ASSESSMENT CENTERS

A powerful tool for making promotional decisions, an assessment center uses a series of simulated on-the-job challenges to gauge a candidate’s ability to perform the target job. Individual and group job simulations offer in-depth information and insight on an individual’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall performance potential. The performance of candidates is evaluated by trained assessors, providing information unattainable from written tests, interviews or any other source.

The IACP provides a comprehensive service in implementing an assessment center including:

Job Analysis and Assessment Center Development

The IACP will conduct a comprehensive on-site job analysis of the target job. Based on the job analysis, the IACP will develop exercises and evaluation dimensions that represent the unique situations and challenges a candidate is likely to face in the target job as well as current issues in law enforcement. The IACP also provides training for assessors emphasizing validated, objective, and legally defensible evaluation and scoring.

Assessment Center Administration and Evaluation

The IACP facilitates administration of the assessment center by providing assistance in exercise administration, assessor documentation, and data analysis. Following the conclusion of the assessment center, the IACP will prepare a final report summarizing the assessment center development and the candidates’ performance data.

Because of their accurate simulation of the job and its duties, assessment centers have proven highly defensible as a selection strategy. Our assessment centers are comprehensive and customized. A variety of assessment methods are available to meet every selection need from entry-level to top executive.

PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATIONS

The IACP recognizes the importance of selecting and advancing the right candidates into leadership positions, understanding that each agency has its own set of challenges and circumstances. For decades the IACP has been a leader in assisting agencies with their promotional needs by offering custom promotional examinations and assessment centers.

With a knowledgeable core staff and a team of consultants around the country, the Professional Services team can create a solution that is tailor-made for the needs of your agency.

The IACP offers two options for written multiple-choice promotional tests:

• Promotional Examination System (PES) 
• Custom-designed promotional examinations

A PES examination uses job analysis surveys to identify specific tasks and areas of knowledge and their importance to the target job. Based on the data obtained from these surveys, a computer-based system is used to select test questions that match the job requirements. The result is a multiple-choice promotional exam specifically tailored to the needs of your agency. For a PES exam, the test items are based on content from a custom-built law-enforcement textbook and sources for the target rank.

Custom examinations are created based on the individual requirements of the client agency. The IACP will conduct an in-depth job analysis and develop test items based on agency-specific materials such as policy and procedure manuals, state law, labor agreements, and external books and resources. Our staff will work with you to draft an examination that is specifically written for your agency based on your job requirements and source materials.

Selecting the reading list: IACP will work with your department to help craft the reading list to be most beneficial to your department. For more information on selecting resources for the reading list, see the resource page.

For both the PES and custom exams, candidates receive study guides that include the reading list, sample test questions, and instructions for preparation. Following test administration by either IACP staff or the agency, the IACP offers optical scanning of the test responses and a comprehensive summary of results.

To obtain more information about these services please email professionalservices@theiacp.org or call 703.836.6767.