Constable Selection System

Constable Selection Information Package

The Selection Process

The Constable Selection Process consists of three assessment stages and is open to all applicants who meet the minimum requirements for becoming a constable.

The Three Assessment Stages

Stage 1 - Pre-Interview Assessment

The form must be submitted with the non-refundable applicant fee of $296.80 (taxes incl.) The fee is payable to either the police service accepting the application or to the OACP-licensed private assessment firm performing the assessment. Candidates may only participate in one pre-interview assessment at a time anywhere in Ontario.

Candidates will be invited to undertake first-stage assessment at a designated site. The assessment will include four tests:

1. The Police Analytical Thinking Inventory (PATI) designed to measure the following three areas:
• Deductive Reasoning: The ability to draw appropriate conclusions from information provided. Police are often required to make sense of evidence by drawing conclusions about its relevance and meaning. This is tested through the Syllogism and Travel Time tasks.
• Inductive Reasoning: The ability to identify trends or common characteristics in a series of objects or information presented. Police officers often need to sift through seemingly disconnected facts and make judgments about how they fit together. This is tested through the Classification and Series Completion tasks.
• Quantitative Reasoning: The ability to apply basic arithmetic operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions to solve problems. Police are required to apply arithmetic processes to determine rates of speed, stopping distance, etc. and this ability is tested on the Word Problems and Arithmetic tasks.
2. A Written Communication Test (WCT) that must be completed within one hour. It evaluates the candidate's ability to organize information in a clear, coherent and comprehensive manner and to make conclusions from given facts. The candidate is presented with a scenario in which factual details are jumbled or represented in a non-chronological manner.
3. Medical/physical test, including Physical Readiness Evaluation for Police (PREP Test):
   • Vision: uncorrected Visual Acuity should be at least 6/12 (20/40) binocularly (both eyes open). Corrected Visual Acuity should at least be 6/6 (20/20) binocularly. There are additional minimum requirements regarding refractive surgery, farsightedness (hyperopia), colour vision, depth perception and peripheral vision.
   • Hearing standards: normal hearing at frequencies of 500 to 4000 Hz measured by audiometer.

   PREP Test

   • Pursuit/Restraint Circuit: participants are evaluated completing as quickly as possible a 25 metre circuit four times (total distance = 100 meters) while wearing a 9 pound soft weight belt that simulates wearing a full equipment belt. During each rotation a set of stairs are climbed and on the second and fourth rotations a four-foot fence is scaled. Following completion of the circuit the participant completes pushing and pulling on the "body control" simulator, performs two "arm restraint" simulations, then drags a 150 pound rescue dummy a distance of 15 meters.
   • Aerobic Shuttle Run: partiipants are evaluated running back and forth over a 20 metre course in time with tape recorded signals. The time to cover the 20 metre course is shortened progressively until candidates are unable to maintain the pace.
4. Interactive video simulation: candidates will view scenarios representing what police constables experience on the job. They will then respond as if speaking to the people in the scene. Knowledge of police procedures is not required.

Notes:
Re-test waiting period for the written parts of the assessment is six months.

Before taking part in the PREP test candidates must submit a completed questionnaire that identifies any health risks associated with participation in strenuous exercise. Candidates will also be required to complete and sign a PREP Participant Consent Form. Blood pressure will be measured when candidates arrive for testing. Applicants over 40 years of age must complete a health form with their family physicians prior to the test date. These forms must be submitted with the Registration package.

Applicants who have unacceptable vision or hearing assessments will be referred for further examination by an appropriate specialist.