SUNBURY — Four city police patrol officers in March took the corporal’s test, and flunked.
But they are often called upon to supervise anyway.
Because the department is short-staffed, and has only one corporal and one sergeant — two of each are required in the union contract — many patrol officers have to perform first-line supervisor’s duties, says police Chief Stephen Mazzeo.
And when they do, they are paid the supervisory rate, regardless of test performance.
By police civil service regulations, a score of 80 percent is required on a written test as the first step in promotion from patrolman to corporal. The four officers taking the test in March scored from 66.4 percent to 75.2 percent on the standardized test.
The test administered is the Pennsylvania First Line Supervisor Test, designed by Stanard & Associates of Chicago. According to the company’s website, the exam is based on the input of 600 law-enforcement professionals nationwide. The Pennsylvania Police Chiefs Association accepts the Pennsylvania-specific version as “a good product,” said Tom Armstrong, the association’s member services coordinator.
Passing scores, however, are determined locally, Armstrong said.
A lot of departments use 70 percent as the cutoff, he said, while others add whatever score is received to a cumulative battery of tests and then judge the candidate.
A version of the exam has been administered twice since Mazzeo became chief in 2008. That year, officer Christopher Blase became corporal after an 81.6 score on the written test and consideration of his oral examination score and physical agility evaluation. Blase, a 12-year-veteran of the force, is expected to try for sergeant. If he succeeds, there will be two corporal vacancies.
“It’s an entirely new test,” said Mayor Dave Persing, who supervises the police department.
“I assume it must be much tougher. In the old days, testing was based on the way the City of Sunbury Police Department worked. Now it clearly takes time to study books.”
Mazzeo said it is part of his goal to upgrade the professionalism of the Sunbury Police Department.
“It forces them to read textbooks on modern police supervision,” he said. “At the very least they get to see what 21st-century policing is.”
Some of the officers think the test is difficult, he confided.
But if they want to advance, the test is just the start.
“If they pass,” Mazzeo said, “we send them to supervisory school to sharpen their skills and teach them more.”
Officers who took the test in March are Jamie Quinn, the top-scorer at 75.2 percent; Bradley Hare, 72 percent; Vernon Petty, also 72 percent; and Stephen Bennick, 66.4 percent.
They are eligible to take the test again, Mazzeo said. It will be administered Sept. 20, but it will not be the exact same exam.
“There are different versions from a large pool of questions,” Mazzeo said.
And questions are constantly being upgraded.
“You can’t improve your score by just taking the test over and over,” Mazzeo said.
Officers who have completed five years of service as a Sunbury patrol officer may take the test, according to the civil service rules.
Eight patrol officers have asked to take the next test, Mazzeo said. That’s everybody except Sgt. James Taylor, who doesn’t need to, and the newly hired Brad Slack.
When nonpromoted officers perform the duties of a first-line supervisor for a period of 90 days, they are paid the corporal or sergeant’s rate — the same as if they held the rank — from the 91st day onward.
For example, a patrol officer with at least five years’ experience earns $54,855 annually. The corporal’s rate of pay, according to the 2010 contract, is $55,938.
A corporal assuming sergeant’s duties for more than 90 days would be paid at the $57,205 rate.
There is a 3 percent raise built in for 2011. A patrolman’s top pay will be $56,500; $57,616 when performing corporal’s duties.
A sergeant’s rate of pay for 2011 will be $58,921.
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