The NJ correctional police officer exam

By NJ Civil Service Navigator Editorial Team · Updated July 12, 2026

New Jersey tests correctional police officer candidates through the Law Enforcement Examination. Here is the difference between the state and county titles, what the exam covers, and how the ranks progress.

New Jersey renamed these titles: what other states call a correction officer, New Jersey calls a Correctional Police Officer. The rename matters, because it reflects the fact that these are sworn law enforcement positions in the PFRS pension system, not custodial staff.

They are tested through the Law Enforcement Examination, the same cognitive battery used for municipal police, and not through the memorization-style corrections test that most corrections exam books are built around.

Before you buy a police exam book, read this. New Jersey does not give the traditional municipal police test that most mainstream police exam guides were written for. It gives the Law Enforcement Examination, which is built on the Law Enforcement Aptitude Battery. The LEAB tests cognitive ability, not memorized police procedure.

Two of its three parts, the Work Styles Questionnaire and the Life Experience Survey, cannot be studied from a book. They are not knowledge tests, and no guide will change your score on them. Only the Ability Test rewards preparation.

State and county are different employers

The state title sits with the Department of Corrections. The county title, County Correctional Police Officer, sits with individual county jails and is announced separately. They are different examinations for different employers, and being on one list does you no good on the other.

There is also a Correctional Police Officer Apprentice title, which is a distinct trainee entry point rather than a synonym for the full title.

The rank ladder

Above the officer rank the ladder runs through Senior Correctional Police Officer, Correctional Police Sergeant, Correctional Police Lieutenant, and Correctional Police Major. Promotional ranks are not tested with the LEAB. They sit their own promotional examinations, which is why the LEAB book on this page does not appear on those rank pages.

Titles this exam leads to

Study guides for this exam

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Law Enforcement Aptitude Battery (LEAB) (C-4759): Passbooks Study Guide (Career Examination Series) National Learning Corporation

The Civil Service Commission does not publish official study guides or release past tests. These are independent equivalency guides.

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