July 03--LANSING -- Officials from the City of Monroe and the State of Michigan are investigating an incident in which Monroe police officers taking firefighter training were e-mailed questions and answers for a firefighting test.
The action by a city official has drawn a complaint about copyright infringement from the test publisher, Jones & Bartlett Learning of Burlington, Mass., which wrote a letter to the city in June.
Also, Monroe City Manager George Brown said he and the state Office of Firefighter Training are trying to determine whether any cheating was involved, or whether the questions and answers were only samples used to help with study.
In 2010, Monroe began shifting from separate departments for police and firefighters to a public safety department, in which the roles are combined. The move, part of a trend around the state as local governments try to cut costs, is a controversial one that unions representing firefighters strongly oppose.
Though new hires are trained for both roles, former police officers can voluntarily train and qualify as firefighters and are eligible for extra pay when they do so, Brown said.
The most recent county training began in November and ended with written tests around April, he said.
Brown said he has determined that an official in the Public Safety Department sent test questions and answers to city police officers who were in the county firefighter training course in April 2012, but he does not know that it happened in connection with the course this year.
He said his understanding is that the material was sent to help officers study, and the materials were much more voluminous than the test officers were required to write, so it's unlikely cheating occurred.
But, he said, both he and state officials will investigate to make sure the integrity of the test wasn't compromised.
Joseph Grutza, director of the Michigan Office of Fire Fighter Training, who was copied on the letter from the test publisher, did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
All 13 Monroe officers who were recently tested passed, Brown said.
Mark Docherty, president of the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union, said Wednesday that he believes police officers were trying to cut corners to keep their jobs. "They've got to take the entire class over again to show that they're qualified," Docherty said.
James Tignanelli, president of the Police Officers Association of Michigan, which represents the Monroe officers, said he's confident the investigations will show the integrity of the test was not compromised. "It's common for instructors in many classes to go over what you are going to need to know," he said.
Times are changing, and police officers are being proactive while firefighters appear to want to stand still and fight changes such as public safety departments, Tignanelli said.
In a June 18 letter to the city, William Larkin of Jones & Bartlett said the test publisher had copies of e-mails showing the "Public Safety Department provided Test Bank items to the Police Department." It's not clear how Jones & Bartlett learned of the e-mails.
Test materials are the sole property of his company and such sharing must cease, Larkin said in the letter.
He also said the city should either institute a test misconduct policy or review its existing one for elements including "steps to be taken upon suspicion or confirmation of cheating."
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