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Agenda
Civil Service Commission
Friday, April 19, 2024 8:15 a.m.
Helling Conference Room
City Hall 410 E Washington St Iowa City, IA
1. Police Sergeant and Police Lieutenant promotional testing
If you will need disability-related accommodations in
order to participate in this program/event, please
contact Karen Jennings, Human Resources at 319-356-5025 or karen-jennings@iowa-city.org. Early
requests are strongly encouraged to allow sufficient
time to meet your access needs.
Date: April 16, 2024
To: Civil Service Commission From: Karen Jennings, Human Resources Administrator Re: Police Department Promotional Testing
The certified promotional lists for the ranks of Police Sergeant and Police Lieutenant have recently been exhausted. To enable the Chief to fill future vacancies, we need to hold a new promotional
process. The Iowa Code allows up to ten names to be certified for promotional positions. After consulting with Chief Liston and City Administration, we are recommending a testing process for each rank which includes 2 weighted components to establish the rank order promotional lists required by Chapter 400. The minimum requirements and proposed testing process (including the recommended weighting) for each rank is summarized in the following table.
Rank Minimum Requirements Proposed Testing process
Sergeant
3 years as Iowa City Police Officer Assessment center (65%) Associate’s degree or 60 hours college credit Panel interview with sworn ICPD staff at the rank of Lieutenant or higher, ICFD staff at rank of Battalion Chief or higher, City department/Division heads, and/or HR staff (35%)
Lieutenant
5 years in law enforcement including 2 years minimum as a Sergeant Assessment center (65%)
Associate’s degree or 60 hours college credit Panel interview with Captains or equivalent from area agencies (35%) Bachelor’s degree is preferred
As you can see, we are recommending that assessment centers be used in the selection process for each of these positions. An assessment center is a process whereby assessors who have held command staff positions in other law enforcement agencies evaluate candidates for a position based on candidate performance in exercises designed to simulate situations
encountered by a person in the rank they are seeking to hold. Previous assessment center exercises have included a number of the following: problem-solving, training presentation, citizen complaint, tactical, oral presentation, in-basket, employee interview or other job-related situations.
A consultant with police administration background and experience in administering civil service promotional testing processes will be hired to design and administer the assessment centers. Exercises are selected based on the position being tested and are developed in conjunction with
input from ICPD command staff and Human Resources. Following completion of the assessment center the consultant will be available to meet with candidates to provide feedback regarding the candidate's participation in the assessment center. This is an opportunity for candidates to hear the assessors' comments regarding their strengths and weaknesses. This type of feedback is valuable to candidates as it provides them with information they can use in their professional development. Cayler Consulting is recommended to administer the promotional assessment centers. Jeff Cayler has had a lengthy career in law enforcement, having served as Police Chief in Carroll,
April 16, 2024 Page 2
Iowa for over 30 years before retiring in 2015. He has been administering assessment centers for law enforcement agencies for over 20 years and has both administered assessment centers
and served as an assessor in past City of Iowa City police promotional testing processes. We recommend that City Human Resources staff be authorized to administer the panel interviews
for the Sergeant and Lieutenant processes on behalf of the Civil Service Commission. Human Resources staff will be involved at all stages of the process to ensure that legal requirements associated with the hiring process are met. Testing is tentatively planned to take place this spring/early summer. I look forward to answering any questions you may have at your upcoming meeting. cc: Chief Liston