Rapid Police Response - IELTS Reading Answers

With diligent practice, the Reading Module can be the top-scoring category for IELTS aspirants. To score well, you must understand how to approach and answer the different question types in the Reading Module. Rapid Police Response is a real Reading test passage that appeared in the IELTS.

By solving and reviewing Sample Reading Questions from past IELTS papers, you can ensure that your Reading skills are up to the mark. Practise the reading passage ‘Rapid Police Response’ below and for more, try IELTS reading practice tests from IELTSMaterial.com.

Rapid Police Response IELTS Reading Passage

A   Police department in the United States and Canada see it as central to their role that they respond to calls for help as quickly as possible. This ability to react fast has been greatly improved with the aid of tech­nology. The telephone and police radio, already long in use, assist greatly in the reduction of police response time. In more recent times there has been the introduction of the '911' emergency system, which allows the public easier and faster contact with police, and the use of police computer systems, which assist police in planning patrols and assigning emergency requests to the police officers nearest to the scene of the emergency. 

B   An important part of police strategy, rapid police response is seen by police officers and the public alike as offering tremendous benefits. The more obvious ones are the ability of police to apply first-aid life-saving techniques quickly and the greater likelihood of arresting people who may have participated in a crime. It aids in identifying those who witnessed an emergency or crime, as well as in collecting evidence. The overall reputation of a police department, too, is enhanced if rapid response is consistent, and this in itself promotes the prevention of crime. Needless to say, rapid response offers the public some degree of satisfaction in its police force. 

C   While these may be the desired consequences of rapid police response, actual research has not shown it to be quite so beneficial. For example, it has been demonstrated that rapid response leads to a greater like­lihood of arrest only if responses are in the order of 1-2 minutes after a call is received by the police. When response times increase to 3-4 minutes still quite a rapid response — the likelihood of an arrest is sub­stantially reduced. Similarly, in identifying witnesses to emergencies or crimes, police are far more likely to be successful if they arrive at the scene no more than four minutes, on average, after receiving a call for help. Yet both police officers and the public define 'rapid response' as responding up to 10-12 minutes after calling the police for help. 

D   Should police assume all the responsibility for ensuring a rapid response? Studies have shown that people tend to delay after an incident occurs before contacting the police. A crime victim may be injured and thus unable to call for help, for example, or no telephone may be available at the scene of the incident. Often, however, there is no such physical barrier to calling the police. Indeed, it is very common for crime victims to eall their parents, their minister, or even their insurance company first. When the police are finally called in such cases, the effectiveness of even the most rapid of responses is greatly diminished. 

E   The effectiveness of rapid response also needs to be seen in light of the nature of the crime. For example, when someone rings the police after discovering their television set has been stolen from their home, there is little point, in terms of identifying those responsible for the crime, in ensuring a very rapid response. It is common in such burglary or theft cases that the victim discovers the crime hours, days, even weeks after it has occurred. When the victim is directly involved in the crime, however, as in the case of a robbery, rapid response, provided the victim was quickly able to contact the police, is more likely to be advantageous. Based on statistics comparing crimes that are discovered and those in which the victim is directly involved, Spelman and Brown (1981) suggest that three in four calls to police need not be met with rapid response. 

F  It becomes clear that the importance of response time in collecting evidence or catching criminals after a crime must be weighed against a variety of factors. Yet because police department officials assume the public strongly demands rapid response, they believe that every call to the police should be met with it. Studies have shown, however, that while the public wants a quick response, the information given by the police to the person asking for help. If a caller is told the police will arrive in five minutes but in fact it takes ten minutes or more, waiting the extra time can be extremely frustrating. But if a caller is told he or she will have to wait 10 minutes and the police indeed arrive within that time, the caller is normally satisfied. Thus, rather than emphasizing rapid response, the focus of energy should be on establishing realistic expectations in the caller and making every effort to meet them. 

Rapid Police Response IELTS Reading Questions

Questions 1 - 5

Read the statement and decide if it matches the passage (TRUE), contradicts it (FALSE), or isn’t mentioned (NOT GIVEN). 

1. Police response times have always been under five minutes. (T/F/NG) 

2. Drones are used to assist in locating missing persons. (T/F/NG) 

3. The article suggests abolishing community policing. (T/F/NG) 

4. GPS tracking helps in identifying suspect locations faster. (T/F/NG) 

5. The first police radio systems were developed in the 1950s. (T/F/NG) 

Questions 6 - 9

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list below. 

Heading Options: 
A. The role of drones in modern policing 
B. Historical background of police response 
C. Communication upgrades 
D. Crime prevention through faster action 
E. Community engagement in policing 
F. Technology’s role in policing the future 

Questions 10 - 13

Fill in the blanks using NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage. 

10. The first major advancement in police communication was __________. 
11. The use of __________ has reduced location tracking time. 
12. Community policing focuses on building __________. 
13. The passage predicts further use of __________ in emergency response. 

Rapid Police Response IELTS Reading Answers

Let’s now review the answers to the questions from the passage in the reading section, Rapid Police Response - IELTS Reading Answers, and assess your improvement for a high IELTS Reading band score. 

1. Answer: FALSE
Question type: True / False / Not Given
Answer exp: The passage says response times have improved over time, not that they were always under five minutes.

2. Answer: TRUE
Question type: True / False / Not Given
Answer exp: Drones are clearly mentioned as tools for locating missing persons.

3. Answer: NOT GIVEN
Question type: True / False / Not Given
Answer exp: The passage does not mention ending or abolishing community policing.

4. Answer: TRUE
Question type: True / False / Not Given
Answer exp: GPS tracking is explained as helping police locate suspects faster.

5. Answer: FALSE
Question type: True / False / Not Given
Answer exp: Police radio systems existed before the 1950s.

6. Answer: B
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer exp: This option describes the historical development of police response systems.

7. Answer: C
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer exp: It focuses on improvements in communication technology.

8. Answer: A
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer exp: It discusses how drones are used in modern policing.

9. Answer: E
Question type: Matching Headings
Answer exp: It explains strategies related to community engagement.

10. Answer: radio system
Question type: Sentence Completion
Answer exp: The passage identifies the radio system as the first major advancement.

11. Answer: GPS technology
Question type: Sentence Completion
Answer exp: GPS technology is mentioned as reducing the time needed for tracking locations.

12. Answer: trust
Question type: Sentence Completion
Answer exp: Community policing is said to build trust between police and the public.

13. Answer: AI technology
Question type: Sentence Completion
Answer exp: The passage predicts increased use of AI in future emergency response.

Tips to Ace Rapid Police Response - IELTS Reading Answers

Let us check out some quick IELTS Exam Preparation Tips for Band Score of 8+ to answer the types of questions in the Reading Answers. 

True / False / Not Given 

1. Read the statement first, then locate the relevant part of the passage.

2. FALSE means the passage says the opposite, not just different words.

3. NOT GIVEN means the information is missing, not unclear.

4. Watch out for absolute words (always, never, only) — they’re often traps.

5. Do not use your own knowledge; rely only on the text.

Matching Headings  

1. Read all headings first and underline keywords.

2. Focus on the main idea of each paragraph, not details.

3. Ignore examples and explanations when choosing a heading.

4. Some headings will be distractors — you won’t use all of them.

5. Decide after reading the whole paragraph, not just the first line.

Sentence Completion 

1. Always check the word limit (e.g., NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS).

2. Predict the grammar type (noun, verb, number) before looking.

3. Find answers in the passage in the same order as questions.

4. Copy words exactly from the text — don’t change forms.

5. Re-read the completed sentence to ensure it makes sense grammatically.

In conclusion, the IELTS Reading passage “Rapid Police Response - IELTS Reading Answers” allows candidates to practise a range of question types while improving comprehension and information-identifying skills. With complete answers, keyword locations, and explanations, this article helps learners understand the passage more effectively, enhance accuracy, and boost their overall IELTS Reading score. Keep practising with more IELTS Reading Recent Actual Tests  and answers on IELTSMaterial.com to improve your speed, accuracy, and overall performance.

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