In the wake of a controversial Chicago Police Department exam that promoted only a handful of minorities to the rank of sergeant, the Daley administration has delayed another promotional exam, this one for would-be lieutenants.
The first section of the three-part lieutenants exam was administered in June and results were originally scheduled to be sent to test-takers in early August, along with the date of the next test, according to the accounting firm that monitors the tests. But in mid-August, shortly after City Council hearings on the sergeants exam were held, the date was pushed back indefinitely.
On Tuesday city officials and the Arthur Andersen accounting firm gave different reasons for the delay, but both said the results would be sent to those who took the tests and the date set for the next exam soon.
But police officers and their representatives are unhappy with a delay in a test that hasn’t been given since 1987 and was initially supposed to be completed by June. According to a lieutenants newsletter, a recent Police Department strength report listed a need for 87 lieutenants and 11 captains.
“They’re going to play politics with it. For what reason, I don’t know,” said Morgan Park District Sgt. Bruce Engstrom, president of the Chicago Police Sergeants Association. “We’ve said, `You have to have fair and timely exams if you want to lend credence to the exam.’ “
And because the lieutenants exam has been delayed for weeks, won’t be completed for at least two months and won’t be scored for weeks after that, any possible political squabbling over the results will be limited to well after the February mayoral primary.
That would benefit Mayor Richard Daley, who has already been stung by the results of the sergeants exam, in which only 40 blacks and 22 Hispanics were among the top 500 qualifiers. The exams were the first in years not subject to race norming, a means by which minorities have their scores artificially boosted.
News of the sergeants exam results offered a platform for Daley critics and potential mayoral opponents, including U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) and the only formally announced candidate, Water Reclamation District Commissioner Joseph Gardner.
City Hall insiders say that the mayor does not need a repeat of those politically incorrect statistics before an election. But Cherryl Thomas, the administration’s former deputy chief of staff in charge of promotions tests and the current building commissioner, said the delay was not due to political arithmetic.
“No, what caused the delay is that almost everyone involved in the lieutenants examination had to stop work and be available for the recent City Council hearings on the sergeants examination,” Thomas said. “That interrupted the schedule.”
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“We hope the results are different from the sergeants test, of course,” Thomas said. “But I want to be clear on this: No one ever said to delay the lieutenants examination based on some fear that it would mirror the sergeants exam or because of politics. That’s just not the case.”
Thomas said that the mailing to be sent to all 915 people who took the oral portion in June will include a reading list and a list of what test-takers should know to pass the test. The next portion of the test will be administered 60 days after the mailing.
Representatives of Arthur Andersen also denied a political motive was behind the delay. The reading list prepared by Barrett and Associates, the firm that designed the test, did not arrive at Arthur Andersen until Tuesday, said Andersen spokesman Joseph Arimond. And a site has not yet been found to accommodate the 915 applicants.
“The reading list was probably half the problem. The reading list only arrived today,” Arimond said. “We are still searching for a site for this second phase of the exam. Until we secure a site, we cannot issue a date.”
Arimond said the firm hopes to mail out packets with the results, reading list and test date by Sept. 16. An Andersen hot line that gives exam updates stated Tuesday afternoon that no new date had been set.
Engstrom said he plans to discuss the delay with City Hall officials Friday at a regular meeting with of the sergeants, lieutenants and captains associations.
Meanwhile, the results of the 1987 lieutenants exam are the subject of a pending lawsuit in U.S. federal court, and the lawyer representing them was dismayed by news of the current delay.
“The city announces a test, (the officers) study and expect to take it, and then they announce a delay. It’s demoralizing, it’s frustrating,” said Kimberly Sutherland, who represents 230 sergeants suing over results of the last exam. “This whole process of, now we have a test, now we don’t-you lose your most qualified people.”