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Main Page Virginia Beach Area Police Entrance Exams Under Fire
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: kwflatbed

DUANE BOURNE
The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.)

VIRGINIA BEACH -- At least three local police departments -- Chesapeake, Hampton and Newport News -- use the same math exam for new recruits that the U.S. Justice Department said discriminates against black and Hispanic applicants in Virginia Beach.

The Justice Department has been investigating Chesapeake police for possible discrimination in hiring since 2004, but City Attorney Ron Hallman said Thursday that the city has not received any notice of the inquiry's result.

In a letter released Wednesday, the Justice Department said Virginia Beach "engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination" against blacks and Hispanics who applied to be police officers. The only evidence cited was results of the math exam.

Black and Hispanic applicants in Virginia Beach fared worse than white applicants on the math portion of the National Police Officer Selection Test, according to the letter.

A score of 70 percent is considered passing in Virginia Beach. From 2002 to mid-2005, about 85 percent of white applicants passed the math exam, compared with 59 percent of blacks and 66 percent of Hispanics.

Pass-fail numbers from Chesapeake are not directly comparable to Virginia Beach's because Chesapeake requires an average of 70 percent on all four parts of the test, including math.

On Jan. 21, Chesapeake administered its first police recruit test in two years. About 92 percent of white applicants passed the test as a whole, compared with 77 percent of blacks and 77 percent of Hispanics.

Numbers from Hampton also are not directly comparable to Virginia Beach's. In that city, 216 people took the written recruit test last year -- including the math portion -- and 9 percent failed.

Of the 20 applicants who failed, 13 -- or about 65 percent -- were minorities.

Pass-fail figures were not available Thursday from Newport News.

In other local cities:

Suffolk does not use the same test as Virginia Beach.
Norfolk recruits do not take a math test.
Portsmouth police said its recruits take a math test, but it was not available for review Thursday.

The Justice Department's letter to Virginia Beach does not say how the math test discriminates against blacks and Hispanics; it only cites results.

David J. Palmer, chief of the Justice Department?s employment litigation section in Washington, wrote the letter. He did not return a call Thursday seeking comment.

Virginia Beach officials do not think the math test is biased, but they plan to try reaching an agreement with the Justice Department.

?If we need to change something about what we are doing to make that happen and still get qualified applicants, we'll do it," Police Chief A.M. 'Jake' Jacocks Jr. said.

Stanard & Associates Inc. of Chicago developed the test in 1991. Company President Steve Allscheid said the company has not received any complaints about the validity of the test.

He compared the math section to a basic eighth-grade math exam. "I don't think it is culturally biased," he said.

In a 2003 study, about 94 percent of whites, 72 percent of blacks and 82 percent of Hispanics scored at least 70 percent on the math exam nationally, Allscheid said. All of those numbers are better than the pass rates in Virginia Beach.

Henry Duchene Jr., 57, a retired deputy with the Orange County Sheriff's Department in California, took the math test in Virginia Beach last year and passed. He said the problems could be done without a pencil and paper.

He later decided not to join the Virginia Beach police force.

Duchene, who is Hispanic, said, "If I did not score 99 percent, I would be disappointed. I don?t see how math can discriminate against anyone."

He said the Justice Department's findings send a bad message that Hispanics cannot compete. "How much lower do you need to lower standards to give people guns to protect us" Duchene said.

It is not uncommon for the Justice Department to threaten police forces that do not reflect their communities racially. In at least two cases - in New York State in 1986 and Louisiana in 1996 ? officials created new entrance exams to avoid costly lawsuits.

In Louisiana, the state also created a plan that included recruiting more minorities and remedial hiring of black troopers.

The Justice Department said it will delay suing Virginia Beach until March 7, to give the city time to negotiate a settlement.

Staff writers Cindy Clayton, Matthew Roy and Stephanie Heinatz and staff researcher Jakon Hays contributed to this report.

Posted by: SOT

WTF....math is math...that is for sure. It is an "absolute" and a pure test of ones ability.

Maybe the test discriminates against individuals that suck at math and those individuals happen to fall into certain demographic groups.

Posted by: topcop14

Whats next. The reading portion discriminates against those that can't read?

This is pure bull shit. If you want to be a cop one must be able to at perform basic reading writing and math. I don't give a shit what color the cop is as long as he or she can do the job.

Posted by: Buford T

How about the blind and deaf??? Standards, what standards?? Garbage in, garbage out.

Posted by: EOD1

once again no is responsible for their own actions, and people who can't meet the MINIMUM requirements want a free ride. i took that test for all those PD's it wasn't rocket science. they offer free prep books, and there are lots of Private Companies that offer tutoring services. who'd a believed that u need to prepare and should get in on your abilities to meet the min. req.

Posted by: RPD931

Quote:

Originally Posted by SOT_II

WTF....math is math...that is for sure. It is an "absolute" and a pure test of ones ability.

Maybe the test discriminates against individuals that suck at math and those individuals happen to fall into certain demographic groups.

Exactly. I don't see how it discriminates if they all take the same test. Maybe they might want to look at their locals education system for answers..

Posted by: USMCMP5811

Great, so if you can't add/subtract/multiply/divide, the test must be prejudice, WTF?

Un F'in believable, What Next?

Posted by: tarc

Here's a non-discriminatory math test. Only three questions:

1. 1+1=
2. 1+2=
3. 2+0=

Do you think we could get a 75% pass ratio on this grueling math test?

Posted by: USMCMP5811

Quote:

Originally Posted by tarc

Here's a non-discriminatory math test. Only three questions:

1. 1+1=
2. 1+2=
3. 2+0=

Do you think we could get a 75% pass ratio on this grueling math test?

1. 1+1= 2
2. 1+2= 2
3. 2+0= 2

Ummmmm....Did I Pass, when do I get my Gat and Bling Yo!

Posted by: SOT

Too tough, the math wasn't in Spanish. You discriminator.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tarc

Here's a non-discriminatory math test. Only three questions:

1. 1+1=
2. 1+2=
3. 2+0=

Do you think we could get a 75% pass ratio on this grueling math test?

Posted by: RPD931

Quote:

Originally Posted by USMCMP5811

1. 1+1= 2
2. 1+2= 2
3. 2+0= 2

Ummmmm....Did I Pass, when do I get my Gat and Bling Yo!

Uh, no. See, you only got a 66.6% because 1+2=3. You need a 70 on the test to pass. However, just file an appeal and tell us your social demographic problem and we'll waiver it.

Posted by: MSP75

These are the basic conclusions based on the USJD and groups representing blacks and hispanics:

1) Minorites are not equal, since they will never figure out math.
2) White is the only race that can comprehend complex math (anything other than 1+1=2)
3) That the gov't needs to dumb down exams to make all races equal.

I know that that the above is not true. As do most people. This is just an action by the liberal leaders and the unaccoutable job applicants. It is not hard to learn math. Math to graduate as a rocket scientist from MIT is hard. Math to graduate HS and a 2 or 4 year college is not. It doesn't matter what level of funding a community's education system receives. The ones that want to learn will. The ones that want to sleep through their education will.

Posted by: Macop

USMCMP5811 wrote
when do I get my Gat and Bling Yo!

What the hell does that mean?

Posted by: topcop14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macop

USMCMP5811 wrote
when do I get my Gat and Bling Yo!

What the hell does that mean?

Yo Yo! Why you be axin dumm quetions dog?

Posted by: SOT

If you are good at math, you don't need to know.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macop

USMCMP5811 wrote

What the hell does that mean?

Posted by: kwflatbed

'Biased' Virginia Recruit Test Is Further Examined

Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA) (KRT)
via NewsEdge Corporation

Feb. 15--VIRGINIA BEACH -- The proof is in the numbers.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that a math test given to Virginia Beach police recruits discriminates against blacks and Hispanics.

That prompted a barrage of critics to ask: How can a math test be biased?

The answer is not elementary arithmetic. It depends on who took the test.

The math portion of the National Police Officer Selection Test, given to Virginia Beach police recruits, was called discriminatory because the pass rate for blacks and Hispanics was less than 80 percent of the pass rate for whites.

The so-called "80 percent rule" is a rule of thumb that has been used by the federal government for years to evaluate possible discrimination cases.

A legal expert at the Justice Department said the finding is based on the legal theory of disparate impact -- the idea that any hiring process can be challenged if it has a disproportionate effect on a particular group.

When there is a disparity among the groups of people who pass an entrance exam, for example, the Justice Department wants to know why.

"We are not saying that Virginia Beach is being intentionally racist," said Eric Holland, a spokesman at the Justice Department's civil rights division.

Between 2002 and mid-2005, 59 percent of black police applicants and 66 percent of Hispanic applicants passed the math exam, compared with 85 percent of white applicants. To meet the "80 percent rule," a minority group would have to have a 68 percent pass rate.

Based on those numbers, the Justice Department concluded that "Virginia Beach is engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-Americans and Hispanics on the bases of their race and national origin with respect to entry-level police officer positions," according to a letter sent last week by the Justice Department to Virginia Beach.

The Virginian-Pilot could not determine how often such a finding is issued by the Justice Department.

From 2001 to 2004, the Justice Department initiated 63 investigations similar to the one in Virginia Beach. It is not known how many of those investigations resulted in letters like the one that Virginia Beach received.

The Justice Department has been investigating possible discrimination in the hiring of Chesapeake police and fire employees since 2004. The results have not yet been released.

J.H. Verkerke, director of the Program for Employment and Labor Law Studies at the University of Virginia, said the debate is rooted in concerns that hidden discrimination hinders efforts to diversify the work force.

While the Justice Department investigation was pending, in early 2005, the Virginia Beach Police Department asked two members of the local NAACP branch to review the police entrance exam. Beach Police Chief A.M. "Jake" Jacocks Jr. said those members determined that the test assessed basic skills and was not culturally biased.

U nder federal law, that is not enough. The city must justify why it requires the math exam for new police officers and how it relates to their prospective job duties.

"The question," Verkerke said, "is whether the test is an unnecessary barrier in initial hiring."

Stanard & Associates Inc., the Chicago firm that created the national exam, has tested whether the exam questions are related to police work, said Steve Allscheid, company president. The same test is used by at least three other Hampton Roads police departments, the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Capitol Police.

In the past, the Justice Department has sued to change entrance exams it considered discriminatory.

In 2003, the federal government charged that the multiple-choice reading comprehension and writing test offered by the Delaware Department of Public Safety was biased because blacks passed at a statistically lower rate than white applicants.

The case went to trial in U.S. District Court.

Delaware argued the test was lawful because "it was job-related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity." The state said reading comprehension was important in a trooper's ability to write investigative reports and interpret motor vehicle regulations.

A federal judge concluded that while the test was a reliable screening tool, the passing score was set too high. As a result, the passing grade was lowered.

Often, the defendants in these kinds of cases choose to use another selection criterion , rather than risk a long and costly legal battle with the federal government.

For years, Virginia Beach has pledged to attract a more diverse applicant pool, but that initiative could be part of the solution and part of the problem, Verkerke said.

Such aggressive recruiting could encourage academically weak job candidates to apply, and when those applicants fail the entrance exam, that can widen the disparity in pass-fail rates between whites, blacks and Hispanics, he said.

Because many blacks and Hispanic applicants are reared in lower-income households, those groups might not have access to the same quality of educations as white applicants, Verkerke said.

Virginia Beach officials will schedule a meeting soon with the Justice Department, but no date has been set. Jacocks said the city's response will not be determined until both sides meet.

Reach Duane Bourne at (757) 222-5150 or duane.bourne@pilotonline.com.

<<Virginian-Pilot, The (Norfolk, VA) (KRT) -- 02/16/06>>

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