A Prep Guide for The U.S. Capitol Police Test

In the world of US law enforcement officers, there may be few positions more important than that of a capitol police officer. U.S. Capitol Police (USCP) officers are federal employees that are charged with the protection of those within the U.S. Capitol’s federal grounds including:

• Congress Members
• Employees
• Visitors
• Facilities
• Legislative Processes

The Capitol Police protect these places and people from general crimes and acts of terrorism, which means they need to be highly trained and suitable for the career.

U.S. Capitol Police Hiring Outline

The application and hiring process for a position as a U.S. Capitol Police officer is long and challenging. It can take up to six months to complete the entire process, which begins with an application submitted through USCP.gov, a criminal background check, and a credit check.

Here are the basic steps to the entire hiring process:

• You apply for the position.
• A background and credit check is completed.
• You are invited to take employment testing.
• You are given a conditional offer of employment.
• You must take employment conditional assessments (polygraph, medical, psychological).
• A full background investigation is completed.
• You attend an interview before a full panel.
• You are selected for training.

U.S. Capitol Police Pre-Employment Assessment – NPOST

The written exam utilized for assessing potential Capitol Police recruits is the National Police Officer Selection Test (NPOST). This test was created by Stanards and Associates and covers all the base level knowledge required for someone with the potential to excel as a Capitol Police Officer.

The exam is time and broken into four sections – arithmetic, reading comprehension, English grammar, and incident report writing – with each section being individually timed.

Arithmetic

The arithmetic (mathematics) section of the exam has 20 questions that must be completed in 20 minutes. Each question is presented as multiple-choice with only one correct answer. You will not be permitted to use a calculator, but you will be allowed access to at least one sheet of scrap paper and a pencil.

The math skills required for this section include:

• Addition
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division
• Fractions
• Averages
• Percentages

Reading Comprehension

The reading comprehension section of the exam contains 25 questions that must be completed in 25 minutes. The questions will be related to a series of short and long form passages. The reading of said passages is included in your 25 minutes, which leaves slower readers at a disadvantage.

Like the previous section, all questions are multiple-choice.

English Grammar

The grammar portion of the exam contains 20 questions that must be answered within 15 minutes. The goal of the grammar section is to evaluate your skills regarding word usage, punctuation, syntax, etc. This is done through a series of multiple choice questions.

The questions will either ask you to fill in the blank with the most appropriate word from a series of options, or ask you to identify which of a series of sentences contains a mistake.

Incident Report Writing

The incident report writing section of the NPOST is often considered one of the most difficult, especially for those with little to no experience in the subject.

This section requires you to provide your own answers, it is not multiple-choice. There are 10 questions total, which must be completed in 15 minutes.

Your answers must show that you can communicate in complete, grammatically accurate, properly spelled sentences. You must also show that you understand the provided, sample report by ensuring you have used it as guidance to answer the questions appropriately.

How to Prepare for the U.S. Capitol Police Exam – NPOST

Becoming one of the most prestigious officers in the United States is an amazing career goal that takes quite a bit of time and preparation to achieve. The best way to ensure that your pre-employment test doesn’t stand between you and your dream career is by properly studying.

JobAssessmentHelp knows the ins and outs of the NPOST and has a practice test bundle to help you get ready for your big day. From multiple practice tests and hundreds of unique questions, JobAssessmentHelp builds their practice bundles with a plethora of materials to help you actually learn the information instead of just memorizing the practice test.

So, if you are ready to put your best foot forward toward your dream goal of being a Capitol police officer, check out JobAssessmentHelp, today!