State6 Blog
Preparation advice.
From the inside.
Written by serving officers who’ve sat on both sides of the table.
What Is a Police Mock Board, and How Does an AI One Work?
A police mock board is a practice run of the real thing, sat before the day. Here is what it tests, what a human one costs, and how an AI mock board works.
Police CVF Example Answer: We Support and Inspire (Sergeant Level)
Most officers describe a performance conversation and wonder why it didn't score. Here is what We Support and Inspire looks like at sergeant level, and the difference between a two and a four.
Police CVF Example Answer: We Are Emotionally Aware
Most officers can define We Are Emotionally Aware. Fewer can demonstrate it under board pressure. Here is what a strong Inspector-level CVF answer looks like.
Part 1: Why Most Police Promotion Board Presentations Fail Before the First Slide
Strong officers fall short not because they lack experience, but because the structure of what they say doesn't let the panel see it.
Part 2: STANCE — The Six-Step Structure for Police Promotion Board Presentations
STANCE is the six-step structure for promotion board presentations. Each step does a specific job. Together they let a panel see your thinking at the rank you are applying for.
How to Practice a Police Promotion Board With AI
Reading your answers in the car is not the same as sitting the board. Here is what it takes to practice a police promotion board with AI, out loud and under questioning.
How to Structure a Forward Facing Question for a Police Promotion Board
Most officers know STARR. Fewer know what to do when the question is forward facing. This is the structure that fills the gap.
What HMICFRS Grades Mean for Your Promotion Board
Your force has an inspection grade, and your promotion panel knows exactly what it is. Most officers have never looked it up. Here's why that's a missed opportunity.
The Collective Language Problem: Why “We” Costs You Marks at a Promotion Board
There's one word that costs officers more marks at a promotion board than any other. It isn't jargon. It's the word “we”, and most officers don't notice how often they say it.
How We Do What We Do
A chatbot you type into is not the same as an AI built to assess you. How schemas and rubrics actually score a police promotion board answer, and the work behind ours.
What Panels Look For at Chief Inspector Level (And Why Strong Inspectors Fall Short)
Chief inspector is the rank where the operational comfort blanket gets taken away. Most officers answer as the very good inspector they already are. The board is listening for something wider.
Police Inspector Promotion Board: What Panels Look For (And Why Strong Sergeants Get Stuck)
Strong sergeants walk into an inspector board and deliver answers that would have scored brilliantly at their last board. The promotion goes to the officer who understood that the question had changed.
What Panels Look For at Sergeant Level (And Why Good Constables Get It Wrong)
Strong constables walk into a sergeant board and answer every question as the best version of the PC they already are. The panel is listening for something else entirely.
CVF 2024 Explained: A Serving Officer's Guide to What Promotion Panels Look For
Most officers preparing for a promotion board spend their time writing and rewriting STARR answers. That's good. But there's a step that comes before that which most officers skip entirely.
Why ChatGPT Won’t Get You Promoted (And What Will)
ChatGPT told you your answer was strong. Maybe suggested a tweak or two. You felt slightly better about your preparation and closed the laptop. Here is what it missed.
How to Write a STARR Answer for a Police Promotion Board
You’ve got your board date. You’ve also got a notebook with three half finished examples in it and a quiet fear that everyone else walking into that room is better prepared than you. They’re not. But let’s make sure.