34.1.1 A written directive defines the agency’s role in the promotion process for sworn personnel.

Commentary: The law enforcement agency may rely upon a state or local civil service commission or other public or private external organization to administer or provide one or more elements of the process in accordance with legal, professional, and administrative requirements. Where a centralized personnel agency exists, the directive should govern the responsibilities retained by the law enforcement agency’s chief executive officer for the promotion of personnel. The agency should have a role in the development of the measurement instruments that are used in determining the skills, knowledge, and abilities of employees for positions.

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34.1.2 A written directive vests in an identifiable position the authority and responsibility for administering the agency’s role in the promotion process for sworn personnel.

Commentary: Although the written directive should identify a position responsible for the administration of the promotion process, a specific person may be designated. The person identified as the administrator of the process should have the authority to manage effectively its operation and direction. If responsibility is shared with or vested in another agency, e.g., a centralized personnel department or a civil service commission, the law enforcement agency should perform appropriate liaison activities to carry out the process. Even when authority is shared, the law enforcement agency should maintain the primary responsibility for certain key activities, such as oral interviews, promotions, and administration of all employees’ probationary periods.

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34.1.3 A written directive describes the procedures used for each element of the promotion process, for sworn personnel including those for:

Commentary: The directive should describe all elements and procedures used in each promotional process and may be incorporated within a comprehensive personnel management or general policy and procedures manual.

Promotion potential ratings may replace or supplement on-the-job performance evaluations and may be used to determine an employee’s initial eligibility for promotion or for ranking candidates on a list. Written examinations (including answer keys, cut-off scores, passing points, and/or numerical rankings) may be administered for each classification, position, or rank. Promotional criteria for lateral entry may include both eligibility qualifications and formal procedures for carrying out the process. Oral interviews should include uniform questions and rating scales and assess a defined set of personal attributes; the interview results should be recorded on a standardized form.

The right of candidates to review and challenge all aspects of the promotion process is an integral part of the process itself. Candidates should be allowed to review and appeal all scores and evaluations related to their performance in the process to ensure fairness and impartiality. The administrative review and appeal process may be conducted by individuals from within and outside the agency. An impartial review and appeal process should reduce or eliminate litigations.

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34.1.4 All elements used to evaluate candidates for sworn personnel for promotion are job-related and nondiscriminatory.

Commentary: The intent of this standard is to ensure that candidates are evaluated by a promotion process that measures traits or characteristics that are a significant part of the job. It is not sufficient for an agency to merely say in a directive that its procedures are job related. However, there are a variety of means by which job-relatedness can be shown.

An agency may choose, for example, to demonstrate that an oral examination measures traits that are shown by the job analysis to be significant or necessary to perform the job. An assessment center may be shown to measure the performance of tasks or skills that the job description has shown to be essential job functions. (See Chapter 21 regarding job analysis and job descriptions.)

The agency may also demonstrate job-relatedness by validation of a testing element. For example, an agency may demonstrate statistically that a written test is a predictor of future job success by correlating test scores with the performance of individuals on the job. If high test scores can be associated with individuals that are successful, and vice versa, then the process may be legally considered a valid means of measurement if the correlation is statistically significant. Agencies will normally need competent professional assistance from personnel specialists before undertaking a validation study of this type. Many commercially available tests have done validation studies that may be helpful to an agency.

Nothing in this standard should be interpreted as preventing an agency from using a combination of methods to document the job-relatedness of its promotion process. The goal of this standard is to ensure that the agency has the documentation necessary to make a logical and persuasive case in the event of a legal challenge and that the elements of the promotion process measure skills, knowledge, abilities, and traits needed to perform that job.

34.1.5 The agency provides sworn personnel with a written announcement of the promotional process.

Commentary: Announcements should be posted prominently and in a timely fashion and be augmented by periodic verbal reminders at staff meetings, conferences, and shift briefing sessions. A concise description of the vacancy should be provided, including the salary and the duties, responsibilities, skills, knowledge, and abilities required. Eligibility should be established during a formal qualifying period that continues until the closing date of the announcement, until the closing date for submitting a completed application, or until the date of the first scored part of the process, e.g., for a written examination. The description of the promotion process should be as detailed as is necessary to indicate clearly to candidates what they can expect. Information should include expected duration of the entire process; format, length, and duration of the written examination, if any; a summary of the role of the oral interview; cut-off scores on written and oral evaluations; a description of the assessment center, if any; and the numerical weight assigned to each element of the process.

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34.1.6 A written directive establishes criteria and procedures for the development and use of eligibility lists, if any, for sworn positions to include, at a minimum:

Commentary: None.

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34.1.7 In the absence of controlling legislation, at least a six-month probationary period is required of all sworn personnel who are promoted, with any exceptions defined.

Commentary: The agency should include a probationary period among the final steps in the process to ensure newly promoted employees can assume the duties and responsibilities of the new positions, an intent consistent with selection procedures for entry-level officers. Employees on probation should be closely observed and evaluated frequently. Unsatisfactory performance should be identified and corrected early through counseling, training, or other suitable personnel actions to safeguard against the promotion of employees beyond their capabilities.