TEST PREP
A few tips for career advancement
Mike Petrillo, retired member of Belleville Local 28
and Director of Training for the Del Bagno School for
Police Testing, answers questions about how to prepare for promotion and pursue career advancement:
When and how do you know you’re ready for promotion?
I think one should start preparing as soon as you
MIKE
PETRILLO enter the police academy, however, if you’re a late
bloomer, start as soon as you are sworn in. This promotional process is highly competitive. The more you
study, the better your success. It’s not a pass-fail deal. You have to
beat your competition. That’s the name of the game.
Then, of course, there are departments that are Civil Service, and
in those departments, it’s up to the candidates to get a feel for the
type of the exam that has been used in the past. You can get that
information from other members of the agency, or contact a test
prep school that has been in the business for a long time.
How do you get started prepping for that first test and promotion?
Start reading Criminal Code 2C and the Attorney General Guidelines. You pretty much know they are going to be on your promotion
exam, especially if you are a Civil Service department. The Attorney
General Guidelines will be pretty much on any test.
What is a good timeline for moving up in the department?
I started one month after I was on the job. The reason for that was
that I was standing on a corner in Belleville with no seniority, freezing. I could only take a break for a half hour to have some dinner in
the department headquarters. When I went in one night, I asked the
lieutenant, “Who is that guy riding around in the car?” He told me it
was the sergeant. I said, “That’s what I want to be.” He handed me a
book, and I started to memorize it. It’s OK if you want to be a patrol
officer. But if you don’t want to be, you have to start soon. You can’t
learn all you have to learn to compete properly in a three-month
period. You have to study for years. I studied for five years for my
sergeant’s exam.
What did you learn along the way that helped you?
I would talk to other cops to see what they experienced. That
helped a great deal, mostly with what I should study. They would
give me some books. I was hungry for book-learning. I would talk to
them about the process. I would ask about Civil Service. Then, I
joined a test prep course.
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