Judge bars NYPD lieutenant promotions for a month amid test cheating allegations
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chan said she would sign a temporary restraining order at the request of a group of sergeants challenging the test results because city lawyers promised the NYPD didn't plan to make any promotions until then anyway.(SUSAN WATTS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
BY BARBARA ROSS
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, May 17, 2016, 1:30 PM
NYPD sergeants who are eligible for promotions to lieutenant will have to wait until at least June 24 before they can be bumped up, a Manhattan judge ruled Tuesday.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Margaret Chan said she would sign a temporary restraining order at the request of a group of sergeants challenging the test results because city lawyers promised the NYPD didn't plan to make any promotions until then anyway.
Police brass had originally planned to announce 40 promotions Friday, May 20, from the civil service list of 204 candidates who passed the exam when it was given a year ago — but the results have since come into question.
"We are pleased that the court had recognized that the TRO was necessary to maintain the current situation," the sergeants' lawyer, Randolph McLaughlin of Newman Ferrara, said afterward.
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"At the end of the day we all share the same goal — a fair and orderly promotion process that is in the best interests of our clients, the police department and the citizens of New York," another lawyer Debra Cohen said.
Even though the PD planned to refrain from making any promotions for a month, city lawyer Paul Marks objected strongly to a temporary restraining order.
In court papers, eight sergeants representing all those who took the test challenged the validity of the results of the test because it included six questions on topics which were a surprise to the test takers. Normally the city gives notice in advance of all the topics to be covered an any civil service test.
In addition, they said the proctors were lax in doing their job, allowing test takers to bring in their cellphones and to chat in whispers in bathroom breaks during the exam, which lasted more than six hours.
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Finally, they said cheat sheets with the questions were available on the internet to those who took make up exams.
Only 164 sergeants of the 2,400 who took the test in April 2015 passed it. In contrast, 50% of those taking make up exams passed.
Chan said she would decide in the next month whether to grant a longer injunction barring use of the promotion list after reading legal papers from both sides and possibly conducting a hearing with witnesses.
Meanwhile, lawyers on both sides agreed Tuesday that many of the legal issues raised in the state court case are different from those raised in federal court, where a judge tossed the challenge.
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The six questions for which the test takers had no advanced notice were the Police Department's Operations Orders, its Crime Complaint Reporting System Guide and interim orders posted after January 2015.
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