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The Key sent out a letter to those of whom are on their email list. Here it is:

Today is Tuesday, November 1, 2011. Its time now for everyone who took the Lieutenants test on Saturday to cut off the bottom of the pink answer sheet and mail it in so you can attend the protest session. If you havent already dont so, DO THAT TODAY.

We want to be very clear on this first point; DONT protest out of anger and frustration; remain professional. This exam attempted to test your judgment and personality traits, lets go with that.

Consider this protest session a continuation of the test of your personality. DONT water down your efforts by protesting a question that was factually correct but angered you. The more well articulated and professional your argument the better.

Housekeeping Cites;

 They changed the date of this exam. It was originally announced for October 15th

, that date was then hi-jacked by the Sergeants test.

 The original Notice Of Examination (N.O.E.) had a very limited description (under the

heading THE TEST). An amended N.O.E. was subsequently sent out.

 Granted this new N.O.E. was different than past ones BUT, the N.O.E. for a recent

Captains test (2006) and the N.O.E. for the last Sergeants test (Oct, 2011) had

IDENTICAL, WORD FOR WORD descriptions in THE TEST sections. This

deems the description in the N.O.E. as UNRELIABLE

.

The Patrol Guide 50 questions (outside of the P.G. questions on the In-Basket)

The lack of questions on CIMS, EDPs, FDAR, 207 Moving Complaints, 202 Lt duties, etc,

etc, etc. was incredible but has nothing to do with this protest session. It is infuriating but

lets get past that and get on with writing good, well-reasoned protests.

There was more than one occasion where the tactics of for being replaced with of and so

on. These are petty and frustrating but not protest-able. Again, dont waste your time and

energy on questions that angered us all. Save your effort for the questions that should be protested.

If they were factually wrong, on the day of the protest; quote the P.G. chapter and verse to

prove it (e.g.; Discipline in 217-06 in additional data doesnt have an actor per se but the preceding paragraph deals with the same subject (discipline vs. retraining) and is directed at a Commanding Officer. So the paragraph in question is a continuation of that topic. Also, that topic; deciding between discipline or retraining re; a dept 10-53 is NOT IN THE JOB DESCRIPTION OF A LIEUTENANT!!

 Further proof on 217-06: The actual form; Accident report Police Dept. Vehicle has

this subtitle Part B (Prepared by Commanding Officer, Precinct of Occurrence) then in the details box of Part B it says; must include recommendations e.g., retraining, Disciplinary Action, No Action, etc.

 Thats how you protest; either it was FACTUALLY wrong or it DOESNT PERTAIN to

the JOB DESCRIPTION.

 Grammar 5 questions

The five grammar questions were all in a row. The last three of the group werent really that

far out. However!! the first two grammar questions were beyond all of us (Harvard graduates included!). We had no idea what those two questions were trying to test. They were as far removed from the duties of a Lieutenant in the NYPD as they could possibly be.

There's your protest; unrelated to the duties of the position you were testing for.

 Judgment, etc. 24 questions

Crying PAAs, a supervisor being an AUDIO peeping tom? A cop misappropriating/ stealing

Dept property, etc, etc, etc. Yes, many of these questions gave answer choices that were all contrary to proper dept procedures. However, they all related to the duties of the position you were testing for thats NOT your protest.

 This is regressive. In the 1960s and 1970s the majority of the promotion exams were made

up of these Judgment type questions. There was a textbook considered BACK THEN to be the Patrol Guide of Judgment/Decision Making in Policing; Supervision of Police Personnel by Nathan Iannone. (First published in 1970!!) That textbook spells out the decision making process for a police supervisor. An analysis of that process as it is spelled out in that textbook shows that there are just too many variables in any given situation to give a definitive answer to a specific situation. They are general guidelines. In other words; these ideas may have a place in TRAINING Lieutenants but they have no place in TESTING for the position of Lieutenant; That is your protest every scenario and every decision, once made, in real time and in real life, creates unforeseen circumstances and changes the facts.

There can be no definitive right or wrong answer. Its why Legal Bulletin questions can never change the fact pattern in a court decision.

 ANY Management/Decision Making/Judgment Textbook is just that, a TEXTBOOK.

Materials like this may be valuable in TRAINING but not for TESTING.

NOT FOR TESTING this is why they abandoned the practice by the 1980s.

Also part of your protest is; NO SPECIFIC CITES or BIBLIOGRAPHY on which the

tests questions would be based. One authors opinion differs from another. Your opinion and that of the people who will grade these questions may differ but a difference in opinion does NOT decide RIGHT or WRONG!

 Supervision of Police Personnel, Iannone, Sixth Edition:

 Chapter Three; Leadership, Supervision, and Command Presence,

o

Section; Decision Making, page 50 and Drawing Conclusions, page 51;

The decision-making process involves several steps.

First, there must be an awareness that a real problem exists.

Second, facts must be obtained.

Third, facts obtained (data) must be evaluated

Fourth, ALTERNATIVES should be decided on and consequences of each considered

Fifth, decision selected from Alternatives developed.

Sixth, communicate decision to those who must carry it out.

So, heres your protest:

Page 51 in Iannone under the Fifth step in decision making; (this is a direct quote)

Sometimes, a SECONDARY option for carrying out the mission might be necessary as a contingency measure in the event the primary decision is found to be unworkable or cannot be followed because of UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES.

 Step 3 in Ianonnes decision-making process is quoted directly as; Reliability of the

source of the data must be tested just as the facts themselves. IMPOSSIBLE TO DO ON A WRITTEN EXAM!

 Middle Management judgment questions

 Lastly on the Judgment questions, some of the questions had scenarios that were not that far

fetched. The answer gave two viable ways to get the job done; one was to jump in yourself and get it done, the other was to direct that it get done. On a Lieutenants test the answer is not to jump in yourself but rather to direct. If you got any of those questions wrong and saw nothing else wrong with the questions, save your protest for the questions that deserve it.

Their thinking is that as a Lieutenant you no longer roll up your selves and do the work, you direct it.

Dont forget, if you havent already done so, fill out the pink sheet and mail it in TODAY!