Establishing a Merit System of Promotions for the Bureau of Police

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The Merit Board shall establish the method of selection of the best qualified officer based upon the examination, performance rating, and oral interviews. In the event of a vacancy, officers holding an equivalent rank and pre- requisite qualifications may be considered for lateral assignment by the Chief of Police prior to the commission's promotional deliberation of the established list. Any member qualified for promotion but refusing same shall maintain his position on the eligibility list, such refusal being considered a refusal for a specific assignment and not a refusal of promotional consideration. The Merit Board shall cause notice to each member of the Bureau, in writing, of the grade which each member received on the examination. Such regulation shall further provide that if any member is aggrieved with the grade received on the written competitive and situational examination, he shall have a right to appeal in writing to the Board for review of the grade within ten days after the notice of the grade has been sent to him and the Board, after reviewing the grade and the examination papers shall have the authority to affirm the grade or to increase the grade according to the findings of the review. The Board shall prepare a written report on each officer reviewed denoting reasons for action and areas in which the officer is proficient and deficient. (b) It shall be the duty of the Board to provide training for all personnel in the philosophy and technique of objective performance evaluation and to prescribe the manner of determining a rating for the past performance. Such regulations shall contain a provision requiring that each performance rating shall be made every six months for officers holding a permanent rank and every three months for officers holding a probationary rank, such ranks being described in Section VII of this act for each member of the Bureau of Police by their immediate superior officer and by the appropriate number of peer group raters so situated by assignment and experience so as to have an intimate knowledge of the skills and character of the officer being rated, as designated by the Board, which rating shall be submitted to the Chief of Police and kept on file in his office or in the Bureau of Police under his supervision. The Merit Board shall cause notice to each member of the Bureau, in writing, of the rating which such member receives. Such regulation shall further pro- vide that if any member is aggrieved with the performance rating given him by any rater, he shall have the right to appeal to the Board for a review of the rating within ten days after the notice of the rating has been sent to him, and the Board, after reviewing the rating, shall have the authority to affirm the rating or to increase the rating according to the finding of the review. SECTION VII. All promotions provided for herein shall be probationary for the first year. At the end of such year, the immediate superior officer shall review the performance ratings of the probationary officer and recommend to the Commission whether the promotion shall be made permanent or whether the promotion shall be revoked. The Board shall prepare an appropriate rating chart for the superior officer's use in making his report. The Board shall review the report and make its determina- tion as to the disposition to be made. The probationary officer may appear before the Board and be heard on any matter detrimental to him in the superior officer's report by filing a written appeal to the Board within ten days of the recommendation being filed. He shall have the right to be represented by counsel. All actions of the Board are final. In the event the promotion is finally revoked, the officer shall not be returned to a rank lower than he held prior to the time of the probationary promotion. The Board shall prepare and publish appeal procedures to be followed for appeals to the Board from the report of the superior officer as provided in I.C. 18- 1 -11 -3 and I.C. 18- 1 -4 -2.