# Foxborough Non CS test



## MiamiVice (May 2, 2002)

See attached flyer









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## Roy Fehler (Jun 15, 2010)

Translation = They’ll hire who they want, exam scores are meaningless, and you’ll have zero recourse if you score 100%, but they hire the son of the town manager’s best friend’s landscaper’s cousin, who scored a 62%.

Good “luck” everyone! 😆


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## felony (Oct 24, 2014)

So much for staying in CS.


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## Sgt Jack (Aug 17, 2003)

Roy Fehler said:


> Translation = They’ll hire who they want, exam scores are meaningless, and you’ll have zero recourse if you score 100%, but they hire the son of the town manager’s best friend’s landscaper’s cousin, who scored a 62%.
> 
> Good “luck” everyone! 😆


Sad but true. My personal favorite is when the town doesn't even post the position anywhere that's easy to find if at all.


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## DPH1992 (Mar 29, 2019)

No surprise, another town that decided to move to their own exam. Certainly won’t be the last and I can’t necessarily blame them.


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## patrol22 (Oct 31, 2015)

It’s too bad these towns having banded together and did what a lot of towns did in eastern CT - offer one test for a bunch of departments. It would be better for everyone. Well ALMOST everyone.


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## felony (Oct 24, 2014)

patrol22 said:


> It’s too bad these towns having banded together and did what a lot of towns did in eastern CT - offer one test for a bunch of departments. It would be better for everyone. Well ALMOST everyone.


Well how else are you supposed to scam $100 per applicant?


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## DPH1992 (Mar 29, 2019)

patrol22 said:


> It’s too bad these towns having banded together and did what a lot of towns did in eastern CT - offer one test for a bunch of departments. It would be better for everyone. Well ALMOST everyone.


That doesn’t sound a whole lot different than CS though. The point of leaving CS is to make things easier through the hiring process and not so slow and tedious..

That and helping family members get on.. but mostly the first part.


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## PG1911 (Jul 12, 2011)

patrol22 said:


> It’s too bad these towns having banded together and did what a lot of towns did in eastern CT - offer one test for a bunch of departments. It would be better for everyone. Well ALMOST everyone.


Actually, almost every town in the state is part of one of three different law enforcement councils that offer 1 collective tests for their participating departments: The CT Law Enforcement Council, which covers most of the Eastern CT departments, The South Central Criminal Justice Admin., which covers departments in the New Haven area, and the CT Police Chiefs' Association, which covers the rest of the state including the UConn PD. The State Police, Encon Police, and most of the university PDs (minus UConn) use a different test, and most of the biggest towns and cities (Hartford, New Haven, Stamford, Bridgeport, Waterbury, etc.) do their own as well. Pretty much all the departments accept the CHIP card though, which is nice.


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## patrol22 (Oct 31, 2015)

DPH1992 said:


> That doesn’t sound a whole lot different than CS though. The point of leaving CS is to make things easier through the hiring process and not so slow and tedious..
> 
> That and helping family members get on.. but mostly the first part.


Each town can retain their own process - but this limits it to ONE written test for an applicant. Not 40 tests for 40 depts.Think of it like the PAT - one test but every town uses it as a PART of their process


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## DPH1992 (Mar 29, 2019)

patrol22 said:


> Each town can retain their own process - but this limits it to ONE written test for an applicant. Not 40 tests for 40 depts.Think of it like the PAT - one test but every town uses it as a PART of their process


Right, one test for multiple munis. That’s exactly what I meant by saying it’s not a whole lot different than CS. 

I think a lot of towns, if they had the capacity, would like to just run their own exam to speed up the process.


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## EUPD377 (Jan 30, 2020)

Hot take: I don’t know that a written test is all that important anyways. I guess when you have more applicants to weed through, it helps whittle down the numbers, but other than that I don’t really get it. Down here, it’s pretty much unheard of to do a written test. My department used to do them, but we found that the tests meant almost nothing, and we learned a lot more about if someone was right for the job through interviews, background investigations, and work history/references than we ever did from the written tests. Those sections would weed out anyone that deserved to fail the test anyways (like if someone is basically illiterate) and they’d provide more valuable insights than the test did.


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## Roy Fehler (Jun 15, 2010)

EUPD377 said:


> Hot take: I don’t know that a written test is all that important anyways. I guess when you have more applicants to weed through, it helps whittle down the numbers, but other than that I don’t really get it. Down here, it’s pretty much unheard of to do a written test. My department used to do them, but we found that the tests meant almost nothing, and we learned a lot more about if someone was right for the job through interviews, background investigations, and work history/references than we ever did from the written tests. Those sections would weed out anyone that deserved to fail the test anyways (like if someone is basically illiterate) and they’d provide more valuable insights than the test did.


There are 2 kinds of standardized tests for employment, general aptitude and specialized knowledge. In Massachusetts, Civil Service (and most non-CS departments) use a general aptitude exam, which measures just that, general aptitude.

The entry exam for the armed forces (the ASVAB) is also general aptitude, with your score determining which military jobs you qualify for. I served with a guy who was relatively well-spoken, very nice guy, great sense of humor, and had great decision making. The problem was, he could barely read at a 4th grade level, and his ASVAB score qualified him for the Infantry only.

Here in Mass, the only agency I’m aware of that has a specialized knowledge exam is the state environmental police (essentially state game wardens), there’s a reading list and you’re expected to know fish & game laws, habitats of wildlife, etc.

My point is that written tests, while not the be-all, end-all, can be quite useful in the hiring process. Hiring someone with a 4th grade reading ability, because that never came out in the interview or background processes, would be a huge waste of time and money, since the police academy is so reading-intensive.


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## DPH1992 (Mar 29, 2019)

Roy Fehler said:


> There are 2 kinds of standardized tests for employment, general aptitude and specialized knowledge. In Massachusetts, Civil Service (and most non-CS departments) use a general aptitude exam, which measures just that, general aptitude.
> 
> The entry exam for the armed forces (the ASVAB) is also general aptitude, with your score determining which military jobs you qualify for. I served with a guy who was relatively well-spoken, very nice guy, great sense of humor, and had great decision making. The problem was, he could barely read at a 4th grade level, and his ASVAB score qualified him for the Infantry only.
> 
> ...


I don’t know, I know some really smart people who completely bombed that 2021 CS exam.


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## Roy Fehler (Jun 15, 2010)

DPH1992 said:


> I don’t know, I know some really smart people who completely bombed that 2021 CS exam.


Being “smart” doesn’t necessarily equate to being a good cop. Someone who panics when faced with a general aptitude test, or bombs it because they overthink every question, is not someone I want backing me up in a violent situation.


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## DPH1992 (Mar 29, 2019)

Roy Fehler said:


> Being “smart” doesn’t necessarily equate to being a good cop. Someone who panics when faced with a general aptitude test, or bombs it because they overthink every question, is not someone I want backing me up in a violent situation.


Maybe that’s the case, but your comment I replied to was implying that the general aptitude test would weed out people who may be on the not so bright side.


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## Hush (Feb 1, 2009)

Super intelligent isn't always a desirable qualification for a job like LE as those people tend to figure out the bullshit and find another career. 

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## LA Copper (Feb 11, 2005)

Hush said:


> Super intelligent isn't always a desirable qualification for a job like LE.


Agreed. When I was an FTO, I had a probationer who had two different Master's Degrees. She was very smart to talk to and was excellent at writing reports. However, she couldn't recognize danger even when it literally walked right up to her, twice.


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## Hush (Feb 1, 2009)

You had 1400 on your SATs, kid. You're an astronaut, not a statie.


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## Police Exam Solutions (Aug 23, 2016)

Some great (and helpful) comments, but others I feel should be addressed. I'd like to help with that. Police Exam Solutions, contracted with the Foxborough PD on their 2022 Exam. Unlike the two types of written entry tests mentioned above, our exam is mostly based on the NON-Cognitive dimensions, such as integrity, honesty, socialization, positive outlook, and orderliness. Yes; there are areas tested for cognitive ability, as applicants must have the ability to read, write, and have good problem solving abilities, as these too are qualities you'll need to be an effective officer. While written entry exams are not intended to be the be-all-end-all, if your agency has the ability to receive the feedback from this assessment, why wouldn't you want it? Additionally, if you can better screen for non-cognitive traits - which can not be taught or learned from a study guide, isn't it imperative we evaluate and identify candidates who possess these ingrained traits?

Now; as far as the cost of the exam, PES recognizes the urgency needed to recruit new applicants by creating a model that supports a centralized, cost effective, and transparent hiring process. As such, we have recently rolled out our new model, the Eligible Candidate List (ECL). Our ECL membership offers applicants with greater control and independence of where they apply and to how many agencies, greater transparency of the process by application tracking, and a more cost-effective application fee of $145 for a (6) six month membership. When a candidate is an ECL member, they can apply to as many hiring agencies as they like. There are no limits. Yes, they must pass the PES ECL written entry exam (both in-person and remote @home exam sessions offered), with a 70% and above, and meet the standard Minimum Requirements of our participating agencies. Additionally, PES has been partnered with Policeapp for over four years and we've chosen the utilize their extremely powerful online recruitment/hiring application to host our Eligible Candidate List. This allows for greater transparency of the process. As an applicant submits their application, they can track it directly from their individual portal. No guessing games on where they stand in the process is involved! We have six participating non-CS towns/cities after (3) weeks of going 'live' with the ECL. We expect to be adding over 20 new, participating departments throughout the next 3-4 weeks. We hear many of the same concerns mentioned here, and absolutely recognize the need for change. We are part of the change. 

By no means do we claim to know it all. But, having been in this industry for over 22 years, I've seen the highs and lows of police recruitment and I can honestly say that we are at a low point. We can either change the narrative here by boosting confidence in a fair and impartial hiring process, or we can lower department's hiring standards and accept any warm body that walks through the door. I vote for the first option. Our (MA) officers are among the best in the country. We work with many progressive, impressive leaders who want the best for their officers/departments, and by valuing the assessments available and keeping standards high, we are sending a message - the message is that while recruitment is low, our expectations are high!


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