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April 14, 2008

Esserman cancels police exam after leak alleged

PROVIDENCE -- Police Chief Dean M. Esserman today announced that he has canceled a promotional examination for sergeant scheduled for April 26 because inside information about the exam allegedly had leaked to one of the candidates for promotion.

The inside information, according to a statement by Esserman, was the identity of some of the study material for the exam. One of the candidates for promotion who planned to take the exam apparently learned what the study material would be approximately three weeks before the material was announced. That would have given the officer a head start in his studies at the expense of his competitors.

The study material at issue will be replaced by other material when a new exam is scheduled, Esserman announced in a statement.

City Councilman John J. Lombardi has said that a leader of the police labor union, the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge No. 3, has been implicated as the leaker but has denied responsibility. The leaker allegedly overheard a captain discussing the material and then passed on what he heard to one of the patrolmen scheduled to take the exam.

Esserman today confirmed that there is an internal investigation of the leak of the confidential information prior to the date it was supposed to be made available to everyone. The police leadership so far has been unwilling to discuss the leak allegations in detail.

Cheating on police promotional exams became a scandal under former Police Chief Urbano Prignano Jr., who retired under pressure. Prignano admitted in sworn testimony he secretly gave favored subordinates inside information to help them cheat.

-- Journal staff writer Gregory Smith

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 6:19 PM | Permalink

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Dan | April 15, 2008 6:09 AM link

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