(A) Assignment of Police Officers to vacant positions within the Department will be accomplished through the procedure established herein.
Vacant positions shall be separated into three categories and assignments shall be made accordingly:
1. Positions which shall be exempt from the bidding procedure and will be filled at the discretion of the Chief, both in filling a vacancy and in determining tenure of the Officer in the position.
Positions which fall in this category are as follows:
Administrative Staff, Planning and Inspection, Intelligence, Vice-Metro Drug Unit, Gang Unit, Directed Policing and Property Room Management. Officers currently assigned to the Gang Unit and Directed Patrol shall retain their category three (3) protection upon ratification of this agreement.
2. Positions where the seniority of the Police Officer shall be given sole preference, providing the Officer seeking assignment is capable of performing the required duties of the assignment.
Positions falling into this category are as follows:
Traffic Section, Records Section, License Bureau and Tax Bureau.
3. Positions which shall be subject to the selection process as set forth herein.
(B) For all other positions, except as otherwise stated herein and except for those in the Field Operations Bureau, bids will be accepted for assignment to the Bureau and assignment within the Bureau will be at the discretion of the Department Head.
In selecting Officers to be assigned to vacancies, a standard job description and qualification form shall be available to all Officers seeking to bid for the assignment. The Officer shall complete the standard bidding form relative to the vacancy, in advance of the interview with the Bureau Head or his designee.
The Bureau Head or his designee shall review all such applica tions and shall prepare a list of those meeting the minimum qualifications of the position. At least fifty (50%) percent of those meeting the minimum qualifications for the position shall be interviewed. Officers who do not meet the minimum qualifica tions of the position shall be so advised.
A prescreening process consisting of the following criteria shall be established to determine those entitled to an interview:
(1) attendance/sick leave
(2) discipline
(3) years of service
(4) education
All those applicants who meet the standards as established under the prescreening process shall be entitled to an interview. Those applicants who do not meet the standards established under the pre-screening process will not be interviewed, however, they will be advised as to the area(s) of their deficiency.
The interview shall consist of a standard questioning format for all interviews. The Bureau Head or his designee shall make recommendations to the Chief of the Department, who will have the final determination as to the Officers to be selected.
Qualifications, competence and seniority shall be given fair consideration by the Chief in selecting Officers to fill these vacancies. Those assigned to Vice-Metro for three or more years shall be given special consideration upon bidding to Investigative Services Bureau vacancies. For the purpose of this section, seniority shall be defined as the employee's accumulated length of service with the Department.
(C) When an Officer has been assigned to a vacant position under the second and third categories, the Officer will retain the assignment except where there are general changes of assignment or where there is just cause for removal. Officers assigned to the Directed Policing and Gang Units shall serve in a six (6) month probationary period.
In the event the Chief of Police due to general changes of assignment removes employees and transfers them to other bureaus or sections, the employee(s) shall be removed by reverse seniority. When the affected vacancies are back filled, the assignments shall be filled with the most senior displaced employee being the first to be returned and all other returned employees falling in that order provided the return occurs within four (4) years of the change in assignment.
(D) A committee comprised of equal representation of union and administrative personnel shall be formed within seven (7) days of ratification to design a selection process for category 3 positions that establishes a rank order list for selections. The process shall assess points for education, training, discipline, personnel evaluation, interview, sick time usage, and written testing and/or task performance. The committee shall develop and provide to the Chief its recommendations within sixty (60) days of ratification. Recommendations shall only be implemented if the Chief and the TPPA President or designee agree to the recommendations. If agreement is not reached Section 2129.31 "Filling Vacant positions" shall revert to the language contained in the 2009-2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement.