The examination for police officer will consist of a written and an oral examination which will be graded on a one-hundred-point scale, with the written examination representing 70% of the final score and the oral examination representing 30% of the final score. In addition, each applicant will undergo a physical fitness test and a background investigation. The physical fitness test and the investigation will be graded on a pass/fail basis for every applicant. The background investigation shall be conducted after a request for certification of eligibles has been made by the Council and must be successfully completed prior to the Board's certification under § 84-45. After an applicant has been extended an offer of employment, final appointment shall be contingent upon the applicant passing a medical and psychological examination.
The examination for the position of Sergeant, or other positions
of rank which shall hereinafter be created, shall include a written
and an oral examination which will be graded on a one-hundred-point
scale with the written examination representing 70% of the final score
and the oral examination representing 30% of the final score. In addition,
each applicant will undergo a physical fitness test which will be
graded on a pass/fail basis for every applicant. After an applicant
has been extended an offer of promotion, the final appointment to
the promotional position shall be contingent upon the applicant passing
a medical and psychological examination.
The written examination shall be graded on a one-hundred-point
scale, and an applicant must score at least 70% or higher in order
to continue in the application process. The minimum passing grade
shall in no event be less than 70% but may be raised at any time by
the Board prior to the announcement of examinations. Applicants scoring
less than 70% or other minimum passing grade set by the Board shall
be rejected. After the administration of the written examination,
all applicants shall be given written notice of their test results,
and passing applicants shall be scheduled for an oral examination
appointment.
Every applicant whose score is equal to or higher than the minimum
passing grade set by the Board in the written examination shall be
given an oral examination which will be graded on a one-hundred-point
scale with a score of 70% or higher necessary for passing. The oral
examination shall involve questioning the applicant on how the applicant
would handle situations relevant to police work and shall be in a
standardized format as developed and revised from time to time by
the City Manager, the City Attorney and the Public Safety Director.
Within 30 days after the applicant's oral examination, he or
she shall be informed of his or her score in the oral examination
and total overall score, and a passing applicant shall be informed
of the date for physical fitness testing.
Pursuant to the Veterans' Preference Act[1], any applicant for the position of patrol officer who qualifies as a soldier under this Act shall receive an additional 10 points on top of his or her total score if that applicant had received passing scores under §§ 84-17, 84-19 and 84-20. Preference in appointment shall be as provided by law.
[1]
Editor's Note: See 51 Pa.C.S.A. § 7101 et seq.
An applicant for the position of police officer must meet the
following requirements:
A.
Stretcher carry. Applicants will be paired off and required to carry
a stretcher with a simulated patient weighing approximately 200 pounds
over a distance of 100 feet. Those applicants failing on the first
attempt will be allowed to retake the exercise with a person who has
successfully completed the exercise.
B.
Body drive. An applicant is required to remove a simulated motor
vehicle operator weighing approximately 200 pounds from behind the
steering wheel of a motor vehicle and drag the simulated operator
to a point 50 feet from the motor vehicle.
C.
Quarter-mile run. An applicant is required to run a distance of 1/4
mile on a premeasured course in less than 110 seconds.
D.
Window climb. An applicant is required to climb through a six-foot-high
level window without assistance onto a three-foot level platform on
the other side of the window and then to the ground. Applicants must
then circle around a marker 20 feet beyond the window and return up
the three-foot-high platform and out the window onto the ground below.
E.
Thirty-second trigger pull. Within a thirty-second time limit per
hand, an applicant is required to repeatedly pull 15 times for each
hand the trigger of a double-action nonfunctional revolver with arms
horizontally extended.
The minimum passing grade for a written examination for the
entry-level position of police officer may be expressed as at least
70%. The minimum passing grade for an examination for promotion to
any other position may be expressed as 70%. In addition, each applicant
shall score at least 70% on each element (excluding pass/fail elements)
of the examination process.
A.
The Board shall request the City Manager or the City Manager's designee to conduct a background investigation on each applicant passing the required examinations and whose name is to be certified to the Council by the Board under § 84-45. The background investigation should include interviews with the applicant's family, acquaintances, current and former employers, current and former neighbors, references, current and former teachers and school officials. In addition, the applicant's credit history and record of criminal convictions should be investigated. The applicant may be interviewed directly when the information collected during the background investigation requires clarification or explanation.
B.
After the background investigation is completed, the City Manager shall make a written recommendation to the Board on whether the applicant is appropriate for consideration for appointment as a police officer. Appropriateness of the applicant shall be based on the criteria set forth in § 84-12 of these rules and regulations. This recommendation shall be in writing, and, if the recommendation is to disqualify, then a detailed written explanation of the reasons for disqualification must be included. The Board shall make the final determination on whether the information collected during the background investigation warrants rejection of the candidate.
C.
Within 10 days or as soon as practicable after the Board considers
the recommendation of the City Manager, the applicant will be informed
of whether he or she has passed the background investigation.
When the grading of each examination is completed, the Board
shall forward the results to the City Manager, who shall give each
applicant written notice of his or her grade. A copy of the eligibility
list, which contains the names and grades of those who have passed
the examination, shall be posted in the Municipal Building.
If an applicant fails to obtain a passing grade in any examination,
he or she shall not be eligible for a subsequent examination for any
position in the Department of Public Safety for a period of six months.
The Board may designate an examining agency or a qualified individual
to act as examiner for the written examinations. The Board shall reserve
the right to accept or reject for cause, in whole or in part, the
recommendations of the regularly appointed examining agency. The oral
examination and the evaluation of the service or performance report
of any applicant shall be the responsibility of the Board; provided,
however, that the Board may designate, from time to time, such persons
qualified to evaluate performance, oral interviews and service records
as are considered necessary to assist in such interviews, examinations
and evaluations.
The Board shall prepare a statement of instructions and rules
for conducting written examinations. The regularly appointed examiner
shall administer each examination in accordance with the instructions
of the Board and be responsible for enforcing the rules for conducting
written examinations.
Should an applicant be found guilty of any act tending to defeat
the proper conduct or the result of any examinations, his or her name
shall be removed from the eligible list resulting from the examination,
and the applicant shall not be permitted to make future application
for any position in the Department of Public Safety without prior
written approval of the Board.
