A Full Guide on How to Pass Suffolk County Police Exam

The Suffolk County Police Exam is a cognitive and personality test designed to assess if you have what it takes to become a police officer.

It opens once every four years.

A job as a police officer can be incredibly challenging. However, as a career, it can also be incredibly rewarding.

While Suffolk County may have one of the largest police forces in the US, becoming an officer with them is not an easy process.

One of the entry requirements is the EB Jacobs LEAB (Law Enforcement Aptitude Battery) Test, more commonly known as the Suffolk County Police test.

This test is highly competitive and has several different sections. If you hope to make it as a Suffolk County Police Officer, you will need to prepare, especially if you have never completed an aptitude and personality test before.

Throughout this article, you will learn the format and details of the test, work through example questions and read about the best ways to prepare.

What Is the Suffolk County Police Test?

The Suffolk County Police Department exam is for those wanting to join or progress through the police force in:

• Huntington
• Babylon
• East Hampton
• Southampton
• Shelter Island
• Islip
• Brookhaven
• Riverhead
• Smithtown
• Southold

It is a highly reputable police force with seven precincts and nine additional specialized units including hate crimes, identity theft and emergency services.

For those starting their police career, the exam will allow you to become a police officer or detective. For those already in the force, the test is a pathway to becoming a sergeant or lieutenant.

The goal of the test is to determine your ability to work as a police officer by assessing your skills, personality, behavior and background information.

While the recruitment process may fall in line with the industry standards, roles for Suffolk County only open once every four years.

This means if you miss or fail the 2024 Suffolk County Police Exam, you will have to wait four years to apply again.

You also need to meet the Suffolk County Police Exam list of minimum requirements before you can apply.

These are:

Age

You need to be aged between 19 and 34. Those under 21 who pass the test will have to wait until their 21st birthday to be appointed a role.

If you take the test at age 19, you’ll have to wait two years before you can start work. But if you fail, you will then have another chance four years later.

For those 35 and over, you cannot take the test unless you have performed active military duty. In this case, you are allowed to deduct a year off your age for every year you served (for a maximum of six years).

Education

Suffolk County requires all candidates to have a high school diploma.

Residency

You must be a US citizen and a resident of Suffolk County, Nassau County or New York City.

Licenses

To work as a Suffolk County Police Officer you must have a valid New York State driver's license. However, you do not need one to take the Suffolk County PD exam.

Suffolk County Police Exam 2024

You can apply for the 2024 police exam using this link.

There is also a fee of $125 you will need to pay at the time of your application unless you fall into one of the following categories:

• Veteran
• Members of the local fire district or any local ambulance service
• Unemployed
• Serving in the auxiliary police
• Volunteer CERT members
• Those who receive public assistance or Medicaid

The Suffolk County Police Department Exam Format

The Suffolk County Police Department exam can be taken online or with a pen and paper. Since Covid, the online version has become more popular, but do factor in the possibility you might have to complete the paper version.

The exam takes two and a half hours to complete and is split into three sections:

• The Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT)
• Work Styles Questionnaire (WSQ)
• Life Experience Survey (LES)

All questions are multiple-choice and portray scenarios you are likely to face while on duty.

The Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT)

The cognitive Suffolk County Sheriff exam consists of around 48 questions based on several short passages. You should aim to finish within one hour and 30 minutes.

It has six separate sections measuring:

• Written expression – How well you communicate through writing
• Written comprehension – How well you understand and draw conclusions from different forms of written communication
• Problem sensitivity – How well you identify (potential) problematic situations and respond accordingly. These questions involve picking the witness statement that contradicts the majority and finding the most problematic way to respond to a situation.
• Deductive reasoning – How well you use general rules and laws in specific situations
• Inductive reasoning – How well you draw conclusions from similar situations using the same laws. These questions involve you deciding what crimes a defendant is accused of committing.
• Information ordering – How well you can work through and reorganize information into a logical order

Work Styles Questionnaire (WSQ)

This part of the Suffolk County Police psychological exam is essentially a personality test and assesses your:

• Career and work goals
• Teamwork skills
• Leadership skills
• Self-awareness
• Reaction to negative remarks
• Decision-making skills

There are between 74 and 102 statements and you will have to decide how much you agree or disagree with them. You should allocate about 15 minutes to this section.

Life Experience Survey (LES)

Consisting of 47 to 96 questions, the last section of the Suffolk County Police Exam 2024 assesses your work ethic and community involvement.

You will need to choose the answers that best describe your past experiences and the lessons you learned from them.

It should take you no more than 20 minutes to complete.

Suffolk County Police Exam Practice Questions

The following Suffolk County Police Exam practice questions are designed to help you understand the format of the questions. They are not past questions, nor are they likely to appear on your Suffolk Sheriff exam.

Suffolk County Police Exam Scoring

Each section of the Suffolk County Police test is scored separately. Those scores are then combined to give the overall test result.

The minimum score to pass is 70, but you want to score as high as possible as there will be thousands of candidates and only limited spaces.

You have to answer all the questions in the Work Styles Questionnaire (WSQ) and the Life Experience Survey (LES).

Any missed questions will result in disqualification. Any missed Cognitive Abilities Test (CAT) questions will count as incorrect.

You cannot retake the Suffolk Sheriff exam.

Preparing for the Suffolk County Police Test

Preparing for the Suffolk County Deputy Sheriff exam is essential. Only those with the best score over 70 will make it through to the next stage so you want to give yourself the best chance possible.

Understand the Test Format and Purpose

Knowing how long you have for each section and what you are expected to do with each question type takes away a lot of confusion and anxiety.

You only have two and a half hours to answer a lot of questions. Spending time trying to figure out what the question type is asking is a waste and might cost you marks.

Knowing the exact location of the test, whether it will be online or with a pen and paper and the arrival/registration process will also save you a lot of stress.

Take Online Practice Tests

Completing Suffolk County Police Exam practice questions is the best way to prepare for your exam.

There are lots of free websites that offer different cognitive and personality tests for you to work through. Take advantage of these and complete as many as you can.

If you want any additional support, several websites offer paid preparation packs that take you through the test process and offer lots of practice questions with solutions.

When working through practice tests, start with no time restrictions. As you become more confident, start adding time limits until you can complete the entire test in two and a half hours.

Create a Study Schedule

The Suffolk County Police Sergeant exam has a lot of different sections. Create a study schedule that allows you to practice one skill at a time.

Knowing your strengths and weaknesses will also help you create an effective study guide. If you know you need to develop any math or reading skills, assign more time to those areas.

Read a Lot

Reading is a great way to keep your brain active. Not only does it develop your vocabulary, grammar and reading skills, but it helps develop critical thinking, memory and attention span.

Understand Your Personality

The Work Styles Questionnaire and Life Experience Survey both assess how well your personality suits being a police officer in Suffolk County.

While you should never lie on these tests, understanding what traits they are looking for and preparing for personality tests can help.

While working through your Suffolk County Police Exam prep, read through the job description and make a list of all the personality traits and responsibilities.

After that, work through the list assessing if you think you have those skills or traits and make a note of any examples or experiences you have that support these.

If you are unsure or want a second opinion, ask your friends and family for their thoughts and see what examples they give.

If there are any skills or traits you are missing, make a conscious effort to develop them in your daily life.

When Taking the Suffolk County Police Exam

No matter how much you prepare, there is always a chance nerves will get in the way of your confidence.

While taking the Suffolk County Police Exam remember to:

• Read questions carefully – You don’t want to assume what the question is asking as it might cost you marks. Take that extra second to understand the task you need to complete.
• Focus only on relevant data – Don’t read too much into a question and spend ages analyzing the answers. Most of the answers are a “best fit”, not the exact fit.
• Be truthful – Personality questions are asked in such a way that any lies will be found out. So be honest.
• Stay on top of the time – From your preparation, you’ll know roughly how long you have to spend on each question. Keep your watch nearby so you can keep track. If you finish before the time limit, go back through and check your answers.
• Answer all questions – If you miss any questions on the personality tests you will be disqualified, so be thorough and check you have completed all the questions.
• Ask for clarification – If there are any written or verbal instructions you don’t understand, ask the test proctor to clarify.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

The Suffolk County Police Exam is one of the most challenging police exams as it is only administered once every four years and receives thousands of applicants.

You can’t retake the test and you need a score of 70 or more to make it through to the next stages.

If you are serious about a career as a police officer, take the time to assess your strengths and weaknesses and measure them against the job description and responsibilities.

Make time to develop your cognitive skills and complete as many practice questions as possible.