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US Security Guard License Exams (Florida Class D, New York, California, Texas)

Observation and reports: practice questions

Our US Security Guard bank has 12 questions on this topic. Here are 5 of them with answers; the full mock exam draws from every topic, like the real one.

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Question 1

A daily activity log kept by a guard is used to:

  1. Record only crimes that were reported to police
  2. Record the guard's personal opinions about the client's staff and visitors
  3. Replace the need to write separate incident reports for serious events
  4. Record in time order the events and checks made during the shift
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D. Record in time order the events and checks made during the shift — Shift or daily logs record routine activity and events in time order. Incidents still need a separate, detailed incident report.

Question 2

Factors that can affect how accurately a guard observes an event include:

  1. Only the guard's years of experience
  2. Only the type and color of uniform the guard is wearing
  3. Lighting, distance, stress and duration
  4. Only the time of year and the day of the week
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C. Lighting, distance, stress and duration — Observation depends on conditions such as lighting, distance, weather, the observer's stress and fatigue, and how long they saw the event.

Question 3

In a written report, a suspect should be referred to as:

  1. "The thief", if the guard is sure
  2. "The criminal", to show the reader how serious the incident was
  3. "The offender", because that is the correct legal term in reports
  4. "The suspect" or by name, without words that assume guilt
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D. "The suspect" or by name, without words that assume guilt — A person is innocent until proven guilty. Words like criminal, robber or burglar imply guilt; use the name, 'the person' or 'the suspect'.

Question 4

An incident report should answer which questions?

  1. Only who and what
  2. Who, what, when, where, why and how
  3. Only what the guard thinks should happen next
  4. Only when the guard's shift started and ended
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B. Who, what, when, where, why and how — Good reports cover who, what, when, where, why and how, and include the names and contact details of witnesses.

Question 5

A guard made a mistake in a handwritten report. The proper fix is to:

  1. Use correction fluid so the report looks clean
  2. Tear out the page and start again without telling anyone about the change
  3. Draw a single line through it, write the correction and initial it
  4. Leave the mistake in place, since small errors in reports do not matter
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C. Draw a single line through it, write the correction and initial it — Reports may be used in court. Corrections should be visible and initialed so that nobody can claim the report was altered.

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