TEST PREP
Is your promotional process
wasting officers’ time?
Today’s supervisor plays a critical role in protect-
ing your agency and its officers from lawsuits. It is
their job to ensure that officers are acting in accor-
dance with policy, reports reflect proper actions, all
elements of criminal activity are documented and
officers continue to be highly trained. To be done
correctly, agencies must have a promotional pro-
cess that allows officers to develop themselves ap-
JAMES
propriately. Promotional processes are the one time
HARRIS
that many officers are highly motivated to seek out
courses that will help their development in these
critical areas.
These courses utilize their time to get fully updated in arrest,
search and seizure. They prepare by relearning and analyzing
criminal law from the perspective of the reviewer of actions. All
too often, officers say they don’t need these skills because they
can “look it up in the book back at the station.” This mentality is
the reason that false arrest claims are being processed, improper
search arguments are upheld, agencies across the country are be-
ing sued and officers are being disciplined or fired.
The testing world has seen a dramatic change in the quality
of police promotional exams being designed. Companies have
been structuring these exams to be more realistic. The questions
presented have become more reflective of the position. Although
this change is visibly noticeable in the profession, many agencies
continue to have outdated policies and processes.
Many administrators are focused on “beating the test prep
companies” rather than on the personal development of their of-
ficers. They often select reading materials that are obscure and
have little to do with the position being tested for. Others select
too many resources and do not allow enough time for officers to
read, study, learn and be able to apply the concepts contained
within the material. These common errors do not allow for the
proper development of your supervisory staff and create a “sink-
or-swim” situation. With lawsuits over failure to supervise, as well
as internal lawsuits from officers dealing with improper promo-
tional processes and selection, one would think that our profes-
sion would have evolved to recognize this problem.
Agency leadership should take proactive steps to ensure that
their promotional process reflects the quality supervision they
want in their future leaders. First, review your testing process in
policy or ordinance. Procedures should allow for proper notifica-
tion to officers that a test will be forthcoming. Procedures should
allow for some or all of the following: a written test that examines
an officer’s basic job knowledge for the position; an oral board
that will gauge the important quality of an officer’s basic commu-
nication skills; an assessment center to test the skill sets of orga-
nization, direction and judgment; and lastly, seniority to reflect
the importance of experience in the field.
Many agencies include other factors into their final ranking.
Items such as discipline may be appropriate to include. Set dis-
ciplinary actions that reduce scores may or may not be appro-
priate. This type of action should be set in writing and have time
limitations to ensure that officers are not penalized now for mi-
nor infractions that occurred many years prior.
Educational incentives formally imply that your agency values
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NEW JERSEY COPS
■ NOVEMBER 2018
formal education as a segment of the overall development of your
staff. However, be sure that all officers have equal opportunity to
achieve these points through educational incentives built into
collective bargaining agreements. Peer ranking, internal inter-
views and other subjective materials are usually the most contro-
versial of all promotional segments. This area is usually perceived
as improper upon internal and external scrutiny.
The second step of a quality testing process is to ensure that
the testing resources are up-to-date. Resources should reflect the
most current practices and theories of our profession. Reading
material must be reflective of the philosophy of your agency. Se-
lection of resources from a list without a staff review should be
avoided. Select key materials that reflect your agency’s philoso-
phy and can be learned and applied within the time frame pro-
vided between the announcement and date of the exam.
Next, hire a third-party company that will provide an examina-
tion that is truly reflective of the job for which you are promot-
ing. Questions should be based on facts necessary to gauge basic
knowledge to make sound technical decisions in the supervisory
role. Questions should test knowledge in current trending areas
that pose challenges to our officers. In addition, be sure they
avoid testing obscure facts. These lead to an improper gauge of
basic knowledge and lower candidate scores. Current litigation
may now call into question the passing score of the candidates
on these written examinations. These cases are difficult to defend
when a supervisor gets promoted but had a test score below 70
percent on an exam that tests basic supervisory knowledge.
Oral boards need to gauge the ability to apply knowledge
learned during scenario-based situations. Since basic core
knowledge was already examined through written exams, scenar-
io-based questioning will provide an opportunity for candidates
to demonstrate their abilities in leadership, control, delegation,
coordination, judgment and decision-making. Utilize this time
effectively by examining the candidate’s ability to work through
complex issues and problems that are common situations facing
your agency.
Conducting a promotional process that is fair and objective is
the key to furthering our profession. Through this, we can prop-
erly identify future leaders that are best qualified for the position.
Proper preparation time will permit your officers to learn and
be able to apply the knowledge being learned. Professional as-
sistance with their preparation allows officers to personally and
professionally develop. Changes such as these will continue to
transform law enforcement toward a more professional image
and bring our agencies and profession to the next level of excel-
lence.
Jim Harris is the president/CEO of the J. Harris Academy of Police
Training, whose primary focus is assisting officers in their prepa-
ration for upcoming promotional examinations, with a secondary
focus on providing officers and agencies with in-service and other
specialty classes. The Academy is based in New Jersey, with services
available nationwide. Harris is a captain with the Toms River Po-
lice Department, and an FBI National Academy graduate.