How do Virtual Evaluations Work?

Using our proprietary testing method, ProctorPRO©, PD can process applicants in a completely remote manner. PD staff hold video-proctored, secure, online testing sessions several times per week, which also allows for testing of candidates outside of regular business hours over the weekend. When utilizing ProctorPRO©, the candidate is given access to our Testing Session Scheduling Calendar where they can reserve a seat in one of our video-proctored testing sessions. Each testing session is proctored by a staff member extensively trained in the testing process. The proctor is visible and interacts with the candidates to provide specific instructions and passwords to access their testing, answer questions, and ensure the integrity of the testing process. Proctors control the testing session and can mute and unmute candidates’ microphones, turn cameras on and off, and view the applicants’ screens. As the candidates complete testing, the proctor downloads the tests, verifies completion, scores the test, and uploads the test to the candidate’s profile. Once a candidate completes their testing session, they are given a series of available interview times to join a licensed psychologist via secure HIPAA compliant video software for a one-on-one semi-structured forensic interview.

Are Virtual Evaluations approved by IACP?

One question frequently posed by agencies concerns the efficacy of remote-based methods of testing and interviewing when compared to traditional, in-person methods. While advances in technology have allowed for use of such methods for several years, many police and public safety agencies initially resisted a transition to remote testing and interviewing for fear that these methods would yield differing, inferior results when assessing the suitability and stability of law enforcement candidates.  With the arrival of COVID-19, law enforcement agencies were forced to deal with unprecedented constraints and needed to find a way to balance robust screening of applicants with restrictions and quarantine requirements. Thankfully, police and public safety psychologists and researchers teamed up to study these issues, aiming to answer this question through statistical means as to whether meaningful and significant differences existed between traditional and remote methods. This research was later published, verifying that no statistically significant differences existed between in-person and remote means of interviewing and testing of police and public safety candidates. Subsequently, the IACP’s PPSS Pre-Employment Psychological Evaluation Guideline Revisions Committee reviewed this data and recommended revisions to the Psychological Pre-Employment Guidelines – allowing remote evaluation to be viewed synonymously with traditional methods. This matter was later approved by IACP’s PPSS Executive Board who proposed a change to members at the Annual Conference in 2021.  Membership unanimously passed the revision, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police ratified the changes as part of the current guidelines.

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