(a) The promotional process for the division of police shall be administered according to the procedures established in sections 23-3, 23-7 and 23-10 through 23-16 by the division of human resources at the direction of the director, who shall certify and maintain the list of applicants eligible for promotion for each rank. All promotion process components, including all examinations, shall be job related.
(b) Applicants for promotion must satisfy the following requirements:
(1) An applicant for the position of police sergeant must have completed four (4) years of satisfactory, service as a member of the police force. The service shall be continuous within the division of police, and the last twelve (12) months of such service must be free of any suspensions. Service time shall be computed from the date of permanent appointment, shall be completed immediately prior to the official deadline for filing applications as set out in the examination announcement, and shall include any special assignment while on approved leave of absence.
(2) An applicant for the position of police lieutenant must have completed two (2) years of satisfactory service in grade as police sergeant. The service shall be continuous within the division of police, and the last twelve (12) months of such service must be free of all suspensions. Service time shall be computed from the date of appointment, shall be completed immediately prior to the date of the written examination as set out in the examination announcement, and shall include any special assignment while on approved leave of absence.
(3) An applicant for the position of police captain must have completed one (1) year of satisfactory service in grade as police lieutenant. The service shall be continuous within the division of police, and the last twelve (12) months of such service must be free of any suspensions. Service time shall be computed from the date of appointment, shall be completed immediately prior to the date of the written examination as set out in the examination announcement, and shall include any special assignment while on approved leave of absence.
(c) Promotions to police sergeant, police lieutenant and police captain shall consist of two (2) phases, the screening process and the assessment center process. In the event there are thirty (30) or fewer applicants for promotion to the position of sergeant or ten (10) or fewer applicants for promotion to the position of lieutenant or captain, however, no screening process shall be required and all applicants shall be eligible to proceed to the assessment center phase.
(1) The screening process shall consist of two (2) parts, a written and an oral examination. The written examination shall be pass/fail. Those applicants achieving a passing score on the written examination shall proceed to the oral examination.
(i) The written examination shall be administered by the division of human resources, and the following shall apply:
a. Written examinations sheets shall be identified by the application number given each applicant by the division of human resources. The numbered control sheet shall be sealed in an envelope in the custody of the division of human resources.
b. A passing score on the written examination shall be established at no less than one (1) but no more than two (2) standard deviations below the mean pursuant to American Psychological Association Standards. Prior to the examination, the director shall present each candidate with a written explanation of this process.
c. All written examinations shall be by tests compiled by the division of human resources from questions submitted by the division of police with the approval of the commissioner of public safety.
d. Sources of testing material shall be government regulations and textbooks recommended by the police chief and his staff, authorized by the director, and approved by the commissioner of public safety.
e. No materials added to the reference library less than ninety (90) days prior to the examination shall serve as a source of questions for the examination.
f. Test resources shall be identified by a reading list, maintained in the division, which shall include titles, authors and publishers, as well as editions, volumes or printing dates where applicable.
g. The reading list shall be available to all applicants at all times.
h. Test resources shall be made available to all applicants in a fair and equitable manner.
i. The monitors of the examination shall grade each applicant's examination before the applicant leaves the examination room. Applicants shall be given their raw scores after this grading is completed.
j. On the day after the examination, the raw scores shall be listed by application number and posted in a prominent location in the division of human resources and the division of police.
k. Within three (3) days after the examination, the division of human resources shall list, by application number, scores on the written examination converted in accordance with criteria established by American Psychological Association Standards and shall post those scores in a prominent location in the division of human resources and the division of police.
(ii) The oral examination shall be monitored by the division of human resources, and the following shall apply:
a. Members of oral examination boards shall be the same for all interviews for any one (1) rank.
b. Oral interview board members shall ask each applicant the same questions.
c. There shall be no discussion among board members of individual applicants, and each board member shall independently rate each applicant on forms supplied by the division of human resources. If the director observes any group discussion, he shall declare the oral interview section void, shall empanel a new oral examination board, and shall reschedule new interviews for all applicants.
d. The oral interview board shall consist of the following members:
1. The police chief or his designated representative from among command officers appointed pursuant to section 23-30(b)(3).
2. An officer from a municipal police department of another jurisdiction which is not smaller than the division of police, of a rank equal to the one for which the applicant is competing, to be selected by the director.
3. An instructor from an accredited law enforcement education program, selected by the director and approved by the commissioner of public safety.
4. A member of the urban county council, to be appointed by the vice-mayor, may attend all sessions as a neutral advisor, but shall have no vote in any of the proceedings.
5. A professional member of the community with experience in education, business or government but not associated with the urban county government, selected by the commissioner of public safety and approved by the director.
6. The director or his designated representative, who shall have no vote but shall serve as a neutral observer and adviser.
7. The oral interview boards shall include at least one (1) female member.
e. As soon as possible after the oral interview, the director shall list the interview scores by applicant identification number and post the scores in a prominent location in the division of human resources and the division of police.
(iii) Following completion of the written and oral examination process as specified in subsection (c)(1)(i), (ii), a composite numerical ranking of applicants for the ranks of police sergeant, police lieutenant and police captain shall be compiled by the division of human resources. The scores shall be listed by applicant identification number.
(iv) The applicants having the highest numerical scores, which shall not exceed thirty (30) applicants for the rank of police sergeant nor ten (10) applicants for the ranks of police lieutenant or police captain, shall be designated as those applicants who are eligible to compete in the second phase of the examination process.
(2) (i) An assessment center process shall be used to evaluate those applicants successfully completing the first phase of the promotional process or those applicants excepted for the first phase pursuant to (c) above.
a. The assessment center shall be chosen by the director and shall be staffed by professionals qualified to perform evaluations of this kind.
b. Candidates shall be rated in areas broadly defined as job knowledge, personality profile and management or supervisory traits.
c. Selection of professional evaluation methods shall be in the discretion of the assessment center personnel and may include role-playing situations and one (1) or more interview sessions.
(ii) At the end of the assessment center process, the center personnel shall rate each of the applicants.
(iii) The ratings assigned by the center personnel shall be sent to the director and shall be the final and only score used by the division of human resources in preparing an official promotional eligibility list.
(iv) Each candidate may request an interview with the assessment center personnel to review and discuss demonstrated strengths and weaknesses as revealed in the assessment process; provided that requests for such reviews shall be made within ten (10) days following the posting of the official eligibility list. Interviews will be scheduled by the assessment center personnel.
(3) (i) To fill a vacancy in the ranks of police sergeant, police lieutenant and police captain, the names of the five (5) top-ranking candidates for each position shall be forwarded to the police chief, who may interview the candidates. The chief shall choose one (1) of the five (5), which candidate's name shall be forwarded through the urban county government chain of command to the appointing authority with a recommendation for appointment.
(ii) Eligible applications may be certified to the police chief five (5) times for consideration. Thereafter, if not selected, they shall be removed from the list of applicants eligible for promotion. Such removal does not prevent future examinations, eligibility and certification.
(d) Suspension for any reason of an applicant eligible for promotion shall be cause for automatic removal from any promotion list.
(e) All lists of applicants eligible for promotion shall continue in existence for two (2) years or until a new list is posted, whichever is later. Upon determination of a new numerical ranking of applicants eligible for promotion, all previous ranking shall be null and void and no ranking may be carried over. A new promotion list shall be developed at least thirty (30) days prior to the expiration date of the existing promotion list.
(f) The intent of the promotional process shall not be circumvented by acting appointments or assignments. A position shall be filled or abolished within ten (10) days of a vacancy in that position.
(g) Any applicant serving in a "acting capacity" shall not receive any special promotional consideration because of that assignment or appointment.
(h) The following provisions shall apply to any applicants who become a member of the urban county police force after January 1, 1974:
(1) Effective September 1, 1976, an applicant for promotion to police sergeant must have at least sixty-three (63) semester hours of college credit from an accredited college or university, or an associate degree from an accredited college or university.
(2) Effective January 1, 1981, any applicant for promotion to police lieutenant must have one hundred twenty-six (126) semester hours of college credit from an accredited college or university, or a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university.
(3) Effective January 1, 1974, forty (40) hours of approved training, including the required KLEFPF training, but excluding basic recruit training, may be substituted for three (3) college credit hours. This approved training must meet commonwealth training requirements as approved by the Kentucky Law Enforcement Council; and, additionally the training must be approved by the police chief.
(Ord. No. 135-82, § 1, 7-29-82; Ord. No. 239-82, § 1, 12-16-82; Ord. No. 19-83, § 1, 2-10-83; Ord. No. 1-84, § 1, 1-12-84; Ord. No. 76-88, §§ 3, 4, 4-21-88; Ord. No. 36-90, § 1, 2-22-90; Ord. No. 65-90, § 4, 4-5-90; Ord. No. 47-91, § 1, 3-28-91; Ord. No. 13-92, §§ 3—6, 1-23-92; Ord. No. 21-92, § 1, 2-6-92; Ord. No. 136-92, § 1, 7-9-92; Ord. No. 154-92, § 1, 8-27-92; Ord. No. 65-96, § 1, 5-2-96; Ord. No. 127-98, § 2, 5-7-98; Ord. No. 16-99, § 4, 1-28-99)