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Civil Service Commission Minutes - 02/22/2016MINUTES OF THE FIRE FIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS' CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION February 22, 2016 Present: Penny Miller, Chair Laura Fidelie Jim Heiman Christi Klyn, Civil Service Director Julia Vasquez, First Assistant City Attorney Manuel Borrego, Police Chief Guy Gilmore, Deputy Police Chief Richard Smith, Deputy Police Chief Jon Reese, Fire Chief Donald Hughes, Assistant Fire Chief Richard Cullar, Sergeant, WFPD Kevin Folmar, Sergeant, WFPD Donald Miller, Sergeant, WFPD Brian Sheehan, Sergeant, WFPD Cary Venable, Sergeant, WFPD Alissa Penney, HR Generalist Linda Merrill, Recording Secretary 1. Call to Order Commission Members City Attendees Commissioner Miller called the meeting to order at 10:02 a.m. 2. Approval of Minutes Commissioner Heiman moved for approval of the January 26 2016 minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Fidelie the motion unanimously carried. 3. Review Appeals of the .lanuary 14, 2016 Police Lieutenant Promotional Exam Question 14. Source Genera! Order 201.008, Section I, Answer Kel, A Which of the following is NOT CORRECT concerning police motorcycles? A. Motorcycles do not have Code 3 authorization except under certain General Orders. B. An objective of police motorcycles is to have a force that is highly mobile, and flexible enough to respond to the special traffic and/or police investigations that are required, which would include parades, escort service for visiting dignitaries, or any special operations as may be assigned by the Field Services Division Commander. C. An objective of police motorcycles is to reduce the number of traffic accidents by use of selective traffic enforcement that is proportioned to traffic accidents with respect to time, place, and type of location. D. Police motorcycles shall primarily be used as selective traffic enforcement units. Civil Service Commission Minutes February 22, 2016 Appealed by Brian Sheehan. Sgt. Sheehan acknowledged Answer A is verbatim out of the general order, but added that the position of "Field Services Division Commander" (noted in Answer B) no longer exists, so that answer is also incorrect. He asked that both Answers A and B be accepted as correct responses. Police Chief Manuel Borrego noted that the department had restructured its organizational chart and that change was evidently not caught in the General Order review. Chairperson Miller asked if it was germane to the appeal. He did not want to respond to the merits of the appeal, but he did want to clarify a change was made and was apparently overlooked in this General Order. Sgt. Miller said the answer was taken directly from that General Order, and requested that the answer key be sustained. Chairperson Miller said she understands the appeal and the name change, but is not sure it affects the answer. Commissioner Heiman said it is verbatim from the source material and moved that the answer key be sustained. Seconded by Commissioner Fidelie the motion carried Question 43. Source page 277, Answer Key A A person should be missing for a certain period of time before he can be considered missing. How long is that period of time? A. There should be no requirement that a person be missing for a certain period of time before he can be considered missing. B. 24 hours. C. 12 hours. D. Three days. Appealed by Rick Cullar. Sgt. Cullar argued that the question calls for the answer to have a certain period of time. Only Answers B, C, and D could be the appropriate responses, as they include periods of time. The correct response is verbatim from the source material, but he feels the question should be thrown out since it was so misleading. Sgt. Miller argued that the source material does say there is no time limit on reporting a missing person, and requested that the answer key be sustained. Commissioner Fidelie said the best course of action is to choose the best answer, and the other responses are clearly not correct. She moved to uphold the answer key. Seconded by Commissioner Heiman, the motion carried. Question 76. Source page 163, Answer Key A The first task for any analyst is to A. Determine who the decision -makers are. B. Determine the structure to be used to analyze intelligence data. C. Determine the linkage between intelligence and the actual crimes being committed. D. None of the above is a correct answer. NA—Human Resources\_Civil Service\Civil Service Commission\Minutes\2016\CSC.Minutes.2016.2.22.doc Civil Service Commission Minutes February 22, 2016 3 Appealed by Kevin Folmar. Sgt. Folmar appealed due to the vague and open-ended nature of the question, which required the test -taker to draw an inference. This question was taken from an intelligence -led policing book. The author introduces a model to be used by analysts called the 34 model, a progression of phases. The first phase involves interpreting information from the criminal environment and creating actionable intelligence. The second phase involves influencing decision makers so that resources can be property allocated to make an impact on that criminal environment. The interpretation phase must be completed before the influential phase. He acknowledges that the question is verbatim from the source material, but the question forces the test -taker to make an inference. If the question had questioned the first task of an analyst in the influence phase, then Answer A, determining who the decision makers are, would be the correct answer. However, that is from the second phase. He has attended a few Civil Service Commission hearings, and the Commission has been consistent in appeals in that test -takers are not to infer or assume. He opined that Answer B is the only correct answer. He is asking that the question be thrown out. He does not want to allow for multiple answers to be accepted, thus allowing for an incorrect answer to be accepted as correct. Sgt. Miller commended Sgt. Folmar on his presentation. However, he believes Sgt. Folmar inferred the question referred to the 34 model when there are also other models, including the Gill's model and NIMS model. The source material talked much more about influencing decision makers than it did about interpreting the environment. He requests that the answer key be sustained. Sgt. Folmar said it is a logical deduction that the intent of the question is the 34 model, as it is talked about for half of the book. The whole book is premised on intelligence -led policing and the most successful model is the 34 model. Commissioner Fidelie said it is very clearly spelled out in the study material that the first tasks spell out who the decision makers are, and she leans toward upholding the answer key. Chairperson Miller said she leans the other way. She understands the question is verbatim from the source material. But if she were to look at it as if there were difference phases and different tasks within each phase, she could see where the test -taker would know absolutely which one it was. She thinks in that respect the question is a little unclear. Commissioner Heiman agreed. The question does not state the analyst is in stage 1, 2, or 3, so it is a little misleading. Commissioner Fidelie concurred with that observation. Commissioner Heiman moved that the question be eliminated Seconded by Commissioner Fidelie, the motion carried. 4. Report from Fire Chief Chief Reese said the Fire Department has had one retirement since the last Commission meeting. The department is now four short, and will be seven short by the end of the year. N:\_Human Resources\_Civil Service\Civil Service Commission\Minutes\2016\CSC.Minutes.2016.2.22.doc Civil Service Commission Minutes February 22, 2016 4 5. Report from Police Chief Chief Borrego noted that now that today's appeals have concluded, the next phase of the promotion will begin, which includes ergometrics and testing. This will provide a better look at the process as there will be more people going through the process than there were following the sergeant's promotional exam. A police academy began today with 18 applicants. The Department has 16 openings, so there was a bit of an over -hire. However, some applicants tend to drop out during the Academy's six-month run, or someone may retire from the Department. The Department will be close to or fully staffed by the end of the Academy. 6. Adjourn The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 a.m. Penny Miller, Chair N:\_Human Resources\_Civil Service\Civil Service Comm ission\Minutes\2016\CSC.M inutes.2016.2.22.doc