Auxiliary Police Written cheat sheet

Main idea = what the passage is mostly about; supporting details answer who, what, when, where, how much, and are verifiable inside the text.

Inference must follow necessarily from stated facts; if a conclusion needs outside knowledge, it is not supported by the passage.

Subject-verb agreement: singular subject takes singular verb; ignore prepositional phrases between them ("the box of reports is").

Collective nouns (team, unit, staff) take a singular verb when acting as one body, plural when members act individually.

Pronoun case: subject pronouns (I, he, she, they) for subjects; object pronouns (me, him, her, them) after prepositions and verbs.

Tense consistency: a report written in past tense keeps past tense unless a time shift is explicitly marked.

Parallel structure: items in a list or after "and" must share the same grammatical form (all nouns, all gerunds, all infinitives).

Dangling modifier: an introductory phrase must describe the subject of the main clause ("While on patrol, the officer saw...").

Comma rules: use commas for items in a series, after introductory clauses, and between independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction.

Incident report order: date/time, location, persons involved, narrative of what happened, action taken, evidence and witnesses, reporting officer.

Narrative uses chronological order and past tense; first person is acceptable but third person ("the officer") is preferred in formal reports.

Report only observed facts; label opinions, assumptions, and hearsay explicitly ("the witness stated that...").

Identify each person by full name, date of birth, and role (suspect, victim, witness) on first mention; use last name thereafter.

Quote statements verbatim in quotation marks; paraphrase without quotation marks and attribute the source.

Use precise numbers, times (24-hour clock), and addresses; avoid vague terms such as "late," "a while," or "several."

Active voice and short sentences reduce ambiguity: "I observed the vehicle" rather than "the vehicle was observed."

Never alter a report after submission; corrections are made through a dated supplemental report explaining the change.

Spelling and grammar errors undermine credibility; proofread names, badge numbers, and license plates character by character.

Observation priority: people first (face, build, clothing, distinguishing marks), then vehicles, then surroundings.

Vehicle recall: license plate, color, make/model, body style, damage, and direction of travel; plate is the highest-value detail.

Person description order: sex, race, approximate age, height, weight, hair, eyes, complexion, clothing top to bottom.

Chunking groups items into meaningful units (phone numbers as 3-3-4) to expand short-term memory capacity.

Short-term memory holds roughly 5-9 items for 15-30 seconds without rehearsal; rehearsal or writing preserves detail.

Spaced rehearsal: reviewing material at increasing intervals produces stronger long-term recall than one long session.

Mnemonic devices (acronyms, rhymes, linking stories) attach new facts to existing memory structures.

Weapon and hands check: in any encounter, observe hands and waistline first because they hold threats and evidence.

Stress narrows attention (tunnel vision); consciously scan left-right and near-far to counter it.

Cardinal directions: north is up on a standard map; turning right from north faces east, right again faces south, right again faces west.

Clock-face directions: 12 o'clock is ahead, 3 o'clock is right, 6 o'clock is behind, 9 o'clock is left.

Compass bearings are measured clockwise from north in degrees: east 90, south 180, west 270, north 360/0.

Reverse direction = add or subtract 180 degrees; a bearing of 45 becomes 225.

Relative turns: a left turn reverses a right turn; two consecutive right turns equal a 180-degree reversal.

Map scale: distance on map multiplied by the scale denominator gives ground distance (2 cm at 1:50,000 = 1 km).

Problem sensitivity: identify the core problem, separate facts from assumptions, list options, weigh consequences, choose and state the reason.

Escalation rule: when a situation poses immediate risk to life, request backup and emergency medical aid before administrative steps.

Priority rule: life safety outranks property protection, which outranks report completion and administrative detail.

Detail questions can be answered by locating a specific sentence; the correct answer restates it without changing meaning.

Inference questions ask what must be true given the passage; eliminate choices that are merely plausible or possible.

"Except" and "NOT" questions require finding the one choice that the passage does not support; three others must be supported.

Sequence questions depend on time markers (before, after, while, then, following); map them in order before answering.

Vocabulary in context: substitute each answer choice into the sentence and keep the one preserving the passage's meaning.

Vague pronouns: "he" or "they" with more than one possible referent must be replaced by the specific name or role.

Run-on sentences joined by commas must be split or joined with a semicolon or coordinating conjunction.

Misplaced modifiers place the modifying phrase next to the word it describes.

Numbers one through nine are typically spelled out; 10 and above use numerals, and times use numerals consistently.

Free recall first: let the witness describe the event without interruption, then ask focused follow-up questions.

Cognitive interview uses context reinstatement, reverse-order recall, and change of perspective to surface more detail.

Show-ups and lineups test recognition memory; confidence at the moment of identification does not guarantee accuracy.

Record descriptions immediately; memory decay is steepest in the first hours after an event.

Net displacement: track north-south and east-west components separately, then combine them for the final bearing and distance.

Shadow and sun cues: in the northern hemisphere the sun rises in the east and sets in the west; shadows point opposite the sun.

Grid coordinates read east (horizontal) first, then north (vertical), matching x-then-y convention.

If a subject moves away and then turns, sketch each leg of the route rather than calculating mentally.