| Tuesday, August
1, 2006
In a recent meeting with the Superintendent, the issue of the next
Sergeant’s Promotional Examination was discussed. It is the
hope of the Superintendent to have a Sergeant’s Promotional
Examination ready to be administered sometime around December 2006
or January 2007.
It is anticipated that the format will change somewhat as follows.
The test will still incorporate a written portion addressing the
criminal, municipal, and traffic statutes as well as departmental
regulations, policies, procedures, investigative procedures, case
law, etc.. There will also be a standard “in-basket”
component as well as video “scenarios”. The major difference
is that the responses will be multiple choice rather than graded
by assessors, allowing for a “scantron” grading system
which will be much faster and cost-effective, as it won’t
require “assessors.” It is anticipated that the results
will be quickly forthcoming and promotions made immediately thereafter.
Recognizing that cost and resource considerations have traditionally
prevented the administering of frequent tests, PANO has offered
to assist the City in developing and administering a new test by
subsidizing the cost of a new examination.
Officers who anticipate taking the upcoming sergeant’s examination
are encouraged to begin preparing well in advance. A review of the
Department Regulations and Criminal, Municipal and Traffic Statues,
and Code of Criminal Procedure, would be prudent until more specific
texts and subject matter are disclosed. Officers can expect a Promotional
Test Seminar sponsored by PANO well in advance of the examination
process, with details to be announced when the examination is announced.
Privately sponsored Promotional Seminars are also available at a
cost to the officer but the PANO Seminar will be free to PANO members.
With respect to the Current Sergeant's Promotional register, Superintendent
Riley has opted to once again begin applying the old "Rule
of Three" from the pre-Banded List days. Civil Service has
sanctioned the use of these rules which allow for the Removal and/or
Passing Over of eligible candidates for promotion at the discretion
of the Superintendent.
This practice was initially challenged when the Banded List was
first established, but at that time, the entire system was governed
by a temporary Consent Decree. Under the Consent Decree, the Superintendent
was prohibited from using the "Rule of Three" and was
compelled by the court to promote everyone in a Band before moving
to the next lower Band.
When the Consent Decree expired, the practice of the "Rule
of Three" was again initiated by Superintendent Pennington,
and was then abandoned by Superintendent Eddie Compass, who chose
to promote everyone in a Band before moving to the next lower Band
during his administration.
That practice has again been resurrected by Superintendent Riley,
and some eleigible candidates for sergeant have just been removed
from the list and/or passed over for promotion. PANO Attorneys are
now meeting with some of the affected officers and the matter will
be litigated by PANO attorneys on their behalf. It is the position
of the Police Association of New Orleans that the "Rule of
Three", while still part of the Civil Service Regulatory System,
was never designed for the newer banded-list system, and as such,
should have been abandoned. The matter will likely end up in the
4th Circuit Court of Appeals and State Supreme Court. You will be
kept posted on our progress.
A full explanation of the "Rule of Three" and its ramifications
will be forthcoming.
ALSO.
The NOPD Public Integrity Bureau plans to address the Civil Service
Commission on Wednesday, August 2, 2006, at 10:00AM., to request
a blanket extension of the "60 day rule" on a large number
of administrative violation cases, orginating from pre-Katrina,
which have never been concluded.
PANO Attorney Frank DeSalvo and I will be attending as well as
FOP Attorney Eric Hessler to offer representation against the extension
for the affected NOPD officers. I will keep you informed as to the
outcome and its affect on pending P.I.B. cases.
ONE NOPD
Michael Glasser, President PANO
HOME |
