Police Assessment Center Preparation (Paperback)

~ Lawrence R. O'Leary Ph.D. (Author) "Why write this book?..." (more)
Key Phrases: law enforcement assessment center, counselling exercise, assessment center process, Behavior Interview, Civil Rights Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The book is a preparation tool for the 140,000 police officers plus other law enforcement personnel who work in police departments which report that they use a specific and increasingly used procedure, known as the Assessment Center as a major part of their decision as to who gets promoted.

This decision regarding who gets promoted is among the two or three major decisions in a police officer's life. More specifically, the importance rests on the following three points: 1. If the Officer is promoted, s/he immediately begins earning between $7,000.00 and $9,500.00 more every year for the rest of her/his career, 2. The successful candidate is now elibible to compete for higher level jobs for which they were previously unqualified to compete, 3. there is substantial prestige and better working conditions for Police Sergeant than there are for the Police Officer.

The candidates for promotion know how to study for a multiple choice written test but many of them are looking for a resource to use in preparing for the promotional testing. I ought to know this because I have been creating and implementing assessment centers for Police Departments and Fire Departments across the country since 1974.

What is an assessment center? It is a highly predictive and merit based process for selecting supervisors and managers from among line workers. It uses simulations of the typical type of problems that a supervisor would encounter on the job (e.g. an In Basket Exercise which simulates the contents of a supervisor's in basket and requires her/him to make various decisions, a Coaching Exeercise which requires the candidate to prepare for and conduct a meeting with a person who plays the role of a Police Officer with some type of work problem, etc.)The book not only comes with a sealed packet of three assessment center exercises but also the answers to the exercises so that the reader can not only read about the process and practice actual assessment center exercises but also compare their performance against a scoring guide which is also contained in the packet and make changes before they attend their promotional assessment center.

From the Publisher

This book is designed to prepare the reader to maximize her/his performance in the upcoming assessment center for promotion within her/his police department. This is accomplished in two very concrete and powerful ways: 1. The reader becomes an informed participant in the assessment center by learning all about assessment centers from someone who has been creating and implementing assessment centers for police departments throughout the country for the last twenty-plus years and 2. The reader is given the opportunity to practice their performance in the assessment center before the actual assessment center by participating in the three actual police assessment center exercises which accompany the book.

This is accomplished by following the instructions that accompany the exercises and enable the candidate to administer the exercises to herself/himself. The exercises also include a scoring guide which enables the reader to see what they did well and how they can improve, after they complete each exercise. This sequence of practice and feedback provide the candidate with the experience which is necessary for learning to occur.

The author uses his training and his twenty five years of experience in creating and implementing assessment centers to police departments across the country to develop a practical preparation kit. This resource is something very concrete and useful for the Police Officer to use in taking a proactive approach in preparing for her/his Department's upcoming assessment center. Not only has the author created and implemented the assessment centers but he has also developed the scoring guides for the assessors which focus them on what to look for, when scoring the exercise. This puts him in a sound position to provide the candidates with valuable information about maximizing their performance in the assessment center.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 140 pages
• Publisher: O'Leary, Brokaw & Associates, Inc. (November 30, 1994)
• ISBN-10: 0967014905
• ISBN-13: 978-0967014906
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,034,846 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Police Assessment Center Preparation, July 4, 2001

By	Michael Troyanski (Casper, wy United States) - See all my reviews

Find this first on the used market if you can and this should not be your first pick for police assessment center preparation. It is very generic and spends too much time on the overview of the process. Candidates for promotion do not always need to know the legality of an assessment center nor the reasons some agencies select them as a testing process. Law enforcement professionals competing for promotion have little choice in the agencies decision to use this process and normally little time to prepare. When compared to even an ARCO Sergeants test prep book, the three chapters on assessment center exercises were more concise and informative. It does include good exercises to familiarize yourself with the process and the author's advice is consistent with others.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Too much money for too little information, May 18, 2006

By	Sergeant Bucking for Lieutenant "Bob" (Ohio Valley) - See all my reviews

I agree with Michael Troyanski's review. This book is way too basic and, at least to me, seemed very repetitive. The author spends too much time promoting the assessment center process rather than giving the candidate needed ideas and strategies. The pages are double spaced and the book has the appearance of being made on a copy machine. I was let down, given the astronomical price of the book. If you are new to the assessment center process it will give you a basic overview. I felt better prepared with materials and conversations I obtained from other folks in my agency that have already been through the process.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Outdated and pretty much useless, December 12, 2006

By	Cpt. Insane-O "the learned" (N.M.) - See all my reviews

I bought this book to prepare for an assesment center for promotion to police captain. The book is pretty much useless. Poorly written and overly redundant. It really doesn't help prepare you for the assesment center as much as it gives you an overview of how and why assesment centers are used. SAVE your time and money and stay away from this book!