Law Enforcement Careers

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Law enforcement snipers; In this age of more sophisticated technology and broader access to detailed information, the job of the Police Officer has become more dangerous and complicated. This episode explores the use of highly disciplined snipers in a tactical unit. The History Channel travels to Los Angeles, San Jose and Albuquerque to watch Snipers train with special enforcement units, which work to subdue the deadliest and most cunning criminals. In Fairfax, VA, we stare over the shoulders of Secret Service snipers who operate as the eyes and ears of our country’s most important security detail. With their precision shooting and sophisticated reconnaissance abilities, a well-placed, talented Law Enforcement Sniper can make the difference between a routine arrest and an impromptu massacre.

say I want to start out as DEA after a few years of law enforcement. I know state and federal pensions are different but lets say if i dislike the DEA after 5 years can i switch to another law enforcement like FBI ATF etc. will i be able to add those 5 years onwards toward 20 year pension? please help thanks!

Do local law enforcement agencies prefer military experience? If so do they hire personnel serving in the reserves?

Career choices, opportunities and advancement are available for those who want to have a career in criminal justice. These opportunities include work such as police officers, correctional officers, paralegals, private investigators, crime scene investigators, forensic psychologists, and lawyers.

The chief duty of a police officer or sheriff is to implement the law. This involves protecting communities against criminals, arresting law offenders, and examining crimes. They seek and gather evidence to aid in prosecuting criminals and law offenders, file detailed reports, and become a witness in court when needed. Many police officers serve in towns or in cities. Sheriff’s deputies, on the other hand, usually serve in small, rural areas that have no police department of their own. Police officers and sheriffs deputies are trained to act in response to a wide variety of situations and emergencies. One of the career advancement opportunities in criminal justice for sheriffs and police officers is heading up particular units like homicide. Another advancement opportunity is also available for sheriffs and police to replace those in office who are reaching retirement age.

One of the duties of a correctional officer is to watch over or manage offenders who are serving their time in jail, reformatory, or penitentiary and those who are incarcerated but still awaiting trial. To avoid escapes, assaults, and conflicts, they safeguard inmate security and responsibility. In spite of the work setting, correctional officers assist in enforcing rules and regulations, and they maintain order by monitoring the inmates’ activities and work assignments. They enforce discipline in the penitentiary. They also regularly hunt drugs or weapons in inmates; check for contrabands; test bars, locks, doors and windows for any indication of tampering; and scrutinize visitors and letters for banned materials. Law enforcement duties and responsibilities in the reformatory, penitentiary, jail, or correctional institution where they work are also part of the correctional officer’s job. Opportunities for career advancement in criminal justice for correctional officers are numerous. Among them are correctional treatment specialist and correctional sergeant.

A paralegal or legal assistant, under the supervision of a licensed attorney, updates and reviews files, drafts documents, interviews clients, prepares trial notebooks, does legal research, and helps the lawyer write legal briefs. A paralegal assistant also assists the attorney get ready for corporate meetings, trials, hearings, and closings. However, the law does not allow paralegals to give legal advice, set legal fees, present cases in court, or other tasks that fall in the category of law practice. The duties of a paralegal differ depending on the lawyer, law firm, agency, or organization. Career advancement for paralegals is remarkably good. A lot of paralegals enter the U.S. Department of Justice, private law firms, or acquire experience first then establish their own company. While others, on the other hand, choose to continue their studies and become police officers, attorneys, or enter other areas of criminal justice.

even cops dial 911… Join SWAT

Never have there been so many tools for Palmdale employment lawyers to help people recently fired to win damages for discrimination, to seek a better severance package, including not only a longer period of pay benefits, but also other items, most important of which can be a longer period of health insurance benefits following the termination, or even to save the employee’s job.

If you’ve been fired from your job as a result of discrimination or retaliation, been harassed or the victim of a hostile work environment, or paid less than a person of the opposite sex for the same work for no other valid reason, visit our website at http://www.CaliforniaAttorneysLawyers.com and call us at any of the numbers easily found on our website.

In Palmdale and throughout California where private employers and government offices have laid off people in the hundreds and thousands, sometimes on a weekly basis there is substantial fear among those who have recently been terminated and those who are in fear that they could be next to be let go. In areas such as the Palmdale area where unemployment and foreclosures are at their highest in the state, many employees who have been discriminated against or fired in retaliation for complaints of harassment and who previously feared making any complaint, now feel they have nothing to lose.

Some employees are filing class action lawsuits based on everything from age and sex discrimination to discrimination against veterans. Individual claims are being made for overtime pay that the employees never received and retaliation for whistle blowing or reporting harassment.

One of the best tools for Palmdale employment lawyers is often the employee’s company manual and other memos of the company which often lay out glowing descriptions of how fair the company will be in their employment practices. Such manuals often describe all of the types of actions which the company claims they will not tolerate including the various forms of harassment and how the company will never take a retaliatory action against anyone blowing the whistle on harassment at the company.

Such manuals provide a powerful tool to the employee and the employment lawyer to show the company exactly how they violated not only the law, but also the company’s own employment guidelines. Faced with such violations of the principles the company itself laid down and promised to their employees, it is difficult for such companies to argue that they didn’t realize how they were supposed to respond to an employee’s reports of harassment or that they didn’t know they couldn’t fire someone for making such reports.

Employees must keep in mind that under California law, complaints alleging discrimination or retaliation must be filed with the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement in California within six months of the alleged discriminatory or retaliatory action by an employer, except in certain circumstances.

Some of the laws enforced by the Labor Commissioner in the State of California which prohibit discrimination and retaliation include discrimination or retaliation for threatening to file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner, for taking time off to serve as a juror, be a witness in court or to attend judicial proceedings related to being a victim of a crime or related to a victim, for discharging victims of domestic violence, for taking time off to seek medical or psychological treatment related to domestic violence or a sexual assault, for taking time off to go to a child’s school at the request of a teacher, for disclosing his or her wages, for engaging in political activity, for being a whistle blower (not the real whistles), for being paid less than employees of a different sex for the same work unless based on a bona fide factor other than sex, or for complaining about safety or health conditions.

For Palmdale Employment Lawyers such as myself who are also Women’s Rights Lawyers, when President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 in late January, he remedied a great injustice and provided employment and women’s rights attorneys with yet another tool in our arsenal to fight for employee’s and women’s rights.

Now women in California and the rest of the nation have a law that gives them the ability to redress the wrong suffered upon them by society in allowing men to receive more money for the same work from an employer and limiting the rights of women to bring a claim for pay discrimination.

In the past, women were required to file suit within 180 days after first being paid unfairly, even if the discrimination of being paid less than male workers in the same jobs continued. And if a woman failed to discover that male workers were being paid more for the same work, a woman still could not hold her employer accountable if she didn’t learn of the unfairness and take action within 180 days of first being paid the lesser rate.

Under the Fair Pay Act of 2009 signed into law by President Obama, the statute of limitations of 180 days starts with each discriminatory paycheck, rather than when the employer starts to discriminate. So long as a woman in CA files her claim within 180 days of receiving any discriminatory paycheck, not just the first one, she is considered timely in bringing her claim.

An important aspect of the Act is that the effective date of the Act is retroactively set at May 28, 2007, which will allow it to apply to all compensation discrimination claims that have been filed on or after that date.

Women can sue for back pay awards for up to two years before she files her employment discrimination claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Fair Pay Act of 2009 does not change the two-year back pay limit.

Under the Act, an unlawful practice occurs when a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice is adopted, when a person becomes subject to the decision or practice, or when a person is affected by the decision or practice, including each time wages, benefits or other compensation is paid.

California also has it’s own version of the Federal WARN Act which in certain circumstances requires 60 days warning before laying off workers. Under the 2003 California version of the Act, the requirement of 60 days warning applies to establishments with 75 or more employees who have been employed for at least 6 of the previous 12 months, who layoff or relocated 50 or more employees within a 30-day period. There are also various exceptions to the rule.

For the elderly employee laid off, an important ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court has given added protection to older workers. Elderly persons who file employment discrimination lawsuits no longer need to prove that an employer acted intentionally. It is enough that the employee can prove that the layoffs had a disparate effect on the elderly workers.

Layoffs of caregivers providing care to sick family members may also violate federal law.

And all of these tools are still in addition to the tools Palmdale employment lawyers have against employers who practice discrimination based on sex, religion, race, age, or sexual orientation, or who subject their workers to a workplace that constitutes a hostile environment.

Visit our website at http://www.CaliforniaAttorneysLawyers.com and call us if you have been discriminated against or are the victim of retaliation by an employer in Palmdale or if you have been receiving less pay than a person of the opposite sex for the same work by your employer for no other valid reason.

It is thus imperative that an employee being laid off who is provided with a separation agreement and release of all claims against his employer consult with an employment attorney to determine if there weren’t violations of any of these laws and others that can assist the employee and his or her attorney to negotiate a larger severance package.

If you have recently been fired, are in fear of losing your job or if you have been presented with a separation agreement or severance package and have been discriminated against, harassed or are the victim of retaliation in Palmdale by your employer, we invite you to call our office.

please list all you know thank you
more along the lines of detective or criminal investigator are there any more?
well thats one opinion ex cop

According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), cyber crime was up in 2008, and if the first few months of 2009 is anything to go by, this trend is not only continuing, it is accelerating.
As the country slides into recession, early indicators for 2009—February to March 2009—shows an additional 50% increase in reported Internet fraud complaints.
“These numbers are shocking, but given that the vast majority of incidents go unreported, the threat of identification theft is actually much more serious than even these figures would lead us to believe,” says Justin Yurek, President of ID Watchdog, Inc. Common wisdom says that only one cyber crime in seven—or about fifteen percent—is actually reported.
Internet fraud includes everything from bogus sales on auction sites such as eBay and classified sites like craigslist.com, to smaller scale version of the Ponzi scheme perpetrated by disgraced New York financier Bernard Madoff.
As an example, a scam recently surfaced via e-mails that masquerade as originating from the FBI and other federal agencies seeking the recipient’s bank account information in order to “help with illegal wire transfer investigations.” Sweet.
The Recession Impact
Many observers put the continued surge in cyber crime down to the recession, and for several reasons.
As reported by the TechArena Forum , McAfee for one, in their annual McAfee Virtual Criminology Report—which examines emerging global cyber security trends, with input from leading academics, criminal lawyers, law enforcement authorities and security experts across the world—identified the following challenges:
The Cyber Credit Crunch — The cyber criminal is now trying to cash in on consumer anxiety to profit from old-fashioned “get rich quick” scams.
Meaning, that there are now people who voluntarily sign up to add malicious code to their websites, lured by the promise of easy money. At the same time, desperate job seekers are being recruited as “money mules” to launder cybercriminal gains under the guise of “international sales representatives” or “shipping managers.”
In addition, with the economic downturn driving more people to the web to seek the best deals, opportunities for cybercriminals to attack are on the rise as people are more easily drawn in.
Governments are distracted — As governments grow more and more preoccupied with the economic downturn, their fight against cyber crime slides down their agenda, inviting more and more audacious individuals onto the cyber crime field.
The Cybercop Shortage — It is a known fact that police forces on the cyber crime front line often lack the specialist skills required to effectively fight these criminals.
Furthermore, the lack of dedicated and ongoing training, sufficient remuneration, or even a clear career path, is causing cyber crime specialists to be lured into the more lucrative private sector or even into underground economies.
Criminality Concealed — Eastern Europe, Russia and China have become key safe havens for cybercriminals while Brazil has become one of the fastest growing scapegoat countries for cybercrime. Traffic is often re-routed (and often via Brazil) as a decoy causing considerable misdirection in the origin of attacks.
Information Silo — While law enforcement is bound to physical national boundaries, cybercriminals are free to cooperate across borders.
Law enforcement communication between countries remains inconsistent and limited. Local issues and priorities take precedence over global efforts and international laws are being implemented with regional variations that impede the ability to negotiate jurisdiction and extradition between countries.
This is an environment that plays right into the hands of the cyber criminal, much to the frustration of cyber police.
Microsoft’s Take
As reported by RedOrbit Microsoft shares McAfee’s view that the global recession could prove to be a starting point for an influx of more cyber criminals seeking to use their computer skills to earn extra money.
“Today these (cyber) attacks are no longer about vandalism, they are about cash,” says Roger Halbheer, Microsoft’s chief security advisor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“Cyber crime has gone from cool to cash. And this will definitely grow in the future,” he told AFP (Agence France-Presse) during a recent international conference on terrorism and cyber security in Spain. “At the moment we are still at the cool side. But I’m expecting it to move to the cash side.”
He then went on to add that it is, “one of the things that scare me about the economic downturn because I expect cyber crime to grow.”
Also, the current economic crisis is causing a large number of layoffs, many of them from tech firms, meaning that more and more computer experts will have a lot of time on their hands, but no money. Tempting.
Fixing any and all security issues in software, does not solve the problem for, “Unfortunately the bad guys don’t give up and go away. Instead they increasingly focus on crimes of deception that prey on human vulnerabilities rather than software vulnerabilities.”
A Law Enforcement Perspective
Lt. Rocky Costa, who until recently headed up the Southern California High Technology Task Force agrees. “In fact, law enforcement has always seen a rise in all sorts of theft crimes when the economy goes south. The crooks look to fraud as the best way to separate folks from their money. People are most vulnerable when money is tight and they are looking to save their homes, savings, retirements, and often, their families.
“They become easy prey to the con-artist who has no sense of right and wrong, but knows how to capitalize on human weaknesses. You see the con artist makes a living studying people and their behaviors. They know their success rate will increase as the economy tumbles and/or the recession climbs. Since a vast number of folks use technology daily, it is only natural to expect technology to be another weakness and another method for exploitation.
“Historically, the number of street robberies goes up, along with shoplifting, and burglaries as the money becomes scarcer. Although we have not yet seen these increases at the lab, we fully expect them. However, with the current economy, even government must begin to cut back. When they do, technology based crimes slide down the priority list in favor of these more visible types of theft.
“People need to stay vigilant in the face is despair, holding onto their values and good judgment will be the only way they will be able to fully protect what they have left, until we all see around the corner.”
A Call to Action During the opening keynote at RSA Conference 2009 Art Coviello, President of RSA, The Security Division of EMC, cautioned that the global cyber-threat continues to escalate and online fraudsters are more organized, collaborative and effective than ever. He addressed major forces such as the economy and emerging technologies that are driving the information security industry to evolve and adapt—and how these forces provide an opportunity for “inventive collaboration” to effectively restructure the information infrastructure.
“To combat the cybercriminals requires far more purposeful collaboration on the part of the industry and a strong security ecosystem built around a common development process focused on risk,” said Coviello. “Today’s security technologies are applied as independent applications cluttering the information landscape and leaving perilous gaps of risk.”
Coviello cited three major forces driving the information security industry to evolve and adapt, including:
• the challenge posed by the criminal threat;
• the demand upon enterprises and governments to achieve unprecedented levels of productivity to restore value to the faltering economy; and
• the opportunity to rethink the approach to security based upon emerging technologies and trends such as virtualization, cloud computing and social networking.
According to Coviello, “We must embrace a common development process that allows us to create a more secure infrastructure today. Then with an eye on the future we can ensure that the new technical infrastructure is designed around that process, rather than forcing a process around a collection of technologies.
“We must develop a stronger and healthier ecosystem than the fraudsters and ensure the fluid and frictionless exchange of information on which our global economy depends. It’s not about changing the game; it’s about winning the game,” said Coviello.
Educating the Individual
However, it does not matter of safe our hardware and software becomes, if the individual citizen, desperate for money—and reaching for digital straws, as it were—believes that perhaps this Nigerian Prince really does exist and really does want to spit his $2 Million 50/50 if only he were to help him.
And by the same token, scouring the Internet for the best deal, and finding some that are (in fact) too good to be true, he may pounce on them, not only losing his money in the process, but also his credit card number and other private information.
The same holds true for many “work-at-home” opportunities that only require a small $300 payment for the material you will need to make “thousands a week from your kitchen.” You’ve seen them. Well, as often as not, you will not even receive the material, and by the time you’ve wised up, your card has been charged, your money gone.
The time to wise up is now.
Internet Commerce Made Safe
As we all know, at least during some of our more rational moments—the “too good to be true” deal is often precisely that. But that is not to say that there are no good deals out there. In fact, the Internet is probably the marketplace that to a large extent will pull the economy out of its slump, precisely because it is replete with good deals and true opportunities.
But how to tell the good from the bad?
According to the IC3, the best way to guard against Internet facilitated scams is to stay informed. Keeping informed of the latest scams on the Internet may enable Internet users to recognize and report these scams instead of losing money or their identity information in one of them. To learn about the latest scams, they recommend periodically checking the IC3, FBI, and the FTC websites for the latest updates.
Additionally, the IC3 and its partners have launched a public website, “www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com,” which briefs the consumer about various consumer alerts, tips, and fraud trends. Pay it a visit. Make it a habit.
Also, when it comes to online auctions, and the potential of non-delivery of goods that you’ve paid for, the IC3 makes these specific recommendations:
• Make sure you are purchasing merchandise from a reputable source. As with auction fraud, check the reputation of the seller whenever possible, including the Better Business Bureau.
• Try to obtain a physical address rather than merely a post office box and a phone number. Also, call the seller to see if the number is correct and working.
• Send them an e-mail to see if they have an active e-mail address. Be cautious of sellers who use free e-mail services where a credit card was not required to open the account.
• Investigate other websites regarding this person/company. Do not judge a person/company by their fancy website; thoroughly check the person/company out.
• Be cautious when responding to special offers (especially through unsolicited e-mail).
• Be cautious when dealing with individuals/companies from outside your own country. Remember the laws of different countries might pose issues if a problem arises with your transaction.
• Inquire about returns and warranties on all items.
• The safest way to purchase items via the Internet is by credit card because you can often dispute the charges if something is wrong. Also, consider utilizing an escrow or alternate payment service after conducting thorough research on the escrow service.
• Make sure the website is secure when you electronically send your credit card numbers.
Bona Fide vs. Fraudulent Online Escrow Companies
If you have found a good online deal and are now ready to purchase, it would serve you very well to take IC3’s recommendation and engage an online escrow service.
The problem is that while there are several bona fide online escrow sites, they are nowhere near as many as there are fraudulent ones.
So, how can you be sure that the escrow company you’re considering using is in fact what it says it is?
You must research it. First, do a WHOIS search on the domain. This will show you how long the site has been up, where it is being hosted, how many times the site has been taken down. These are clues. If it smells fishy at all to you, go elsewhere.
Then Google the name of the escrow company to see what gives. This will lead you to forums and other articles. Study them well.
Then, when you have found a site that appears legitimate, travel the extra mile and take one of several additional steps:
• Firstly, while fraudulent sites can buy the necessary certificate to make it a secure site, they seldom do;
• Secondly, you can check at escrow-fraud.com to see if the site you have decided on is listed as a fraudulent site by them; they also maintain a list of bona fide sites;
• Thirdly, you can call the site’s customer service department to make sure they are based in the United States. If you have any doubts about that, ask them to call you back, and check the caller ID—if it is an international call, beware. Also, if the site does not have a customer service department, again, beware;
• Once you know that you’re talking to a U.S. based service department, ask any questions you can think of to ensure they are legitimate, such as which bank are they using for their escrow accounts, and who is their main contact at that bank (whom you can then call to verify that this online escrow company does in deed have an escrow account there);
• If the answer is a well-known American bank, and if the customer service rep can supply contact information at the bank, you are 99% there. Then, if you want to reach 100%, make that final call to the bank to rule out any vestige of doubt.
Now you have found an online escrow company you can trust; register with them and enjoy your purchase.
Escrow.com
To make your life a little easier, there is an online escrow company with the credentials to put your mind at ease.
Licensed by the state of California—as well as by the States of Idaho and Arizona, who require separate licenses—Escrow.com is the only on-line escrow company credentialed to serve every state in the Union, and who indeed does so 24/7.
While Escrow.com will handle transactions of any size, it may not make financial sense to turn to them for low cost items since their transaction fee is $25, and their commission is $63 per $1,000 value of the transaction if payment is by credit card and $32.50 per $1,000 for wire transfers.
But, if you value your sleep, Escrow.com would be indispensible for any transaction of $250 on up.
While Escrow.com is gaining increasing recognition as the Internet escrow company to turn to for peace of e-commerce mind, their staff, on a daily basis, also hunt and diligently work to shut down fraudulent impostors, which are encountered daily.
And they spring up like mushrooms, these impostors: there are days that Escrow.com staff discovers as many as ten new such sites.
The good news is that as these sites are tracked down, authorities are alerted and the sites are soon off the air.
Bay Weighs In
To quote the biggest online auction site of them all, eBay: “Pay safely – beware of fake escrow services when you consider using them to pay for your eBay item.
“For eBay transactions, you should use eBay’s only approved Escrow Company: www.escrow.com.”
Escrow.com Customers Weigh In
Zan Christensen operates a small craft mall and recently completed the sale of a domain name using Escrow.com.
“This transfer was the most convenient and easy to accomplish sale I could have imagined and hoped for, and the most pleasant surprise of how the process moved so smoothly and quickly! Other companies would do well to follow your business model—service, integrity, excellent help access and communication, and most importantly—safe!”
When asked how he came by Escrow.com, Zan says, “I went online and did some research on third party escrows, and I kept seeing over and over and over again: Escrow.com. It kept coming up in multiple discussions, and of course it is recommended by eBay and a whole bunch of domain name companies, selling companies.
“To make a long story short, after researching half a dozen other third party escrow companies and going through their websites page by page and reading thousands of paragraphs about how they operate—everybody is a little bit different—I settled with Escrow.com because I felt it was the safest and I saw that they are very structured, very organized and everything was step by step and validated and verified before the next step is processed, and it worked out great.
“And I definitely picked the right company: The ease of the interface between me and the site in setting up an account; the ease of creating a new transaction, setting out your parameters for the deal, and getting the other party to agree to them: it was so convenient.
“And fast. I received the go-ahead to transfer the name at 7:30 in the morning I had money in the 2:30 that afternoon.”
Elliot Silver buys and sells domain names, and specializes in developing GeoDomans. “Escrow.com is trusted by non-domain professional and domain professionals alike, they are easy to use, and it’s quick to do a transaction through them.”
When asked what he would recommend you do to establish Escrow.com’s credentials, Elliot said, “For one, they should know that Escrow.com is one of the very few online escrow companies that are approved to do business in California. Then I’d suggest that they Google Escrow.com—such as “Escrow.com Review” or “Escrow.com eBay”—and read the articles. That will dispel any fears.
“Also, they’ve been around for a long time, and they own the category. It is the industry-defining domain name. That’s who they are, and that is what they do. They are recommended by the biggest companies who do not handle escrow themselves. They all recommend Escrow.com as a third party.”
Escrow.com—A Soon-To-Be Household Name
As Escrow.com gains further and further recognition on its way to become a household name, it gets harder and harder for impostors to defraud the public for the excellent reason that they are not Escrow.com—the only name you know you can trust.
Here’s to good and safe Internet deals.
Ulf Wolf, based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, writes about cybercrime for Escrow.com.

Copyright (c) 2009 Don Cirillo

What is the BPAD (Behavioral Personnel Assessment Device)?

It’s SHOW TIME… The BPAD, also known as the Video Simulation Exercise is an assessment exercise which requires you to watch a scenario on a TV monitor. The scenario represents what police officers experience on the job. You will be asked to respond as though the people on the screen are talking to you. Knowledge of police procedures is not required for this test. But it sure helps. Most experienced police officers would do very well on this portion of the test.

It evaluates an individual’s interpersonal, communication and problem-solving skills in dealing with a variety of people in difficult situations, like those that police officers encounter. So the more you know about how officers respond to a variety of difficult interpersonal situations the better your B-Pad performance will be.

B-PAD Basics

When taking the BPAD you will view video-based simulations on a TV or computer monitor. The simulations are based on real life police interpersonal encounters. You are then expected to respond verbally, as if talking to real people in a real situation. Your responses are videotaped and then scored using standardized criteria. It is based on the premise that the best indicator of future behavior is observed behavior under similar situations.

Important Tip:

By presenting your answers in a logical sequence, you will elevate your scores considerably. It will show the examiners you think logically and have planning and organizational skills. Examiners don’t score you on finding the perfect solution, but how well you find a solution and communicate your findings.

BPAD Tests Your People Skills

As a law enforcement officer you must be able to work effectively with people?” B-PAD video tests assess your people skills and common sense judgment. You will not be tested on your job knowledge or personality; rather you will be tested on your interpersonal competence. B-PAD measures behavioral skills and abilities not readily measured by conventional methods.

Why do Law Enforcement Agencies use B-PAD for testing?

B-PAD is a preferred form of testing because it’s a valid and fair method for assessing candidate behavior under standardized testing conditions. For instance, the oral interview requires candidates to state what they “would do” in response to a hypothetical situation, on the other hand the B-PAD requires that the candidate demonstrate his or her skills by role-playing a response.

What to expect when taking the BPAD

When taking the BPAD you will receive both oral and written instructions. Then you’ll receive instructions again from the video moderator and be given the opportunity to view and respond to a practice scenario. Scenarios depicting incidents such as an irate citizen, angry motorist, an insubordinate employee, etc. Each scenario is from one to two minutes long. Once the scenario is completed, the word “respond” appears on the screen and you will then have a set amount of time (usually about 45 seconds) to respond to the scenario as if you are responding to real people in a real situation.

How to prepare for the B-Pad

You prepare for the B-Pad the same way you prepare for the role playing exercise. It’s actually the same thing except, instead of reacting to a real person you’re reacting to a video tape.

Irate Citizen Performance Tips:

The Irate Citizen exercise tests the candidate’s ability to analyze and correct citizen related problems and to calm down an irate citizen. The irate Citizen in the video tape will be adversarial and test the candidate’s ability to maintain his composure and handle stress.

The raters will assess communication, interpersonal sensitivity, judgment and professionalism. Your success in this exercise depends on your ability to display these qualities.

Example of an irate Citizen exercise:

You may receive a note that reads something like this; Officer Jones see Joseph Smith at 1218 North 78th Street regarding a citizen’s complaint. A squad was there earlier and the citizen was not happy with the service.

The candidate then knocks on a door and the video tape begins: The citizen opens with a statement like: “I can’t believe you finally got here. I called four times.”

The irate citizen will continue by saying something like; “The reason I originally called is because somebody broke into my car and the squad took 45 minutes to arrive. They just took the information, they didn’t take fingerprints and they left.”

Suggested Response –

“Hi, I’m Officer Jones, I’m sorry about your inconvenience. Although you called four times, I just received the call about ten minutes ago. I got here as soon as I could so I could help you with the problem.”

The candidate must contend with the citizen’s irritated mood while he attempts to solve the problem. This is a ploy to test the candidate’s reaction. If the candidate becomes agitated and loses his composure, he will fail the exercise.

Always Remember Part of the Test is Your Composure.

If the candidate remains calm and continues attempting to solve the problem, the irate citizen role player is usually instructed by the test administrators to calm down. If the candidate accomplishes this, he or she will receive high scores for this exercise. Strategy:

Things to keep in mind when handling the irate citizen:

1. Your role-playing.

2. You represent the organization.

3. Your task is to: a. Calm down an irate citizen. b. Offer solutions to help solve the citizen’s problem.

4. How you handle stress and maintain your composure is part of the test.

5. Remain calm and respectful at all times.

6. Use logic and be professional.

7. Explain organizational policy but don’t apologize for it.

8. Keep track of time limits. Solve the problem before time runs out.

9. Indicate you will talk to all parties involved, investigate the complaint and get back to citizen with the results of your investigation. Give specific dates and times for getting back to irate citizen with the results.

Example of an irate Angry Motorist:

You pulled over a female driver, she gets out of her car, comes up to you screaming about how you are harassing her because she is a female and asks if you do that to all the female drivers. She then takes out her D/L and throws it on the ground.

Suggested Response ‘

You say to the women, “I need you to pick up your Drivers License and hand it to me. Then go sit in your car and I will be with you in a minute.” If she does not comply, say, “please go back to your car.” You then pick up the drivers license and issue her a littering ticket as well as the original citation.

Be polite, but be assertive when you must. Always remember, YOU have to control the scene – don’t let them control you. The BPAD can be a bit intimidating but if you keep these principles and concepts in mind when taking it you’ll have a much better chance for success.