Police and corrections promotional exams

Promotion in New Jersey law enforcement runs through Civil Service, and the promotional examination is a different animal from the entry exam.

The most important thing to know: promotional ranks are not tested with the LEAB. The entry-level cognitive battery does not appear on this page, and a candidate for sergeant should not be studying it.

How promotional exams differ

A promotional exam assumes you already do the job below the one you are testing for. It is far more concerned with supervision, command judgment, department policy, and the law as it is actually applied than with raw aptitude. Seniority typically carries weight in the final score alongside the written result.

Eligibility is usually restricted to people already serving in the feeder title, often with a minimum time in grade. You cannot generally test into a rank from outside the department.

Where study material exists, and where it does not

We attach a rank-specific study guide only where one genuinely exists for that rank. Some ranks have no equivalent book at all, and we would rather say so than point you at something written for a different job.

Notably there is no exact study guide for the New Jersey Police Sergeant title. The available books are written for other states' sergeant examinations, and we have not placed them here. The same is true of Correctional Police Major, which has no equivalent guide.

Promotional ranks

Related: The New Jersey Law Enforcement Examination · The NJ correctional police officer exam · The New Jersey firefighter exam · All New Jersey public safety exams