CHESAPEAKE
Of the nearly 150 Chesapeake police officers who took tests for promotions to sergeant or lieutenant earlier this month, no women or blacks scored high enough to move forward in the promotion process, according to Chesapeake officials.
Now, Chesapeake will pay for a consultant to study the exam before deciding whether to throw out the tests.
"We want to resolve this as quickly as possible," said Nancy Horne, Chesapeake human resources administrator.
On Tuesday, human resources officials met with 60 officers who had taken the test Oct. 4. Horne said many were relieved to hear that the city had backed off its initial decision to void the test.
There were 108 officers who took the test for promotion to sergeant. The top 20 scorers were to move forward in the process. Eleven black men, nine white women and three black women took the test that day but didn't make the list.
There were 36 candidates who took the test for lieutenant. The top 10 scorers were to move forward. Four black men, three white women and two black women took that test but didn't make the list.
Human resources officials noticed that both lists lacked female and black candidates.
"It raised a concern for us," Horne said.
The City Council and top administrators were briefed on the situation Tuesday.
"Our hope is that the test will be validated so we can continue the process smoothly," said City Manager William Harrell.
This is not the first time the Chesapeake Police Department has had problems with its tests.
In 2007, the city settled a racial discrimination lawsuit from the U.S. Justice Department, which alleged that Chesapeake police used a math test that unfairly disqualified black and Hispanic officer applicants.
Between March 2001 and January 2006, Chesapeake required officer applicants to score 70 percent or higher on the math portion of an entrance exam. Just over 57 percent of black applicants passed, while nearly 89 percent of white applicants passed, a Justice Department review found.
The police changed their entrance-exam requirements after the Justice Department review.
The Oct. 4 promotion test was a multiple-choice exam that quizzed officers about such things as department policies and procedures, Virginia code, and local ordinances, city officials said.
For the first time, those taking the lieutenant exam had an open-book portion of the test. The candidates had an hour to do it. But a proctor toured the room 30 minutes into the test and discovered that a majority of the candidates were less than halfway through the test, city documents show.
The candidates were given an additional 20 minutes to finish. Some argued that the extra 20 minutes was unfair to those officers who finished the test on time.
Officers who say it was unfair can take it up with their chain of command, said Police Chief Kelvin Wright.
Wright promoted several captains to majors last month. The department also created a second deputy chief position.
He said he has one vacancy for lieutenant and two or three vacancies for sergeant.
Mike Saewitz, (757) 222-5207, mike.saewitz@pilotonline.com
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Tests(cont)
If an officer is black or female, they should get Diversity Points which are added to their test score. There's no other way, because if the police tests are made easier, there are even more white men threatening to pass (65 for sergeant, 17 for lieutenant).
test
The problem with these tests are, they're just designed around an officer's suitability to be sergeant or lieutenant. Whichever amateur came up with these questions had no respect for Human Resources and their employment targets.
I want to see an example of...
A gender biased/race biased question from these tests once the 'review' is completed. If tax payer money is going to be used we as the tax payers have that right. Then we can sit back and ask if it is a biased question or if this was a luck of the draw type of thing.
If My Memory Serves Me Correctly
Didn't the CPD, namely the Police Chief, just promote two black police officers to high ranking positions just a few months ago? It was a big deal with TV coverage and everything. I believe one was promoted to a Captain and the other was promoted to a Lieutenant. At the same time,a second Deputy Chief position was created, a position that never before existed! That one position alone will cost the city over $100,000 or more. Three new officers could have been hired for that money. So, was the promotion test that these two black officers took the same test that the new group couldn't pass? I didn't see any white officers being promoted from that test! What was the difference in these two tests? Should it take $50,000 to find out?
How did they know?
"(1) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for a respondent, in connection with the selection or referral of applicants or candidates for employment or promotion, to adjust the scores of, use different cutoff scores for, or otherwise alter the results of, employment related tests on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin."
This is a quote from section 106 of the Civil Rights Act. My question to the city is if race or sex can not be used in this manner how can you legally justify identifying the race and sex of those who made the cut?
I urge anyone who is as outraged about this as I to write, call, or e-mail the members of the Chesapeake City Council and voice those concerns. This will continue until we, as those who council must answer to, stand up and tell them THIS IS WRONG!
Within 10 years
Chesapeake will look like Portsmouth...
Insulted.
I would feel insulted if I was being told the test was too hard for me based on my race or sex! After all I went to the same schools as many of the other officers who scored higher.
What next? The NBA is racially biased towards non Blacks and the skill level should be lowered for more ethnicity in the NBA. Perhaps it has more to do with what you did with your time as a child in school and the participation of your parents in raising you with the mind set and skills to succeed in life.
Coffee
Coffee makes me nervous when I drink it
Idea
Give the test to the Chief of Police to see if he can pass it.
RE T.Smith
"Held to a higher ethical and moral standard" Are you serious?
The trickle effect
All of this dumbing down has already started in the public schools. Now the products of the public school system are trying to get something for nothing in the real world. They were taught that they didn't need to do any studying or hard work in school and now want the same treatment at their job. Its that whole "entitlement" mentality. This is just the beginning.
Police officers need training
Wouldnt this money be better spent in training of the officers that are not passing this test ? This is not a gender or race issue, the wrong flag is being raised here. Just like in school, if you want to pass the test it requires an understanding of the topics, the topics shouldnt change the knowledge base must be increased.
Let's see the test
Is it possible to see the test? Maybe just a few sample questions? Did the Pilot reporter write this little article without ever asking for an example of a "racial biased" question? I mean, come on people, a 5 yr old would have been more inquisitive!
Is this a "racial biased" question?
According to the English Golf Union, what category would a handicap of 15 be in:
a. Category 1
b. Category 3
c. Category 5
d. None - Handicapped people can't play golf
Or how 'bout this;
Calculate the circumference of a circle having a radius of 0.5 until there is no remainder or write the symbol often used to represent this number.
These are fun. I could go on all day making up racist questions.
Listen Up!
The folks who didn't make the list didn't fail the test. They just didn't score high enough. The test is not one just anybody can take as has been suggested. It is highly specialized & geared toward CPD promotions. The fine folks who took the test scored so well that the cut off was very high thus even an 86 scored by a white female was not high enough to make the list but also was not a "failure" by any standard. So how about you people stop flinging your filth 'kay? Especially since you have no idea what you are talking about in the first place.
Study why whites and other races score higher than others.
The study should be a research of why others advance and Blacks and females lack in scores. Maybe if we figure why whites and other races score higher we can determine what other minorities need to do to advance ie maybe (STUDY)? Why has become a racial issue. The test needs to be fair but not dumbed down for folks who cannot make the grade.
Word up on dumming it down-yo!
I think it's great that the city is going to spend 50K on figuring out if they should dumb down the test! Way to go!!! QUANTITY not QUALITY right?
I feel safe now.
Future of CPD
Mark my words....twenty five years from now white males will probably be the minority on the police department but you will not read an article like this or see the city even considering the same type of action when not enough of them "Pass the Test". If the officers do speak up they will be called racist and sexist...lets put another spin on this..are you telling me the white males are the master race (or sex) when it comes to math. This whole thing stinks!
RE: Test
Good job Virginia Pilot for putting a spin on the article that makes it sound bias. I notice one post earlier that hit the head on the nail. The article does not state clearly enough about the issue that all the minority males and females could have past the test they were just not in the top scores. Is this years test so different from the past test that it caused the current passing rate? I bet the city would rather spend the $50K now than spend 1 million in a law suit later.
Another question is how did minorities in the past pass the test and get promoted. I know I have witnessed male and female non-white supervisors patrolling the in the city. Stop looking for the "smoking gun" in the process when there does not seem to be one.
Here is a question that ought to be on a test for Chez officials
How many taxpayers does it take to equal $50,000?
Too hard? Okay then, here are some easier ones:
How many bullet proof vests does $50K buy?
How much gasoline can the police motorpool purchase for $50,000?
What does a police radio cost?
How many of those cool aluminum mag-lights does $50K get?
Personally I think the money would be better spent on a set of "Cool Hand Luke Man With No Eyes Mirrored Sunglasses" for everyone in the Police Department than a study with an oh so predictable conclusion.
T Smith
T Smith states "If the cities treated cops with respect and paid a fair wage, good (intelligent) cops would apply and stay. The cities reap what they sow."
T Smith, you leave out that the costs of living are differnet in cities like New York, California, etc. A buck doesn't buy as much there as it does here. Secondly, in cities like Norfolk, where NPD arrests people for lawful open carry. Ignorance of the law is no defense for me so it shouldn't be for a LEO. In Chesapeake there is an appearance of a coverup in CPD concerning the Ryan Fredrick case. There is also the appearance of LEO's that they are holier than thou. One has to question whether more pay is merited for these people when cops don't have respect for the citizens they serve. As for the exams, I thought they should be color blind and gender neutral. 5 + 5 is still 10 no matter what.