Times Leader, July 16

State FOP joins the city of Hazleton to deny Times Leader access to test scores, ratings of police candidates

By Steve Mocarsky
Of the Times Leader

The state Fraternal Order of Police has joined the city of Hazleton in a legal fight with the Times Leader regarding making police officer candidates’ test scores and rankings public.

Harrisburg attorney Gary Lightman filed a brief on behalf of the FOP in the case the Times Leader filed against the city and its civil service commission in April 2005.

The newspaper said the city and commission violated the state Right to Know Act with their refusal to release to a Times Leader reporter a ranking of potential candidates for police officer positions who took the civil service exam.

Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas Judge Michael Conahan dismissed the case in December, and the Times Leader appealed to Commonwealth Court.

The FOP says some city police officers who took the exam are members of its state lodge, and a reversal of Conahan’s decision would subject the officers to “an unwarranted invasion of their personal reputation, security and privacy interests.”

Most of Pennsylvania’s largest cities apparently have no problem with releasing police officer candidates’ written test scores and/or their ranks on a hiring list.

One exception is Philadelphia, where the personnel department handles police hires.

A personnel department employee said they consider candidates’ ranks and scores to be “personnel information” and “confidential.” She said the city’s civil service commission is only involved in appeals of unsuccessful police candidates and is not involved in the testing process.

And in Allentown, police Chief Roger MacLean said the documents are not released in order to protect job candidates’ privacy. “If I was on the list, would I want everyone knowing how I ranked?”

So how can the public be sure the mayor didn’t hire someone who scored low, possibly as a political favor, instead of higher-scoring candidates?

“In Allentown, I hope they trust us,” MacLean said.

Sometimes, lower-scoring candidates are hired because they have qualifications that higher-scoring candidates lack, such as being bilingual, he said. MacLean also explained that hires must be made from a list of candidates whose scores, as determined by an outside testing company, fall within a certain range.

But according to Hazleton’s civil service rules, the mayor has more power. He can reject the civil service commission’s recommendations submitted to him in the order of the candidates’ civil service rankings again and again, until he sees fit to accept a candidate.

In the state’s other largest cities – Pittsburgh, Erie, Reading, Scranton, Bethlehem and Harrisburg, the rankings of police candidates – and in some cases, their test scores – are available for public inspection.

And in many of those cities, hiring guidelines are stricter than Hazleton’s.

For example, in Harrisburg, the mayor is required to hire one of the three highest-scoring candidates from the civil service list. A veteran would get preference.

“We are not releasing any confidential information,” Harrisburg human resources director Vincent Burns said when asked why he believes it’s OK to post the candidates’ rankings.

“The document itself becomes a public document when it’s presented to and certified by the Civil Service Commission. They conduct that business in a public meeting (that) anyone can attend.”

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