. Retired police captain Barry T. Malkin served over thirty years in Washington, D.C.'s Metropolitan Police Department where he directed the creation of the first centralized Master Patrol Officer Selection Process. When not working as an expert witness, Barry spends his time in Ocean City, Maryland. The Police Assessment Center: Important Keys for Success What You Need to Know and May Not Have Been Told By BARRY T. MALKIN iUniverse, Inc. Copyright © 2009 Barry T. Malkin All right reserved. ISBN: 978-1-4401-6402-6 Contents 1. About the Author.......................................................................12. Why I Had to Write This Book...........................................................33. The Assessment Center-Definition, Purpose and History..................................74. Training and Selection of the Assessors................................................255. Why the Extra Point Makes Such a Difference............................................356. Critical Concept Number One: Dimensions or Characteristics.............................417. Critical Concept Number Two: Issues, Actions and Follow-Up Actions.....................478. The Relevance of Delegation............................................................679. Simple Keys to Assessment Center Success...............................................85 Chapter One ABOUT THE AUTHOR I am a retired District of Columbia Metropolitan Police officer. I served on the force for thirty-three years and seven months. Of that time, I spent nine years in uniform patrol, eleven and a half as a uniform patrol sergeant, three years as a lieutenant both in patrol and as an equal employment opportunity specialist, eight years as a patrol captain and the final two and a half years at the Metropolitan Police Training Academy, first as the deputy director and later as acting director of the Testing and Standards Branch. My other experience includes working briefly for the New Jersey Department of Personnel as a test development specialist for the rank of sergeant, as well as serving as an assessor in Arlington, Virginia, for the rank of lieutenant; in New Orleans, Louisiana, for the rank of lieutenant; in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for the rank of major; and in my department for the ranks of sergeant and detective grade one. In 2001, I participated in the International Association of Chiefs of Police four-day Conference on Assessment Centers in St. Petersburg, Florida. In 2002, I personally conducted the training for outside-the-department lieutenants and captains who would later be the assessors for Washington, DC's Metropolitan Police Department's 2002 Promotional Process Assessment Center for sergeant, lieutenant and captain. In 2003 and 2004, I was assigned the responsibility of creating my department's very first centralized Master Patrol Officer Selection Process. This included preparing the written and oral exercise scenarios, the assessor and item-writer training and the candidate orientation. I completed the process in May 2004. On Thursday, June 23, 2004, I turned in my gun and badge. On Friday, my last day at work, I arrived at the usual 0630 hours, and stayed a bit later than 1500, saying goodbye to and thanking my co-workers at the Training Academy. The very next morning, Saturday, I signed the papers for my childhood dream, a bay-front condominium in Ocean City, Maryland. Captain Willie Smith, a co-worker friend of mine and a tremendous help to me during the 2002 promotional process, and Sheila Beaman, my invaluable management analyst who always had my back, had driven up to be with me. My wonderful girlfriend, Paula, was there too. I was now retired, and there would never be any more check-in or check-out times at cheap motels. How lucky was I! Chapter Two WHY I HAD TO WRITE THIS BOOK Law enforcement is a truly wonderful career. I got into it on a fluke, and may or may not go into that in another book. However, I loved being a police officer most of the time, though there were times that were difficult, trying and so depressing that I came pretty close to getting out of Dodge. For the most part, though, police officers are able to experience life in a way that most people would never be able to do, or even imagine. I have always taken great pride in doing things that help people. My superiors saw me as being a little different-as more than a "lock 'em up" cop. I went further than was required of me and employed discretion when I could. I guess some liked that. Because of this, early in my career I had the wonderful fortune of acquiring rabbis . In law enforcement, "rabbi" is a term of endearment for someone who looks out for and guides you. This absolutely does not mean that person will cover up improprieties or misconduct. In my career, especially, this was not true. Like most officers, I did do some things wrong and on one occasion conducted myself in a way that was perceived by some as wron