§ 46A. Police department—Merit system.

(1)

All promotions within the police department of the City of Bristol shall be made as the direct result of examinations conducted under the supervision of the director of personnel of the City of Bristol. This shall apply to every promotion up to and including the office of the chief of police, but shall not apply to the appointment of police officers to the regular police force. All tests shall be in conformance with existing working agreements.

(2)

The director of personnel shall provide and supervise the examinations and certify the results thereof to the Bristol Board of Police Commissioners. Said board of police commissioners shall make all necessary arrangements with the director of personnel in order to cause such examination to be conducted.

(3)

Such examination shall be both written and oral, provided no candidate for appointment shall be given the oral examination unless and until such candidate has attained a minimum grade of seventy per cent on the written examination. The examination shall be conducted with reference to the specific position or positions to be filled, and shall be designed to determine fairly the capacity of the persons competing to perform the police duties of the position to which promotions are to be made. The written examination shall be obtained from a recognized testing authority in the law enforcement field. The oral examination shall be conducted by non-Bristol residents from the Police Chief Association or other similar professional personnel in the law enforcement field.

(4)

The director of personnel shall certify to the board of police commissioners and the chief of police the names of all persons competing for a vacancy who have attained a grade of seventy per cent or higher. The board of police commissioners and the chief of police shall then make an independent evaluation of each candidate for the vacancy. The individual examination scores shall not be disclosed until the board of police commissioners and the chief of police make their individual evaluations of each candidate. The board of police commissioners shall then appoint to the vacancy that person with the highest rating based upon the following factors and weights:

(a)

Written examination ..... 60%

(b)

Oral examination ..... 20%

(c)

Seniority (½% for each full year up to 10%) ..... 10%

(d)

Police chief's evaluation ..... 5%

(e)

Board of police commissioners evaluation ..... 5%

Total ..... 100%

(5)

Regular members of the Bristol Police Department with five or more years seniority as of the date the examination is to be held shall be deemed eligible to take the examination for the rank of sergeant. In order to be eligible to take the examination for lieutenant and captain, members of the Bristol Police Department must hold the rank of sergeant and lieutenant, respectively, for a period of at least one year.

(6)

When an examination has been given and more than one person attains the grade of seventy percent or higher, such persons attaining the grade of seventy percent or higher shall be rated by the board of police commissioners in accordance with Section 46A(4) and be placed on an eligibility list in order of their rating. This eligibility list shall continue in force for two years from the date the list is certified by the director of personnel, and any further vacancies in positions equal to that for which the specific examination was given shall be filled by appointing the person with the next highest ranking on this eligibility list. No such eligibility list shall be valid for longer than a two-year period, and new examinations shall be held at more frequent intervals if a vacancy occurs and the eligibility list for that position is exhausted.

(7)

If in any examination no person obtains the grade of seventy percent, an open competitive examination, not limited to members of the Bristol Police Department, but limited to persons of other police departments who meet the requirements of sub-section (5), shall be held under the supervision of the director of personnel and the highest ranking person shall be certified to the board of police commissioners in accordance with the standards set forth in Section 46A(4). Such open examination shall be used only to fill a specific vacancy, and the results of the examination shall not be used to create an eligibility list for future vacancies.

(8)

Before any person not a member of the Bristol Police Department is appointed in accordance with this charter, such person shall be examined by a physician in general practice in the City of Bristol designated by the director of personnel, and if such examining physician finds no physical or mental impairment, illness or condition that would prevent the officer from effectively discharging the duties of the rank to which such person is about to be appointed, the examining physician shall so certify to the director of personnel. If the examining physician does not so certify after the examination, the officer shall not be appointed.

(9)

Appointments to a vacancy for which a valid eligibility list exists shall be made within thirty days. Sixty days prior to expiration of a valid eligibility list, an examination shall be held and the results shall be certified to the Bristol board of police commissioners by the director of personnel no later than sixty days from the date the examination was given. The Bristol Board of Police Commissioners shall make the appointment or appointments for which the examination was given no later than thirty days from the date the results are certified to them. If an open competitive examination is necessary, it shall be held no later than sixty days from the date the results of the first examination are certified. The results of such an open competitive examination shall be certified by the director of personnel no later than sixty days from the date it is given and the Bristol Board of Police Commissioners shall make the appointment no later than thirty days from the date the results are certified by the director of personnel.

(10)

At least two weeks' notice of each examination shall be given by posting on the police department bulletin board. The results of all examinations shall be a matter of public record and shall be posted on the police department bulletin board.

(11)

In lieu of Section 46A(4), 46A(6), 46A(7) and 46A(9) above, the following shall apply to testing for the rank of Captain only. All other articles in Section 46A shall apply. Testing for the rank of Captain shall only be conducted when a vacancy develops or is anticipated by the director of personnel. The director of personnel (or the Mayor's designee in the absence of the director of personnel) shall certify to the chief of police and board of police commissioners an eligibility list consisting of the names of all eligible candidates in order of their total rating who have attained a grade of seventy per cent or higher on both the written and oral examinations based on the following factors and weights.

a.

Written examination ..... 50%

b.

Oral examination ..... 50%

Total Rating ..... 100%

The chief of police shall then select any one of the top three candidates and forward the selection to the board of police commissioners. The chief's selection shall be subject to the approval of and confirmation by the board of police commissioners. If the board of police commissioners does not act on the chief's selection within thirty days, said selection shall be deemed to be approved and confirmed. If the board rejects the chief's selection, within thirty days of said rejection, the chief may select from the remaining top two (2) candidates and repeat this process until all of the top three (3) candidates have been exhausted. If there are no successful internal candidates, an open competitive examination not limited to members of the Bristol Police Department, but limited to persons of other police departments who meet the requirements of sub-section (5), shall be held under the supervision of the director of personnel and the internal candidate selection process shall then apply to the candidates for the open competitive examination. Any rejected internal candidates shall not be eligible for the open competitive examination.

An internal eligibility list shall continue in force for two years from the date the list is certified by the director of personnel (or the Mayor's designee in the absence of the director of personnel) or until exhausted. No such internal eligibility list shall be valid for longer than a two-year period. An open competitive examination shall be used to fill a specific vacancy and the results of the examination shall not be used to create an eligibility list for future vacancies.

(Amend. eff. 11-5-75; Amend. eff. 11-9-77; Amend. eff. 11-5-80; Amend. eff. 11-7-89; Amend. eff. 12-4-03; Amend. eff. 12-8-05; Amend. eff. 12-8-11)