Pa. probe finds cheating, instructor misconduct at State Police academy
HARRISBURG — A year after allegations of cheating roiled the Pennsylvania State Police Academy, the state Office of Inspector General said Friday that its investigation found evidence of cadet cheating, training problems, and instructor misconduct.
The months-long probe found the academy "created an environment that allowed cheating to occur because instructors provided cadets with answers to test questions and did not often change the content of tests," according to a statement released by Inspector General Bruce R. Beemer's office.
"The state police was fully cooperative in the investigation, and indeed has already made changes and improvements to some of the shortcomings we identified," Beemer said.
But the 47-page report by Beemer's office described a chaotic environment within the academy — one without clear guidelines on what even constitutes cheating — that led cadets to share test questions with other classes and receive guidance from instructors on specific questions to appear on exams.
Some cadets who were set to graduate last year reported that the academy's staff even provided direct test answers, or study guides that specifically mirrored a test.
One cadet told Beemer's investigators that during test-review sessions, instructors "would actually pull up the test and read the question off; say, 'Make sure you know this'; and they'd say it three or four times," according to the report. A number of instructors admitted as much.
"It got to the point we didn't need to study," one cadet told investigators. "We knew that we would be given what we needed to know."
In a statement, State Police Commissioner Tyree C. Blocker said the agency had made improvements to the academy's organizational structure and instructional staff. New software will allow testing that gives randomized questions to each group, "eliminating the ability of cadet classes to recycle tests from a previous class," he said.
He added: "Steps have been taken to advance the training, guidance, and evaluation of academy instructors." That includes working with the union representing troopers to institute three- to five-year term limits for instructors at the academy.
Asked whether anyone had been fired or disciplined as a result of the investigation, spokesman Ryan Tarkowsky said: "The academy has seen significant change to its command staff since this incident was brought to light. No individual was fired as a direct result of the investigation." He would not elaborate.
The cheating scandal came to light a year ago, after an instructor at the academy found a folded, handwritten piece of paper in a hallway that was later determined to be a cheat sheet containing answers to a test on traffic law.
The scandal led to both an internal investigation by the state police and a months=long probe by the Office of the Inspector General. During that time, more than 40 cadets who were set to graduate last spring either resigned or were dismissed, according to the report.
During the OIG's probe, investigators documented how instructors at the academy gave differing answers to what constituted cheating.
With its complement of roughly 4,700 troopers, the state police prides itself on being the nation's "first uniformed police organization of its kind," its website states.
Cadets in the State Police Academy in Hershey go through what is billed as a rigorous, 27-week training program, receiving a biweekly salary of $1,200, according to the website.
In order to graduate, cadets must receive passing grades in all academic courses, among other requirements.
Beemer's office made a number of recommendations to the state police in its report, including:
• Instituting computer-based testing with random questions.
• Establishing rules on whether cadets can share study guides.
• Implementing an "aggressive and constant review of instructor competence" that examines among other factors whether instructors modify lesson plans.
• Prohibiting instructors from sharing questions and answers with cadets before tests.