When you are applying for a job in law enforcement, you will be faced with Situational Judgment questions, either on the written exam or during the interview. The questions will ask you to view a scenario and then rate certain responses from very ineffective to very effective over a 5 or 7-point scale. It is not easy for the unprepared test taker to choose the correct answer from 5 to 7 choices.
There are seven measures of ATTITUDE that are critical to master in order to do well on these Situational Judgment Tests.
Decision Making Skills
Communications Skills
Use of Power and Authority
Integrity and Professionalism
Sensitivity to the Team
Openness & Flexibility
Service Orientation
These inclinations are easy to list, but sometimes difficult to put into practice. In this article, I will discuss Integrity and Professionalism.
What is Integrity and Professionalism?
The definition of Integrity is, “Integrity is a person's commitment to honesty, ethics, and doing the right thing, even when faced with challenges or temptations.”
As an applicant to becoming a police officer, you hear the phrase Integrity and Professionalism frequently used to describe desirable traits. But it’s not always easy to put these into action. An easy way for you to think about Integrity and Professionalism, is to ask yourself, “Will my Acton Make the Agency Proud?”
Here are some examples that display high Integrity and Professionalism.
You are having lunch at a cafe and a citizen comes over and praises the work you do in law enforcement and offers to pay for your lunch. Taking favors from citizens is never a good idea as you don’t want to put yourself into some future compromising situation. High professionalism means turning this offer down.
You are tasked by your supervisor with clearing an area of protesters. Ordering the folks to leave may be effective but does not give your agency the good look it deserves. Offering some guidance as to alternatives for the citizens in question is a good display of professionalism.
You are giving a ticket to a driver who violated a recently installed crosswalk light. The driver lives in the neighborhood and does not understand why the new signal was installed. A professional response will offer some background and explanation to the citizen indicating that the city is working hard to make everyone safer.
Your agency allows officers to keep their patrol cars over the weekend. But the rule is that the car cannot be used for personal trips. Since no one will know, you decide to take the car to the grocery store, perhaps to save fuel in your private auto. This would be an example of “lack of integrity.”
Learn How to Ace the Situational Judgment Test
Sgt. Godoy’s Test Prep Course for Situational Judgment Tests
Notice that evaluating a response using only one criteria, like Communications Skill, is not enough to answer Situational Judgment questions with 5 to 7 choices.
Most of my Police Test Prep courses include a video tutorial on how to ace the Situational Judgment Test. Alternatively, you can purchase this lesson on an à la carte basis by clicking on this image.