An assessment of the video assessment
Mike Petrillo, retired member of Belleville Local 28
and Director of Training for the Del Bagno School for
Police Testing, answers questions about the impact
of video assessment on promotion exams:
Why were the exams changed from a strictly
written test to include a video assessment?
Candidates grieved about the process to the
MIKE
PETRILLO federal government. They put forth the argument
that written tests alone do not properly measure the
competence of a good police officer. And I have to
agree with that. I served in the ranks from sergeant all the way up to
chief and I can empathize. The addition of assessment takes in the
factor of performance into evaluation.
How does it do that?
Civil Service presents scenarios based on critical incidents,
employee interviews, problem employee situations, citizen complaints and every kind of activity that is job-related. There might be
a short video of an activity. They stop it and a candidate is asked to
respond.
How do they keep the video assessment from being scored
subjectively?
There is a certain amount of subjectivity involved. If it’s done
properly, subjectivity will be deleted through the process of Overall
Ratings. They are scored by more than one person. Following the
response, they are critiqued by assessors. There should be multiple
assessors, which will take out the subjectivity because there has to
be a consensus on the score to give.
How do candidates prepare for the assessment part?
There’s a peculiarity in the assessment process. You can know
what’s going to be on your test. You can know the scenarios. But it
will not help you unless you know how to respond. The scenarios
are peripherally based, meaning one can peripherally cover aspects
of constitutional law, management supervisory principles, criminal
code and more. So the trick is that you have to have someone to prepare you in all those areas and all those categories. It’s combining all
your career experience; not just knowing the material and knowing
how to respond.
How can candidates learn how to respond to get the best
possible score?
At the Del Bagno School of Police Testing, we present the criminal
law, constitutional law, management, community relations – every
aspect that could be tested. The reason students come to us is
because we have books with hundreds of scenarios and responses
covering all the categories Civil Service tests. When a student learns
to respond to a scenario, they usually learn one or two responses.
We give them up to 20. That’s how we prepare them. We equip candidates to be successful leaders and not just recite answers to multiple-choice questions. d
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MARCH 2015
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