Richard Malthouse - Written Exercises for the Police Recruit Assessment Process

Richard Malthouse
Jodi Roffey-Barentsen

The authors would like to thank the following for their assistance with this book: Peter Kennard, Chrissie Coles, Dimitri Agejev, Dino Gomez and Emma Walkerdine.

First published in 2009 by Learning Matters Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Learning Matters.

2009 Richard Malthouse and Jodi Roffey-Barentsen

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.

All characters, organisations and places mentioned in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, organisations or places, is purely coincidental.

ISBN: 978 1 84445 266 8

The rights of Richard Malthouse and Jodi Roffey-Barentsen to be identified as the Authors of this Work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Cover design by Topics The Creative Partnership
Text design by Code 5 Design Associates Ltd.
Project management by Diana Chambers
Typeset by Kelly Gray
Printed and bound in Great Britain by TJ International Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall

Learning Matters Ltd
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Exeter EX1 1NX
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The written exercises are an important part of the Police and PCSO recruitment process and appear to be something that candidates are quite concerned about. This may be because most people now use a computer or mobile phone to communicate with each other, rather than the more traditional paper and pen. As a result, some of the skills associated with the ability to write a memo, proposal or formal letter are not practised regularly. The thought of putting pen to paper without the benefit of spell-check (the F7 key) can be a challenging proposition for some. In addition, many have come to rely on those red and green squiggly lines highlighting spelling errors or poor grammar and making suggested changes to documents without perhaps stopping to think about what they have done incorrectly. Further, if you find that you cant think of a particular word, the combination of the Shift and F7 keys takes you to a thesaurus from which you can choose an appropriate word from a carefully selected list. You are no longer expected to think entirely for yourself and there is a tendency to take this technological wizardry for granted. That is, until the computer is no longer available and you realise that, without these support structures, the task of writing can be quite daunting. This is compounded during the assessment process, as it is coupled with the fear of making a mistake, in the knowledge that you are being tested. As a result, the process of written communication within the assessment centre can be a cause of anxiety for many.

This book is written to reduce that anxiety. It concentrates on just the written exercises and consists of three parts.

You will be assessed against competencies that are relevant to the role of a police officer. What is a competency? A competency is a statement of how something should be done or performed. For example, Supports arguments and recommendations effectively in writing. It is observable and measurable and can be achieved by ensuring you reflect the advice provided within this book.

When your written work is assessed, consideration will be given to what you have written and how you have written it. The assessors will consider your written work in relation to the seven core competencies. A list of the competencies is shown below with a brief explanation of each (Cox, 2007).