MN POST study plan
MN POST · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Police operations and patrol procedures
Map the patrol function end-to-end: write a one-page flowchart of a call from dispatch to report clearance, naming each decision point
Recite from memory the sequence of officer-safety steps for a high-risk vehicle stop, then check yourself against your own written list
Draft a 10-item pre-shift checklist covering equipment, radio, and zone familiarization
Solve 30 patrol-procedure scenario questions and log every miss with a one-line reason
Your checkpoint
A one-page patrol-response flowchart plus an error log of at least 30 answered scenario questions
Police operations and patrol procedures & Criminal law and procedure
Compare and contrast the four common patrol response modes (routine, priority, emergency, silent) in a two-column table
Define the elements of the most commonly tested criminal offenses in your own words, one index card per offense
Explain out loud, in under 90 seconds, when reasonable suspicion escalates to probable cause
Answer 25 mixed patrol and criminal-law questions untimed, then re-answer the misses timed
Your checkpoint
A 20-card offense-elements deck plus a written reasonable-suspicion-to-probable-cause explanation
Criminal law and procedure
Sequence the stages of a lawful arrest, from initial contact through booking, and label the legal authority for each stage
Distinguish search-incident-to-arrest, consent, exigency, and inventory searches using a four-row comparison sheet
Draft a Miranda-application decision rule you can apply in under 10 seconds per scenario
Complete 40 criminal-procedure questions and score yourself, targeting 80% or better
Your checkpoint
A search-and-seizure comparison sheet plus a scored 40-question criminal-procedure set
Criminal law and procedure & Traffic law and traffic enforcement
Write out the elements and detection cues for the impaired-driving offense set you are responsible for
Order the phases of a standardized field-sobriety evaluation and rehearse the verbal instructions aloud three times
Identify the legal thresholds that trigger each stage of a DUI investigation, from reasonable suspicion to chemical test request
Answer 30 traffic-law questions and 20 criminal-procedure questions, then tabulate your per-domain accuracy
Your checkpoint
A written DUI-investigation phase sequence with the legal threshold annotated at each step
Traffic law and traffic enforcement
Build a one-page quick-reference of the traffic statutes you are most likely to be tested on, organized by violation type
Classify 25 traffic scenarios by violation category and cite the reasoning in one sentence each
Outline the required elements of a complete crash report and pre-fill a blank report with a hypothetical scenario
Time yourself on 50 traffic questions and complete them at exam pace, 60 seconds per question
Your checkpoint
A one-page traffic-statute quick-reference plus a completed practice crash report
Traffic law and traffic enforcement & Community relations, ethics, and professional conduct
Summarize the procedural requirements of a traffic stop from initiation to release in a five-step checklist
Define procedural justice and list the four elements you can name from memory, then match each to a patrol behavior
Analyze four ethics scenarios involving discretion, force, and reporting, and write a defensible course of action for each
Recite your agency's expectations for truthfulness in reports and testimony in a short written summary
Your checkpoint
Four written ethics-scenario analyses, each with a stated course of action and the principle it rests on
Community relations, ethics, and professional conduct & Police operations and patrol procedures
Identify the common community-policing models and describe one concrete patrol application of each
Practice de-escalation language by writing scripts for three high-tension contacts
Distinguish the ethical obligations that attach to use of force, pursuits, and discretionary arrests
Re-drill your weakest 20 questions from every prior week's error log
Your checkpoint
Three written de-escalation scripts plus a cleared error log showing every prior miss re-answered correctly
Police operations and patrol procedures & Criminal law and procedure & Traffic law and traffic enforcement & Community relations, ethics, and professional conduct
Complete two full-length timed practice exams under test-day conditions
Score each exam by domain and rank your four weakest sub-areas
Rewrite the ten facts you missed most often onto a single one-page review sheet
Simulate the final 48 hours: light review only, no new material, and confirm logistics
Your checkpoint
Two scored full-length practice exams with a per-domain score table and a one-page final review sheet
Milestones
Week 2: Can you explain reasonable suspicion versus probable cause without notes in under 90 seconds, and are at least 80% correct across all questions answered so far?
Week 4: Have you scored 80% or better on a 40-question criminal-procedure set and written the full DUI investigation sequence from memory?
Week 6: Have you completed at least 150 cumulative practice questions across all four domains with a logged error reason for every miss?
Week 8: Have you scored 80% or better on both timed full-length practice exams with no single domain below 70%?