Home › Free questions › NYC Police Officer
Free · no account, no card

Free NYC Police Officer Exam Practice Questions

The NYC Police Officer exam tests abilities the City's notice of examination names, such as written comprehension and problem sensitivity. These ten cover the written abilities from our full practice exams.

Take these as an interactive quiz The full NYC Police Officer exams

Read this, then answer the questions about it.

Property that comes into the custody of a member of the service shall be classified as found, evidence, or arrest evidence. Found property is property whose owner is unknown and which is not connected to a crime. Evidence is property connected to a crime but not taken from a person under arrest. Arrest evidence is property connected to a crime and taken from a person under arrest, or taken from the immediate vicinity of that person at the time of arrest. Property classified as evidence or arrest evidence shall not be returned to any person without written authorization from the assigned investigator. Found property may be returned to a person who establishes ownership, provided that no criminal investigation is pending.

Question 1

A wallet is recovered from the sidewalk. Its owner is unknown and nothing connects it to a crime. According to the passage, how is it classified?
  1. A. Evidence
  2. B. Arrest evidence
  3. C. Found property
  4. D. It is not classified until an owner comes forward
Show the answer

The answer is C. The passage defines found property as property whose owner is unknown and which is not connected to a crime. Both conditions are met.

  • A is wrong: Evidence requires a connection to a crime, and the passage says there is none.
  • B is wrong: Arrest evidence requires both a crime connection and a person under arrest, neither of which is present.
  • D is wrong: The passage classifies property when it comes into custody; it does not wait for an owner.

Question 2

A camera connected to a burglary was taken from a person at the time of their arrest. A relative asks for it back and produces a receipt proving ownership. According to the passage, may it be returned?
  1. A. Yes, because ownership of the camera has been established by the receipt produced
  2. B. Only if the person who was arrested agrees in writing to the camera being released
  3. C. Yes, provided that no criminal investigation into the burglary is currently pending
  4. D. Not without written authorization from the assigned investigator
Show the answer

The answer is D. The camera is arrest evidence — connected to a crime and taken from a person under arrest. The passage says evidence and arrest evidence shall not be returned to any person without written authorization from the assigned investigator.

  • A is wrong: Establishing ownership is the test for FOUND property. It does not apply to arrest evidence.
  • B is wrong: The passage names the assigned investigator as the source of authorization, and says nothing about the arrested person's agreement.
  • C is wrong: The 'no investigation pending' condition also belongs to found property, not to arrest evidence.

Question 3

A department rule states: "An officer must complete a Property Voucher for any item taken into custody, except for items returned to their owner at the scene." An officer takes a bicycle into custody after a dispute, and the owner is identified an hour later at the precinct, where the bicycle is returned. According to the rule, must a Property Voucher be completed?
  1. A. No, because the bicycle was returned to its owner
  2. B. Yes, because the bicycle was taken into custody and was not returned at the scene
  3. C. No, because the owner was identified within an hour
  4. D. Yes, but only if the owner disputes the condition of the bicycle
Show the answer

The answer is B. The rule requires a voucher for any item taken into custody. The only exception is for items returned to the owner AT THE SCENE. This bicycle was returned at the precinct, not at the scene, so the exception does not apply and the voucher is required.

  • A is wrong: The exception is not simply 'returned to the owner' — it is returned to the owner at the scene. Dropping those three words turns a narrow exception into a wide one.
  • C is wrong: How quickly the owner was identified appears nowhere in the rule. It is a detail in the scenario, not a condition in the rule.
  • D is wrong: The rule makes no mention of disputes about condition. This adds a requirement the rule does not contain.

Question 4

Four burglaries were reported on the same block. All four occurred between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on a weekday. In all four, entry was made through an unlocked rear window. In three of the four, a neighbor reported seeing a utility van parked in the rear alley. Which conclusion is best supported?
  1. A. The person responsible for the burglaries works for a utility company in the area
  2. B. The utility van seen in the rear alley had itself been stolen before the burglaries
  3. C. All four of the burglaries on the block were committed by the same single person
  4. D. The burglaries were committed by someone who knew the block's daytime routine
Show the answer

The answer is D. Every fact points the same way: a consistent weekday daytime window and a consistent unlocked rear entry. Together those support someone familiar with when the block is empty and how it can be entered. That is as far as the facts reach.

  • A is wrong: A utility van is a vehicle, not an employer. Nothing given links the van to any company or the driver to a job.
  • B is wrong: Nothing in the facts concerns the van's ownership or whether it was reported stolen.
  • C is wrong: The pattern is consistent, but consistency does not establish a single person. Two people using the same method would produce the same facts.

Question 5

A directive lists the steps for handling found property, in this order: (1) record the finder's name and address; (2) examine the property for identification of the owner; (3) prepare a Property Voucher; (4) deliver the property to the property clerk. An officer receives a bag from a passerby. Which action comes immediately after examining the bag for identification of the owner?
  1. A. Record the name and address of the person who handed in the property
  2. B. Prepare a Property Voucher
  3. C. Deliver the property directly to the property clerk for storage
  4. D. Return the bag to the person who found it and handed it in
Show the answer

The answer is B. Examining for identification is step 2, so the next step in the stated order is step 3, preparing the Property Voucher.

  • A is wrong: Recording the finder is step 1, which comes before the examination, not after it.
  • C is wrong: Delivery is step 4 and comes after the voucher is prepared.
  • D is wrong: Returning the property to the finder is not one of the four steps listed.

Question 6

An officer takes a report of a stolen laptop. The complainant says the laptop was taken from a locked office between 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The complainant also says they used the laptop to send an email at 6:40 p.m. from home. Which is the most significant problem with the account?
  1. A. The complainant has not provided the laptop's serial number or proof of purchase
  2. B. The time given for the theft and the time the complainant used the laptop overlap
  3. C. An hour is a wide window for a theft from an office that was locked at the time
  4. D. The office was locked, so how entry was made has not yet been established
Show the answer

The answer is B. The laptop cannot be in a locked office being stolen and at the complainant's home being used at the same moment. That contradiction has to be resolved before anything else in the account can be relied on.

  • A is wrong: A missing serial number is a gap worth filling, but it does not make the account impossible.
  • C is wrong: A one-hour window is normal in a report where nobody witnessed the theft.
  • D is wrong: How entry was made is a question for the investigation, not an inconsistency within the account.

Question 7

Two officers are assigned to guard a doorway during a large event. One officer leaves to escort a lost child to the command post, telling the other they will return in five minutes. Twenty minutes later the first officer has not returned and is not answering the radio. Which is the most significant problem?
  1. A. The lost child should have been escorted to the command post by a supervisor instead
  2. B. An officer is unaccounted for and the post is short-staffed
  3. C. The remaining officer did not follow the first officer to see what had delayed them
  4. D. Five minutes was an unrealistic estimate for a walk to the command post and back
Show the answer

The answer is B. Two things have gone wrong together: the post is under-staffed against its assignment, and an officer is unaccounted for and unreachable. Either alone would matter; both at once is the problem.

  • A is wrong: Who should escort a child is a question of assignment, not the thing that has gone wrong here.
  • C is wrong: Following would leave the doorway completely unguarded, which makes the situation worse rather than identifying it.
  • D is wrong: The estimate being optimistic is a detail. The problem is the silence and the uncovered post.

Question 8

Facts: At 3:15 p.m., Officer Diaz saw a man take a bicycle from outside 40 Main Street and ride away east on Main Street. Which sentence reports these facts most accurately and clearly?
  1. A. At 3:15 p.m. a man was observed by Officer Diaz who took a bicycle from outside 40 Main Street and rode away east.
  2. B. At 3:15 p.m. Officer Diaz saw a man take a bicycle from outside 40 Main Street and ride east on Main Street.
  3. C. At 3:15 p.m. a bicycle was stolen from outside 40 Main Street by a man who then fled east along Main Street.
  4. D. Officer Diaz saw a bicycle being taken from outside a building and the man went east on Main Street at 3:15 p.m.
Show the answer

The answer is B. This keeps every given fact — the time, who observed, what was taken, from where, and the direction of travel — and attaches each one to the right person.

  • A is wrong: The clause 'who took a bicycle' sits next to Officer Diaz, so the sentence can be read as saying the officer took the bicycle.
  • C is wrong: 'Stolen' and 'fled' are conclusions about intent and flight. The facts say the man took the bicycle and rode away.
  • D is wrong: 'The man' appears before any man has been introduced, and the address is dropped.

Question 9

A city employee is offered two tickets to a sold-out concert by the owner of a business the employee inspects as part of their duties. The owner says the tickets are a thank-you and that no favor is expected. What is the appropriate response?
  1. A. Accept the tickets, because the owner stated plainly that no favor of any kind is expected in return
  2. B. Accept the tickets but pay the owner half of their face value to reduce the benefit
  3. C. Accept the tickets and mention having done so to a supervisor at some point afterwards
  4. D. Decline the tickets
Show the answer

The answer is D. A valuable gift from someone whose business the employee regulates creates the appearance that official decisions can be influenced, whatever the giver says about expectations. Declining removes the problem.

  • A is wrong: The giver's statement of intent does not settle it. The standard is concerned with how the arrangement appears and what it may influence.
  • B is wrong: Paying part of the value still leaves the employee receiving a benefit from a regulated business.
  • C is wrong: Telling a supervisor afterwards records the problem; it does not undo the acceptance.

Question 10

An employee learns that a close relative has applied for a contract the employee's unit will award. What should the employee do?
  1. A. Take part in the decision but vote against the relative to be fair
  2. B. Disclose the relationship and take no part in the decision
  3. C. Say nothing, since the employee is only one voice among several
  4. D. Withdraw quietly from the meeting without giving a reason
Show the answer

The answer is B. The conflict is the relationship itself. Disclosing it lets the organization manage the decision, and stepping aside keeps the employee out of a matter where their judgment could be questioned.

  • A is wrong: Voting against a relative is still taking part in the decision, and it substitutes the employee's private correction for the organization's judgment.
  • C is wrong: Being one of several does not remove the conflict, and silence prevents anyone else from managing it.
  • D is wrong: Leaving without explanation removes the employee from the room but leaves the conflict undisclosed and unrecorded.
Before the real one

Read next

The NYC Police Officer practice exams See what an exam costs