Agenda - Council - 11/15/1988 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Minnesota Police Recruitment System On March 1, 1983 a group of 40 law e~fforcement agencies founded the Min- nesota Police Recruitment System. The MPRS was far from a new ven- ture, however, as its formation was just the most recent step in an evolu- tionary process wlfich began nearly eight )'ears ago. Origin of the system In 1975 a group of Twin Cities police ciders became increasingly concerned about the need lot developing valid, nondiscrimhmtory testing procedures for entry-level police officers. Their concern was twofold. First, they were interested in predicting applicants' future job perfor~nance in order to lfire the best available people for peace officer positions. Second, they wanted · to prevent lawsuits challenghlg the type of hiring practices then in effect. The police chiefs contacted the Met- ropolitan Area Management Associa- tion (MA.k~) regarding their concerns, and formed a conmfittee of city man- agers and police chiefs to organize a research project addressing their con- cerns in tile metropolitan area. Tiffs group soon asked the Metropolitan Council to join in the effort. Met Coun- cil served as a conduit for the neces- sary funding for the project and provided adnfinistrative coordh~ation. The project which resulted involved the cooperation of 55 suburban police departments over a five-year period, literally thousands of hours of staff time which participating deparunents donat- ed, and nearly $240,000 in funding from the Law Enforcement Assistance Adrrfinistration. Development of selection standards The most important faclors in the need for valid selection standards and procedures were the Civil Rights Act of 1964, along with the many court decisions and administrative guidelines enforcing the act. Basically, these deci- sions and guidelh~es requke govern- mental units to demonstrate that selection standards and procedures are job-related, that is they ~nust be valid before the local unit can use them. The court decisions and guidelines provide the method [or validation. In tile first major phase, the Selec- tion Standards Project analyzed in depth the police officer's position, beginning with an extensive collection of data on the activities officers per- form, Based upon this analysis, tile standards project identified several knowledges, skills, abilities, personal characteristics, and physical traits wtfich are essential for effective job performance. The project then deter- mined wltich o.f the characteristics and abilities require testing at entr3' rather than on-the-job training. The second major phase of the pr°j- ect was the development of test instru- ments and procedures to measure the characteristics and abilities officers need for effective job performance and development of valid test procedures. An essential step in this phase of the project was to create performance cri- teria for existing police officers, so that the project could develop measurement devices to enable it to predict existing officers' job performance. The fLnal step was to establish the procedures necessary to implement the testing process in participating departments. At about the same time, a group of police departments and sheriffs' departments in south central Minneso- ta, working tltrough the Minnesota Val- ley Council of Governments, conducted a sinfilar job mxalysis. Their analysis showed that the activities officers per- forn~ in south central Minnesota are sbsfilar to the activities the Selection Standards Project identified for the metro area. Thns, the project's testing process had validity outside the metro- politan area. Establishment of a centralized system During the Selection Standards Proj- ect, participants decided that a central- ized recruitment and evaluation system would be necessary to admhfister test- lng. One obvious advantage was the increased efficiency of processing and testing applicants once rather than each individual community processing and testing applicants. The system was also more efficient for participating depart- meats, giving them access to a much larger group of applicants than would apply to individual positions. The most critical factor in establish- ing a centralized recruitment and eval- uation system related to the test instruments for predicting applicants' job performance. Control over the applicant population and the testing procedures was necessary to insure validity. If indMdual depa,'-tments had administered these tests, applicants may have taken the tests repeatedly in different areas, or departments ma)' have adnfinistered the tests differently, and soon the evaluation process for all departments would have been subject to ch,'tilenge. A joint powers organization, the Sub- urban Police Recruitment System, administered the newly developed eval- uation process and recruited applicants on behalf of its members. Member communities had joint powers authority so that each community could retain as much control as possible over the pro- cess. The SPRS officially began opera- dons on Feb. 21, 1980. Since then. the SPRS has tested 1,317 applicants and filled 119 positions in member departn~ents. As the SI'RS grew, it also provided services on a con',tact basis to many depamnents which had participated in the M,b, nesma Valley Council of Governments jt~b analysis, as well as other del-,a.'nments outside tile metropolitan area. There- fore, last year members of the SPRS