NYPD Sgt. Test Fair

To the Editor:

Re: John Monaghan's op-ed article, "Fairness in NYPD Testing?" (Dec. 1 issue): Police Officers preparing for the next NYPD Sergeant exam should study with confidence, knowing that that the exam will be a valid assessment of their abilities and knowledge.

The city's Sergeant exams are developed by working very closely with a panel of Police Department Sergeants and superior officers. All questions and answers are reviewed by a second panel of NYPD Sergeants and superior officers before the test is administered.

For the record, the city has not released questions for a Sergeant exam since 1996, well before the current round of testing that Mr. Monaghan wishes to scrutinize. As readers of The Chief know, this is so because the city has adopted a standard procedure for review and retention of civil service exam questions.

Under the review process, a proposed answer key for an exam is released on the fourth Monday after the test. Candidates who wish to review test questions or challenge the proposed answers may request an appointment for a Protest Review Session, where they can review the test booklet. All candidates are allowed one month from that date to mail in additional protests.

After an eligible list is established, the city retains the test questions for future use. This allows for more-efficient development of exams so that the city can offer more tests in a given examination year. It also enables the city to quickly develop an exam for candidates who return from military service or from a line-of-duty injury, so they would not miss promotional opportunities as a result of their military service or injuries incurred as a result of city service.

We are pleased that Mr. Monaghan has heard from Sergeants who believe the recent promotion test for Lieutenant was fair. We believe all our tests are properly job-related, and that our question review process, which includes both the city's subject-matter experts and the candidates themselves, is fair.

THOMAS PATITUCCI, Assistant Commissioner for Examinations, Department of Citywide Administrative Services