Animated Awesomeness
If you haven’t seen the new video featuring our police assessment products, then you’re missing out on pure animated awesomeness!
Want to know more about IPMA-HR’s line of police assessment products? Visit us online!
Want to see the best videos ever?
They may not be of a baby panda sneezing, but they’re still pretty awesome! Take a few minutes to check out our new “everything you wanted to know about IPMA-HR’s assessment products in two minutes” video and our new “everything you wanted to know about IPMA-HR’s fire service products in just over a minute” video. You won’t regret it. We promise, it’s better than “CATS.”
The 2019-2020 Catalog is Available!
Woohoo! The new Assessment Services catalog is available online for viewing — or download your very own copy! What’s new? SO MUCH! I can’t even tell you how cool it is. You really should see for yourself.
Well, okay, here’s a sneak peak: new tests (paging Public Works …), new services (I can take my test from where?!), new and updated publications (setting that passpoint like a pro now!) and new ways to communicate with you (your awesome sense of humor is now available on social media?!) — oh, my!
Check it out! Tell your friends! Tell your dog! Tell your friends and your dog. It’s that awesome.
Calling All Police Departments: Send in your Police Officer and Police Lieutenant Job Descriptions
IPMA-HR’s Assessment Services Department is developing new entry-level Police Officer and promotional Police Lieutenant exams. The first step in the test development process is the development of a job analysis questionnaire to determine the most important tasks, duties and qualifications to perform as police officers and lieutenants. In order to compile a list of duties and qualifications for use in the job analysis questionnaire, we are requesting that police departments submit any job descriptions for the ranks of police officer and police lieutenant. All submitted materials will remain completely confidential. Please forward job descriptions to yrandall@ipma-hr.org. Thank you!
A Roundup From Across the Web
New EEOC Report Examines Barriers Facing Women in Federal Government Public Safety Occupations
WASHINGTON — In its continuing effort to aid the federal government in serving as a model employer, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today issued its federally focused report addressing equal employment opportunities for women in various public safety occupations…Continue Reading
Experts warn of shortage of armed guards in New Jersey schools
As school districts across New Jersey clamor to hire armed guards, some law enforcement experts are concerned about a potential shortage of candidates equipped to serve as school officers…Continue Reading
Union chief: Detroit losing officers at alarming rate
Mark Diaz, president of the Detroit Police Officers Association, said the union has lost 117 officers since Jan 1., which averages to about 4.5 per week…Continue Reading
Press Release: Senate Passes Durbin, Roberts Farm Bill Amendment To Support Rural EMS Agencies
Bipartisan Amendment Will Reauthorize Funding For Rural Fire And Ambulance Crews To Fight Opioid Epidemic, Strengthen Workforce….Continue Reading
Office of Fire Prevention/Fire Marshal Employees – Your Insights are Requested!
IPMA-HR is currently seeking participants for a nationwide Office of Fire Marshal/Office of Fire Prevention study. This study is the first step in the development of a new series of tests for positions within the Fire Marshal’s Office/Office of Fire Prevention. In this phase, job incumbents are needed to complete a survey to identify the most important tasks and knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal characteristics (KSAPs) required to perform their job successfully. The questionnaire takes approximately 30 minutes to complete.
Examples of applicable positions include:
- Fire Marshal
- Deputy Fire Marshal
- Assistant Fire Marshal
- Fire Inspector
- Fire/Arson Investigator
- Fire Prevention Officer
- Code Enforcement Officer.
If you or someone you know holds one of the above positions or a similar position, we would greatly value your input in developing our newest test series.
Please Note: If your position has a different title than the positions listed above, but is similar in nature, we would still like to hear from you!
Participants will be entered into a raffle with a $500 prize! Participating agencies will also receive a 15% discount toward a future IPMA-HR assessment product purchase. Interested parties can learn more about the project and complete an interest form using the following link:
If you would like to participate or have additional questions please email our Research Associate, Julia Hind-Smith, at jsmith@ipma-hr.org.
Joint Agency Police Promotional Assessment Centers: An Opportunity for Interagency Cooperation
The current fiscal environment for many law enforcement agencies requires innovative change in practices and procedures. While we may not be facing the stark challenges of retrenchment budgeting that were common in the 1980s, today many of us have insufficient budgets to achieve all that we seek to accomplish. A joint agency promotional assessment center may enable multiple agencies to realize the benefits of the assessment center at a substantial cost savings.
Background Brief
Human Resource Management costs are significant in public policing. As a rule of thumb 70-90% of any law enforcement agency’s budget is committed to some aspect of Human Resource Management (HRM). These costs have been predicted to grow in the future as a result of any number of factors. But a common factor in any HRM cost equation is the identification, selection and retention of competent and capable supervisors and managers.
Across the nation, several law enforcement agencies have adopted the promotional assessment center as a defensible and fair tool in the selection of supervisors and managers. However, as many readers know only too well – a functional promotional assessment is an expensive tool[i]. The costs present in any one of several forms – including the significant time commitment of both the candidates and assessors; the logistical support required for a successful center (video recording, appropriate exercise spaces, and scheduling trained actors) as well as the extensive and intensive planning required for a successful assessment center process. (more…)
Participants Needed for Entry-Level Firefighter Test Study (Discounts Available!)
IPMA-HR is in the final stretch of finishing up the validation study on our entry-level firefighter (FF-EL) test series, but we still need your help! We are seeking a few more agencies who have administered a test from the FF-EL series to provide us the scores received by firefighters who were selected for the job.
Once we’ve received these test scores from you, we ask that each firefighter’s supervisor complete a brief 9-question performance evaluation. This will allow us to see whether our tests from the FF-EL series continue to be successful in predicting on-the-job performance.
For your help, you will receive $100 off your agency’s next IPMA-HR assessment order. In addition, your participation in this project will provide direct evidence supporting the validity of these exams and their use in your agency.
If you would like to participate, please visit the following link to provide your test scores:
Our Research Associate, Julia Hind-Smith, will then follow up with you to provide further instructions on completing the performance evaluations. If you have any questions about the study, please feel free to reach out to Julia at jsmith@ipma-hr.org.
(Please Note: All information gathered for this study will remain strictly confidential. The data gathered will be combined with data from other departments and only be reported in the form of group statistics.)
Participants Needed for Office of Fire Marshal Study
IPMA-HR is currently seeking participants for a nationwide Office of Fire Marshal/Office of Fire Prevention study. This study is the first step in the development of a new Fire Marshal Test. The first part of the study involves surveying current members of the Office of Fire Prevention to learn about the important duties and demands of their job.
Examples of applicable positions include, but are not limited to: Fire Marshal, Fire/Arson Investigator, Premise Officer, Deputy Fire Marshal, Fire Prevention Officer, Fire Inspector, and Code Enforcement Officer.
If you or someone you know holds one of the above positions or a similar position, we would greatly value your input in developing our newest test series.
Participants will be entered into a raffle with a $500 prize! Participating agencies will also receive a 15% discount toward a future IPMA-HR assessment product purchase. Interested parties can use the following link to participate:
Questions can be emailed to our Research Associate, Julia Hind-Smith, at jsmith@ipma-hr.org.
Where Can I Find Guidelines for Tests?
The idea for this primer series germinated from a simple question – “Could you do an article looking at the validity of tests used in public safety assessment?” In response, I decided to do a series of articles aimed to inform, but also intended to keep things simple. The blogs in this series are intended to cover:
- What are the characteristics of a good test?
- What are some authoritative references human resource and assessment professionals can rely upon in evaluating the worthiness of tests?
- What is validity?
- Are public safety assessments good tests and are they valid?
The first article in the primer series has been published and is available on the IPMA-HR Assessment Services Review page.
This is the second in the series and is intended to answer the question as to where can the reader turn for guidance in addition to that offered in this series of blogs. My suggested list is fairly short and includes:
- The Guardians Association of the New York City Police Dept. v. Civil Service Commission of the City of New York (1980) court case
- The Uniform Guidelines
- The American Psychological Association Standards
- The Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Principles
- US Department of Labor and Training Administration, Testing and Assessment: An Employer’s Guide to Good Practices.
- IPMA-HR Assessment Services Publications