what a crime in progress does not do.
  • D is wrong: The remaining questions come before the transmission here.

Question 8

A call-taker handles a hang-up call. Put these into the order they happen. 1. Transmit with the location if there is no answer. 2. Note the number and the location on the screen. 3. Call the number back once. 4. Record the outcome of the call-back.
  1. A. 2, 3, 4, 1
  2. B. 3, 2, 4, 1
  3. C. 2, 4, 3, 1
  4. D. 1, 2, 3, 4
Show the answer

The answer is A. The number and location are noted, the call-back is made, the outcome recorded, and the incident transmitted if nobody answered.

  • B is wrong: The call-back is made before anybody has noted the number to call.
  • C is wrong: The outcome is recorded before the call-back happens.
  • D is wrong: The incident is transmitted before the call-back has been tried.

Question 9

Four callers are waiting. Which one should be taken first?
  1. A. A caller whispering that somebody is in there with them
  2. B. A caller reporting a car parked across their driveway
  3. C. A caller asking how to pay a parking ticket
  4. D. A caller reporting a broken street light
Show the answer

The answer is A. Whispering means the caller cannot be heard by somebody who is with them, and that is a person in danger now.

  • B is wrong: A blocked driveway is a nuisance that will keep.
  • C is wrong: A payment question is not an emergency at all.
  • D is wrong: A light out for a week can wait a few more minutes.

Question 10

Facts: A caller said a man in a green jacket ran east on Pine Street. The call-taker did not see him. Which of these four entries belongs in the incident record?
  1. A. Caller reports a suspect fleeing the scene on foot in an easterly direction.
  2. B. A man in a green jacket ran east on Pine Street after the incident.
  3. C. Caller states a man in a green jacket ran east on Pine Street.
  4. D. A man, described as wearing green, made off along Pine Street at some speed.
Show the answer

The answer is C. It attributes the account to the caller and keeps the color, the street and the direction.

  • A is wrong: 'Suspect' and 'fleeing' are conclusions the caller did not give.
  • B is wrong: This states as fact what the call-taker only heard.
  • D is wrong: 'At some speed' adds something nobody reported.
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