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HomeMy WebLinkAbout13.E.1. Chief of Police/Emergency Management Director Recruitment & Selection Process I ,. C. J. City of Shakopee . MEMORANDUM Re"'5~ D TO: Mayor and City Council Mark McNeill, City Administrator FROM: Kris Wilson, Assistant City Administrator SUBJECT: Chief of Police/ Emergency Management Director Recruitment & Selection Process -- UPDATED DATE: February 2, 2009 Introduction The Shakopee Police Civil Service Commission met on Monday, February 2 and would like to see one adjustment to the item before the Council regarding the selection process for the City's next Chief of Police/Emergency Management Director. Background The Civil Service Commission reviewed the proposed selection process for the Chief of Police / Emergency Management Director and believes that the management assessment proposed to be done by Personnel Decisions International (PDI) should be part of the Civil Service testing process and therefore completed prior to the certification of an eligible register. The results of the management assessment would still be made available to the City Administrator for use in selecting from among the top three names on the eligible register. Therefore, the following, amended process is proposed for recruiting applicants and ultimately selecting the City's next Chief of Police. (NOTE: the portion of the process outlined below that is different than what was presented in the original Council meme appears in Bold.) It encompasses both the steps that would be taken by the Civil Service Commission to establish an eligible register and the process the City Administrator plans to use to select from among the top three candidates on the eligible register. 1. Recruitment & Advertising. The Commission believes a recruitment process that focuses within the state of Minnesota will draw a strong field of qualified candidates and that a national search is not necessary. Therefore, the proposed recruitment would include an advertisement and legal notice in the Shakopee Valley News (as required by Civil Service Rules), advertisement on the websites of the City, the League of Minnesota Cities and the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards & Training (POST) Board, and direct recruitment using the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association list-serve. All advertisements will direct candidates to the City's website for additional information and application instructions. 2. Creation of an Application Supplement. The City regularly uses application supplements as part of the selection process for full-time employees. The supplement asks a series of questions specifically related to the position being applied for and is intended to provide additional information about the candidate, beyond what you would gather from a standardized application form or resume. 3. Initial Screening of Applicants. It is proposed that applicants will be instructed to submit their application to the Human Resources office at City Hall. Applications will be reviewed by the Civil Service Commission and the applicant pool will be narrowed to a reasonable number to interview. This will depend on the number of well-qualified applicants we have, but it is expected to be between 5 and 10 candidates. 4. Oral Interview. The Civil Service Commission will conduct oral interviews of the selected applicants. 5. Management Assessment. Based on the results of the oral interviews, the top candidates will be sent to PDI offices in downtown Minneapolis for an entire day of management testing and assessment. This process is intended to further identify strengths and weaknesses, inter-personal skills, motivation, work style, etc. 6. Certification of an Eligible Register. Based on the scores from the oral interviews and the results of the management assessment. the Civil Service Commission will certify an eligible register. The names of the top three candidates on the eligible register will be forwarded to the City Administrator for consideration. 7. 2nd Round Interviews. The City's Department Heads, and the City Administrator will then separately interview the three candidates on the eligible register. Other law enforcement professionals from the metropolitan area may also be asked to participate in interviews. At this point in the process, members of the City Council will be given an opportunity to meet with and interview the candidates if they so desire. This could take the form of one-on-one interviews with individual Council members like we did for the Fire Chief or a single interview in front of the entire Council. The later would have to be done in an open meeting setting. 8. Background Check. Following the 2nd Round Interviews, the top candidate will be asked to submit to an in-depth background check that will examine and verify their criminal, educational, and occupational background. There are several former police chiefs around the Twin Cities area that can be hired to conduct this type of background check without involving officers within our own department. Personnel Decisions International (PDI) The consensus of the Civil Service Commission is that they would like to hire PDI to develop the application supplement and design the oral interview, but that the administrative tasks associated with things like placing advertisements, accepting applications, and scheduling interviews can be done by City staff in order to save money. The design of the application supplement and oral interview are where PDI's years of experience in the selection of upper level managers for local government will add value. Additionally, PDI would be hired to conduct management assessments of the candidates that are successful in the first round oral interview, as they did with the Fire Chief and the Parks & Recreation Director. Timeline With Council's approval of the proposed process, the advertisements would go out the week of February 9 and applications would likely be due around March 10, with a goal of presenting a final recommendation to the City Council at either the second meeting in April or the first meeting in May. Budget Impact As a result of vacant positions and new employees starting lower on the pay scale, there will be sufficient funding within the Police Department budget to pay for PDI's services. The quoted costs are $750 for design ofthe application supplement, $750 for design of the oral interview and $2750 per candidate for the management assessment. Relationship to Vision Recruiting and hiring the best possible individual to lead the Shakopee Police Department contributes to a high quality of life for residents (Goal B). Requested Action If it concurs with the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission, the Council is asked to authorize hiring Personnel Decisions International to assist with the recruitment and selection of the City's next Chief of Police/Emergency Management Director.