Monday, 23 February 2009 - 5:28pm |
National News

Police act to maintain integrity of recruitment system

1 min read

Police have introduced a new set of recruitment test questions following detection of a copy of the previous test being circulated amongst a small network of potential candidates.

On Thursday 19 February, NZ Police found that an applicant had access to the NZ Police (police officer) recruitment test, prior to their testing day. Consequently Police have taken swift action to replace the test with a new set of questions.

NZ Police has identified one person who used the circulated test questions and is now exploring the option of laying charges against the individual, and anyone else who may be involved.

Wayne Annan, General Manager of Human Resources at NZ Police, is disappointed that an applicant would think it's appropriate to join the organisation through dishonest practices.

"This candidate's actions completely go against the type of integrity we expect from our staff and as such, they won't be working for us" Mr Annan said.

Mr Annan also stated that "NZ Police has appropriate systems in place to identify any other candidates who may have had access to the test questions. We rigorously monitor the tests and individual applicants' responses.

"Detection of the abuse last week reinforces the value of our monitoring and auditing processes.

"Access to the previous questions won't help future applicants as they are now completely redundant," said Mr Annan.

According to Dr Paul Englert, Director of Opra Group (the company that supplies NZ Police's recruitment test) "The type of test that will now be used, the competencies that are being tested and the level of difficulty are identical to the existing system - but the questions are different."

The indicative test that can be found online at www.newcops.co.nz is still relevant and potential candidates should continue to use the site for training purposes.

Ends