MINUTES OF THE

BOARD OF FIRE AND POLICE COMMISSION

CITY OF COUNTRYSIDE

December 10, 2013

Call to Order

Meeting was called to order at 6:06 p.m. Upon roll call the following were present:

Jerry Welch, Chairman

Mark Burdett, Secretary

Mary Louise Pisone, Commissioner

Also in attendance: Sue Dignin, HR/Executive Assistant

Don McGoordy – Public

Patrick Heslin – Public

Sean Heslin – Public

Approval of Minutes

Motion was made by Mary Louise Pisone, seconded by Mark Burdett to approve the minutes of the September 10, 2013 meeting. Motion carried and the minutes were approved.

New Business

Chairman Welch received updated information from Police Consultants, Inc. (PCI), an outside testing agency that we use for promotional exams, regarding their charges and other general information about their testing and assessment programs. The approximate cost of the upcoming promotional testing will be $5,000 – $6,000.

Chairman Welch received a memo from Chief Ford informing him of two mailings that he received relating to police testing and services, one from Joliet Junior College and the other was from the Center of Police Psychological Services (COPPS). Joliet Junior College is now offering the P.O.W.E.R. test for applicants, and the other agency is a psychological service provider for police agencies. We are currently using Joliet Junior College for the P.O.W.E.R. test. These two sources will be added to our file of testing agencies.

Chief Ford forwarded to the Board three letters of appreciation for Officer Stern, Officer Pohle and Sergeant Boyd for providing assistance to residents of Countryside, Downers Grove and Brookfield. These letters will be placed in the officer’s personnel file.

The Commission reviewed the monthly Police Report for October.

The promotional written exam has been scheduled for January 18, 2014 at 9 a.m. at City Hall. The oral interview has been scheduled for February 1, 2014 at Ideal School with interviews starting at 9 a.m. Both the written test and the oral interviews will be administered by PCI and supervised by the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners.

Thirty minutes prior to beginning the written test, Chief Ford will review the test questions and make note of any that do not pertain to the operation of the Countryside Police Department. Those questions will be omitted from the scoring process.

There were seventeen officers eligible to take the promotional exam. Out of the seventeen officers, fifteen signed up to take the test. In anticipation of the oral interview process, there will be three (3) groups of five (5) officers. In the past, the group selections were made in alphabetical order. This year, and going forward, the Board will use random drawing of names to select the composition of each group. The selection of the three interview groups was completed by the Board and the candidates will be notified of their specific interview time.

The 2014 dates for the Board’s quarterly meetings have been determined. Those dates are as follows: March 11, June 10, September 9 and December 9.

Chairman Welch prepared a document outlining the steps regarding the promotional testing. This was distributed to the Board for their comments. The Board is in the process of compiling a reference binder that will contain all documents required for the promotional testing process. The time needed to prepare a new promotional eligibility list prior to the current list expiring is approximately 4 months.

Old Business

Chief Ford and Dave Christianson of PCI met and agreed on the 3 sources of reference reading material for the promotional written test. This list was posted, allowing some additional time for the officers to obtain the publications through outside sources prior to the written exam.

Other Business

None

Chairman Welch stated that since there is no old business or other business he asked for a motion to adjourn.

Adjournment

A motion was made to adjourn by Mary Lou Pisone, seconded by Mark Burdett. Motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 6:58 p.m.

The next scheduled meeting will be held on March 11, 2014 at 6:00 p.m.

_____________________________

Mark Burdett, Secretary

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Jerry Welch, Chairman Mary Louise Pisone, Commissioner