Civil Service Board finds violations in Miami police lieutenant exam, recommends all candidates get second-phase test

The Miami Civil Service Board on Sept. 30 voted that the police department mishandled the promotional process for its 2025 lieutenantAexamination, finding by 4-1 that the methods used to decide who advanced from the written, multiple-choice test to the second, in-basket exercise violated the boardA—s rating rules. The board also voted, 3-2, to recommend to the city manager that all candidates who took the first day of testing be permitted to take the in-basket (phase 2) now used to complete the exam.

Why it matters: About 76 candidates took the first-day technical knowledge test; the department announced in April that only the top 35 scorers would proceed to the in-basket. Candidates and two sergeants who challenged the process told the board that the cut came months after the job posting and candidate materials, that the situational-judgment portion had been removed late, and that seniority and veteransApreference points are added after full scoring, meaning many candidates never had a chance to be fairly ranked on the combined exam.

At the hearing, the employeesAattorney, Terry Gutman Valdez, said the departmentA—s April decision upended expectations created by the Nov. 18, 2024 job announcement and the official police bulletin, both of which described a three-part structure and study materials. "You can't, five months later, decide that instead of everybody who does part 1 going on to part 2 ... only 35 people are going to go from phase 1 to phase 2," Gutman Valdez told the board. "My clients devoted…