Police Corporal

The fundamental reason this position exists is to provide protection and security for the citizens of Montgomery. Police Corporals serve as sworn personnel in one of the MPD divisions. Incumbents provide protection through daily patrol, traffic, investigation, and communication efforts. Work also entails responding to emergency incidents, participating in narcotics undercover operations, and securing crime scenes. Incumbents document in writing events and procedures of an important nature and may present that information in a court of law. Police Corporals are typically supervised by Sergeants and must respond and report through the chain of command.

As of October 15, 2020, all Police Officers in the Montgomery Police Department, who have completed two years of service as a Police Officer within the Department, dating from the date of graduation from the Academy, are eligible to compete in the selection process.

Must have a valid driver’s license or the ability to obtain a valid Alabama Driver’s License prior to employment.

Complete an online application by visiting Montgomery City-County Personnel's Online Employment Center. Paper applications are no longer accepted. Completed applications will be accepted online until 5:00 p.m. on the closing date. If there is no closing date, the announcement may be closed at any time without prior notice.

Purpose of examination: The purpose of the exam is to establish an employment register to fill any vacancies for the classification that may occur over the life of the register.  If there are less than five qualified applicants, an examination will not be administered.  All candidates will be placed on the employment list.

Examination dates: This information will be in your application acceptance letter.

Examination orientation: An orientation session will be held to familiarize candidates with the examination.  All qualifying candidates will have the opportunity to attend this session.  The session date and time information will be in your application acceptance letter.

The orientation session is not mandatory.  A candidate orientation guide will be distributed at the meeting.  If you do not attend the orientation, you may obtain a guide after the date of the orientation at the front desk of the Montgomery City-County Personnel Department. 

Examination description: The competitive examinations process will consist of the following two exercises:

a.  Structured Oral Interview Exercise (SOI)

b. Writing Exercise

Structured Oral Interview Exercise Overview: The Structured Oral Interview consists of four or five scenarios or questions. Each one describes a problem situation or asks a question. Each candidate must explain how he or she would handle the situation as a Corporal. Every candidate will be assigned to a one half-day session. The Structured Oral Interview process will be videotaped for rating at a later date. The ratings will be conducted by panels of law enforcement officials from departments outside the Montgomery area. Under no circumstances will a candidate be evaluated by someone known to the candidate. 

Writing Exercise Overview: The Writing exercise has been designed to measure two of the dimensions described in this announcement. The exercise was created to allow candidates to demonstrate their Problem Analysis Skills and Written Communication Skills. This exercise requires candidates to read and review some information, determine the appropriate action, and formulate a response in writing. The instructions request the candidate to produce a writing sample that a MPD Corporal (PS2) might be required to write. Each candidate will have a set amount of time to write an appropriate response. All information and supplies (i.e., pencils and paper) you may need to complete the exercise will be available for your use. You will not be allowed to bring additional materials into the test room.

Performance dimensions: The Corporal (PS2) Promotion Procedure was designed to measure those knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) important to performing the job of a Corporal (PS2) within the Montgomery Police Department. Similar KSAs have been grouped together into performance dimensions. Each performance dimension is weighted based on the importance of the KSAs that fall under that dimension. Each exercise in the Corporal (PS2) Promotion Procedure measures one or more of the following dimensions.

Written Communication: The clear, unambiguous, legible and effective expression of ideas in writing to ensure that readers of varying levels (e.g., co-workers, citizens, attorneys, politicians) can interpret information correctly. This includes not only presenting information in writing, but obtaining and understanding written information. This encompasses the utilization of proper grammar such as capitalization, punctuation and spelling at a level needed to compose documents.

Problem Analysis: Effectiveness in identifying problem areas, securing relevant information, relating and comparing information from different sources, determining the source of a problem and implementing task-resolving decisions. This includes developing short or long-range plans to determine objectives, identify problems, establish priorities, set standards, provide guidelines and identify resource needs.

Technical & Operational Knowledge: Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of laws, court rulings and departmental policies and procedures in planning work, making decisions, giving advice and responding to situations. This includes utilizing knowledge of the departmental organization to determine solutions to problems.

Disqualification from competition: The Personnel Department and/or expert shall disqualify an applicant or candidate from competition upon determination that:

1. The application was not received by the filing deadline.

2. The applicant fails to meet the minimum qualifications specified in the announcement.

3. The candidate fails to appear at the announced time and place for testing.

4. The candidate is found to be cheating.  Cheating involves any attempt by an individual or group to enhance test scores by means other than actual knowledge or ability, including but not limited to, efforts to give or receive information about the test content or correct responses before, after or during a test.  Examples of cheating during a test would be:    

a) attempting to gain access to the test under false pretenses     

b) failing to follow instructions given by the test administrators or proctors     

c) talking to another candidate during the test     

d) removing or attempting to remove test materials from the test site     

e) leaving the testing room, holding room, or other location without permission from the test administrator    

f) attempting to use notes, hand held computers or calculators when instructed not to     

g) looking at another's test paper or answer sheet     

h) working on a test section after time has been called     

i) giving or receiving test information to or from another person

 

The Personnel Department may not exercise discretion in waiving these requirements for qualification except as may be required by law in connection with military personnel called to active duty.

The Personnel Department will provide written notification of the disqualification and the reason for disqualification to the applicant or candidate within five (5) days from the determination of the disqualifying circumstance.