The Salt Lake City Police Department recently had reason to be glad that they use B–PAD video testing, when a candidate filed a grievance with the Civil Service Commission.

The department has been using Entry Level B–PAD since 1994, and the recent case has resulted in the Commission regarding B–PAD as non-grievable. The case “reaffirmed that we were doing things right,” says Yolanda Ruiz-Martinez of the Salt Lake Police Human Resources Department. “A nice value added for us, is that the commission now understands the nature of this part of the process.”

The candidate in question claimed that the Salt Lake City staff who had rated his B–PAD test were biased against him. Dr. David Corey, a consulting psychologist with The B–PAD Group, testified before the Commission two weeks prior to the candidate’s hearing. The commissioners were able to question Dr. Corey about fairness and validation issues, and as a result, they had a better understanding of the tools used by the Police Department prior to the hearing.

In addition, six B–PAD exam videos, including the protested exam, were sent to The B–PAD Group for testing. No one at B–PAD knew which exam of the six had been protested. The rating on that exam showed only a one percent difference from the rating which had been arrived at by Salt Lake Department staff.

This remarkable correlation was critical. It established the fairness of the B–PAD Entry Level test, and the absence of bias against the candidate within the Department.

“B–PAD is more standardized than other measures, like interviews,” says Ms. Ruiz-Martinez. “Truly, it was very objective. Here were the results from another independent group of raters, and the results were right on.”

The Civil Service Commission has accepted B–PAD as valid and non-grievable. In the future, candidates can still charge bias, but B–PAD has been shown to be both an accurate tool, and a measure of whether or not bias exists.

Olympia, Washington Chief of Fire Pat Dale first used B–PAD video testing for Fire/EMS at another department, and when he moved to Olympia as Chief, he brought B–PAD with him.

Dale has used the Entry Level for three years, and has just begun using the Promotional. “The Entry Level has been just outstanding,” he says, “and I’m real pleased with what the Promotional has done for us.”

“I’m real happy,” concludes Chief Dale about B-PAD: “It’s a great tool.”

The B–PAD Group CEO Steve Somers announced the release of a new B–PAD video test for 911 dispatchers.

Filming of 24 unique test scenarios has been completed. They represent difficult yet common situations faced by public safety dispatchers. The script was distilled from scenes suggested by over forty different dispatch centers from across the United States, Canada, the UK, and Australia.

Project Manager Deborah Roberto is developing and validating the new test as a basis for her Ph.D. dissertation in psychology. She worked, with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) from public safety dispatching agencies, rating each filmed situation on these criteria: job relevance, difficulty, and importance. A second, smaller group of SMEs was convened to develop scripts.

Among the 24 scenarios which made the final cut for the B–PAD video test for public safety dispatchers are:

1. Twelve year old: “There’s a fire.”
2. Possible break-in.
3. Break-room harassment.
4. Five year old: “Daddy’s on the floor.”
5. Elderly woman