Opinion ID: 561788
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Development of the Examination

Text: 5 In February 1989, the Commission announced that it would conduct a competitive examination for promotions to the rank of police sergeant. The examination was open to police officers and police detectives who had at least one year of satisfactory employment in such a capacity by the City of Bridgeport (Bridgeport) immediately prior to February 3, 1988, and who met the following additional requirements: 6 bona fide residence in the City of Bridgeport; ... knowledge of police department rules and regulations and of applicable laws and ordinances; considerable knowledge of modern police methods and tactics; considerable knowledge of police investigative and crime detection methods and techniques; knowledge of the laws of evidence; command ability; ability to prepare clear and comprehensive reports, keen powers of observation and memory; mental alertness; integrity; industry; resourcefulness; good judgment; physical strength and agility; good health and freedom from disabling physical defects. 7 (Commission's Notice dated February 6, 1989.) The examination was to be in two parts. The score on the written portion would constitute 53% of the candidate's total score; the score on the oral portion would constitute 42% of the total score. Seniority would determine the remaining 5% of the score. The passing cutoff point was to be 70% of the highest score. 8 The examination had been constructed for the City during the fall of 1988 by Dr. James L. Outtz, an industrial psychologist and testing expert who had developed the police sergeants' examination used by the City in 1983. The written portion of the examination was intended to test knowledge of subjects such as substantive legal principles, the laws of evidence, correct procedures, and departmental policies. In 1988, Dr. Outtz sought updated information from incumbent officers in order to analyze the knowledge requirements in the pertinent areas. His inquiries included circulation of detailed questionnaires and review of the answers provided by 26 incumbent sergeants (half the total number in the Department). 9 The oral part of the examination was intended to test primarily for the requisite skills and abilities. In the course of developing the 1989 examination, Dr. Outtz recommended that the Commission use video simulations instead of some of the more traditional tests. In these simulations, crime scenes are projected onto a screen, and the candidate is asked to indicate in writing how he or she would respond to the events depicted. Though recognizing that video simulations would be more expensive than the traditional tests, Dr. Outtz urged the substitution in order to improve the examination and to reduce the possibility of its adverse impact on minority candidates. To further encourage the City to use the simulations, he offered to defer collection of his fee until July 1989. The Commission's personnel director wrote to the Mayor of Bridgeport seeking approval of this proposal, noting that [t]hese video components of the examination have proved to be virtually race-neutral with regard to the performance of minority groups and whites. (Letter dated November 9, 1988.) He urged the Mayor to approve funding for the simulations [i]n view of the difficulty we have had in the past with regard to Police and Fire promotionals, with respect to challenges under Title VII. (Id.) He stated that though use of the simulations would involve an initial expense, the long-term savings to the City, as well as this decent and responsible gesture of developing new methodologies to reduce any discriminatory impact will go a long way towards our City's reputation as an employer. (Id.) 10 These efforts to have the City use the simulations proved futile. The Mayor refused to provide additional funds for this proposal; he directed the Commission to expend such funds as it saw fit for this purpose from its own budget. The Commission had in its Special Services budget, from which testing costs were normally paid, sufficient funds to pay for the proposed video simulations. At trial it claimed--in an explanation the district court found less than satisfactory--not to have learned of these funds until too late. 11 Accordingly, the 1989 examination was administered with the traditional written and oral components. Under the Commission's affirmative action policy, the panels conducting the oral tests should have included representatives of protected classes of candidates. Dr. Outtz also specifically recommended that the panels include minority examiners. Nonetheless, the panels that conducted the oral portions of the 1989 examination included no Blacks and no Hispanics. Though Bridgeport's assistant personnel director said--in testimony the court found considerably less than convincing--that minority panelists had been sought, Bridgeport's director of affirmative action testified that neither the Commission nor any other City official had asked him for assistance in recruiting any minority examiners. 12