The Illinois attorney general’s office has been asked to investigate allegations of cheating by one of 322 candidates for the Joliet Police Department after some responses to a recent oral test were nearly identical to the answer key, city officials said.
The city has thrown out test results from June and will conduct a new test next month at a cost of about $25,000, said Michael Suppan, director of human resources.
City officials said the candidate has been disqualified from the next round of testing for a patrol position.
A spokeswoman for Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan said Monday the office had not yet received a letter requesting an investigation. The Will County state’s attorney’s office will investigate if the attorney general’s office declines to do so, said Brian McDaniel, a state’s attorney’s spokesman.
City officials said they do not know how the applicant obtained the answer key. Representatives from Joliet and the testing company, Stanard & Associates of Chicago, said members of the city’s Police and Fire Commission have in the past received the questions and answers to the test, which was last used in 2002.
“It is not uncommon for us to provide confidential testing materials to these commissioners so they responsibly fulfill their roles,” which, under state law, is to hire public safety officers, said Steve Allscheid, president of Stanard & Associates.
Allscheid said he is confident that no one in his firm was responsible for leaking the answer key to an applicant.
Joliet City Manager John Mezera confirmed that test answers had been given to police and fire board members.
But Suppan said there is conflicting information on whether anyone on the five-member board had kept the key or even looked at it.
Gordon Giarrante, a former board member, said he does not remember receiving the questions and answers, but that he typically shredded any confidential paperwork. He said he had no interest in reviewing the tests to determine whether changes should be made, he said.
“That’s why we pay the testing company,” said Giarrante, who resigned last week after being told that an ordinance prohibits relatives of elected officials from serving on commissions. Giarrante’s brother is on the City Council.
Joliet Mayor Art Schultz said he is waiting for the investigation before deciding whether procedures need to be changed at City Hall, or whether the members of the police and fire board should be replaced.
Joliet has about 260 sworn officers and each year hires between 10 and 15 new officers, Suppan said. Every two or three years, the city conducts written and oral testing to create a list that ranks candidates for jobs. There was no apparent problem with the written test this year, city officials said.
Allscheid said the written test for entry-level positions measures skills necessary to be a good police officer, such as reading comprehension, basic math and grammar. The oral interview assesses interpersonal skills and communication, he said.
In this case, three interviewers who are trained to rate responses in the oral exam, quickly noticed that an applicant had access to the answer key, which provides a sort of template for what a good response would be. Officials said there are no right or wrong answers to the oral test because it is not used to measure knowledge in a subject matter.
“It seemed as though the candidate was reading some of the responses verbatim,” Allscheid said.
City officials were notified immediately and the police and fire board voted to reject the test results last week.
