This post is designed to attempt to lay the ground work for a discussion of the police hiring process with the ultimate goal of comparing the efficiency and accuracy of each method in selection of suitable officers. 

If you wish to participate in this discussion, kindly leave your sarcasm and flame throwers at the door. If you have experience as a police officer or have participated in hiring police candidates and wish to cite that experiece, please feel free to do so. 

This is not designed as a thread for those who "Told the truth on my polygraph and failed" "or "Lied on the polygraph and passed" there is ample space elsewhere for personal statements and experiences. 

Police agencies generally use a combination of methods to determine if candidates are suitable for employment as police officers.
Some of the methods I am aware of include.
Application
Physical Agility
Written Examination
Polygraph
Background Investigation
Oral review board
Psychological Testing (MMPI and others)
Personal Interview with Hiring Authority.
CVSA
Urinalysis (Drug Screen)

Does anyone else know any other commonly used methods?


Sancho Panza

A point of controversy is that many agencies have a rigorous swim test----which data and HR departments have an understandably tough time justifying with data. I seem to remember the numbers being one cop per year is required to swim in the line of duty ----until Katrina hit, such a requirement seemed silly and still is arguably so in places like Nevada. But perhaps that falls within "physical agility."

Most departments have a designated diver for search purposes, but average beat cops aren't doing belly flops and cannonballs.

Also included in current hiring procedure is the "video test" where the subject watches a series of video clips, and is supposed to respond to questions posed on the video after a scenario.  For example, I have participated in this type of hiring procedure, and one of the clips I recall goes something like this.   

"You and two other officers in different patrol cars are dispatched to a possible robbery in progress.  On  your way to the call, you observe a car broken down by the side of the road, with a lady, who appears in distress, vigorously waiving her arms to get your attention. What do you do?

(1) Continue to the Robbery call, and tell dispatch about the lady.

(2)  Stop and find out what the lady wants.

(3)  Stop at the donut shop for a quick break, so you don't have to handle either calls.

SanchoPanza wrote on Jan 11^th, 2008 at 1:36pm:


As a point of reference, Nopolycop is a sworn law enforcement officer, who has participated in several hiring processes in his 30 year career in law enforcement.  This career has covered both full-time work as a law enforcement officer, and also part-time (reserve) posiitons, which he currently holds.  He has worked as a Chief of Police, a patrol officer, investigator, and also has held a Top Secret clearance when he worked as a DOE facility in their nuclear security detatchment.

His educational background is that he has three advanced degrees, (Associate of Science, Bachelor of Arts, and Juris Doctor).

He also currently serves as an expert witness in the field of law enforcement use of force and homicide investigation.  He is NOT a polygrapher, nor has he had any formal polygraph training.

EJ  if no one else disagrees I think that swimming would fall under physical agility.


Sancho Panza

Quote:


sniff....sniff.........ok....uh....I guess I'll just go organize my sock drawer. Fine then. 

sniffle sniff

nopolycop wrote on Jan 11^th, 2008 at 4:46pm:



Nopolycop: why are you talking in third person?

Also to add to the discussion of hiring procedures…I believe the interview portion is the most subjective.    Have you ever sat on an interview committee?  Here, at least a few years back, the interview committee could not ask questions, they just handed the applicant a paper with the questions and gave the applicant 10-15 minutes to respond.  They would let you give points if an applicant hit on an area of interest.  With this scenario, everyone should have the same score, right?….many times I wondered if the other interviewers were watching the same person I was as the scores were substantially different?

Like Sancho stated….there are many tests administered to LE that are not 100%...why only focus on the poly?  One other area they have used in Utah is the committee observing scenarios with the applicant and a live individuals acting as the bad guy (not videos).    With this, the ‘actor’ can change his/her demeanor each and every time depending on the applicants behaviors….subjective? yes – Informative – you bet!
Application - Physical Agility - Written Examination – Polygraph - Background Investigation - Oral review board - Psychological Testing (MMPI and others) - Personal Interview with Hiring Authority – CVSA - Urinalysis (Drug Screen) AND Scenario Observation.  If I weren’t so tired right now I could probably think of a few other testing methods.

Also to Nopolycop you posted:

Sancho,
Please forgive my audacity, but your 'fast and furious' paricipation on this forum begs the question: "Have you been hired by the pro-polygraph scoutmasters to camp out here and push their agendas?"

No offence intended.

You and I both know you stated that to push buttons.  But hey, no offense intended.

Donna.Taylor wrote on Jan 12^th, 2008 at 4:39am:


First, as Sancho pointed out, it was another poster who asked the question in red.

Secondly, not sure why I posted in the third person, but in recollection, it was likely because I had just written a third person biographical mention of myself for a literary project for my business, and I was likely still in 3rd person mode.  Perhaps one of the statement analysis experts that are here can shed some light... 

Yes, I have participated as the interviewer in oral boards, with the scoring of the individuals participation being on a subjective basis.  I have also particpated as a candidate in several, and also know from that experience that it is a subjective process, (see comments below).

In any event, I agree that most aspects of the hiring process have at least some subjective components to them, with the exception of the written test, (depending on the type, of course) and the physical agility test.  the others are are heavily dependant upon the graders subjective view of the candidates performance, including the oral interview and any scenario type of skill assessment.  But, it is the poly and psych which carry a stigma with it that that if you "fail" you are not fit to be a cop.  If you do not do well on an oral interview, it is common to get help on how to handle oral interviews.  

In fact, when I was still very young, barely an adult with little life experience, I started testing for police officer positions.  I did not pass my first two oral interviews.  Because I wanted to be a cop, and thought my answers were good, I set up an appointment with one of the interviewers on my last one, and sat down with  him to ask why I did so poorly.  He was very informative, and told me that I lacked communications skills.  Consequently, I practiced delivering the answers that they were seeking, and on the next oral boards, I aced it.  In addition, when the opportunity to complete my BA came along, I decided to pursue a minor in communications.  I no longer fear public speaking, being put on the spot, etc.  

With the exception of the poly and psych, the other aspects of a hiring process do not follow you around from job application to job application.  Having a BA in psychology, we actually studied the principals behind the MMPI in my abnormal psychology class, and with that understanding, know what the test is measuring, and how to make sure your answers and the results of that test falls within the "normal" range.  I frankly find the psych the least effective part of the hiring procedure, but still, a poor recommendation from the psychologist can haunt a person for a long time.

The issue I have with the poly is primarily centered around the pass/fail nature of the results.  I have taken 3 polys and a CVSA in my career, and all have been the last step in the hiring process, and the offer of employment was conditioned upon passing each.  But, as has gone unrefuted in many of my past posts, is the notion that one cannot "pass" or "fail" a polygraph, because the ultimate grade is not an objective one, but instead a subjective one.  How can one "pass" or "fail" an opinion?  Secondly, there appears to be no good, emperical scientific studies which purport to give an accurate determination about the validity of the pre-employment screening polygraph.  The best I have I have read is that the specific issue accuracy rate is about 90%, and the screening poly is somewhere below that, with the ranges somewhere between 70 and 90 percent.

The result of this poor accuracy rate is that truthful applicants are accused of being liars, and that stigma follows them into the next job application, because on every background information package I have ever filled out, it asked if I had ever take a polygraph before, and what those results were.  As I had previously posted, I "failed" my first poly, even though I also was 100% truthful with the examiner, and also despite the fact that even one of the questions on the poly was "have you lied to me today?" and I passed that question.  So, what is a young police applicant supposed to think at that point?

I mention this, because shortly thereafter, I had applied to another agency, and was top on the hiring list.  During the background investigation, it was learned that I had "failed" a previous poly, and was removed from the second hiring process, despite the fact that this second pdepartment did not use the poly!!!

So, to counter this, I decided to move out of the area where people were not aware of this "failed" poly, and hire on with a department that did not poly their applicants.

So Donna, the above is why I have some issues with the poly being used in the pre-employment screening process.

Sancho:

Your employment background is impressive, and I applaud you for fighting the good fight.  Can you expand on your poly background, so the readers here can assess the credibility of your answers?  And if not, please elaborate as to why this question should not be answered.