Friday, August 21, 2009
WARREN — The first woman in the history of the Warren Police Department to make captain will not be Warren’s next police chief, but a female lieutenant who works under her might be.
Acting Chief Tim Bowers and Lt. Cathy Spencer spent two hours Thursday at the building housing the Warren Health Department on Main Avenue Southwest, taking what Spencer called a “very hard” two-hour, 150-question, multiple-choice test.
The person who did not take the test was Capt. Janice Gilmore, who became a captain last July after getting the highest score on a similar test.
Gilmore, a third-generation Warren police officer, is the first female captain in the department’s history. She’s a 20-year veteran of the department.
Gilmore said she obtained recommended textbooks earlier this summer and began to study them — but decided she did not want to be police chief right now.
“As time went on, it’s not where I want to be in my life right now,” she said Thursday afternoon. “I’ll reconsider in the future, but right now, I’m comfortable where I’m at. I hope I can still effect some positive change within the department and in the community.”
She is captain in command of the department’s patrol officers.
Gilmore arrived at the testing site with Bowers and Spencer but did not stay to take the test.
“She just wished us both luck and walked out,” Spencer said.
Civil-service rules require that at least two people compete for the police chief position. If for some reason, only one of the three candidates would have shown up to take the test, the civil-service commission would have had to start over to find at least two candidates, officials have said.
Spencer, who commands the day-shift patrol officers, could become Warren’s first female police chief, which would put her — along with Gilmore — in rare company.
The National Institute of Justice estimates that around 1.4 percent of police chiefs and captains in the U.S. are women. Another organization estimates there are 250 to 300 female police chiefs across the country.
Captain is one rank above lieutenant and one rank below chief. The Warren Police Department has three captains. They are Bowers, Gilmore and Tim Roberts, who declined to test for chief.
Michele Scala, Warren Civil Service Commission clerk, said the testing company, Daniel T. Clancy & Associates of Cleveland, will probably report back to the commission next week on the preliminary results.
A “challenge” day will be conducted, probably Aug. 31, at which time Bowers and Spencer will be allowed to challenge any of the questions and answers for accuracy.
That session doesn’t involve debate, only an opportunity to submit written challenges, Scala said.
If those issues are resolved in time, the civil-service commission could meet as soon as Sept. 2 or wait until Oct. 7 or schedule a special meeting to certify the results, Scala said.
Spencer said the test was “very, very hard” and the preparation was very stressful, so she was relieved that it was over.
“I had a stack this tall,” Spencer said, referring to about 12 inches of the books the civil- service commission recommended as preparation. The books covered police administration, Ohio administrative laws, human relations and police department contracts.
“You have to just read it and hope it sticks,” she said.
Bowers was off work Thursday and could not be reached to comment after he took the test.
The police chief position became vacant when John Mandopoulos resigned under pressure in April.
runyan@vindy.com