The move came one month after the demotion of a former Knightdale Public Safety shift supervisor who the town says failed 23 attempts to qualify even after remedial training sessions. That officer, Vickie Powers, 55, has filed discrimination and harassment charges against Knightdale with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The demotion which followed those failed tests is part of the reason for her EEOC filing.

It’s unclear how directly Powers’ complaints are linked with the tests themselves. Powers’ actual test scores are protected by personnel law and are not public record, the town says. Powers and her attorney Andy Gay have declined to comment.

And Knightdale Public Safety Director Shawn Brown won’t talk about Powers’ allegations.

But, he insists that Powers’ performance on firearms qualification tests did not lead to, and has nothing to do with, his implementation of stricter policies.

“One did not necessarily have to do with the other,” Brown said. “We were already in the process of rewriting many of our long-standing policies.”

The town’s Career Development standards, for example, were also reworded that month, he said.

As for firearm qualification, Brown limited the number of attempts each officer has to qualify. He also increased the score requirement needed to pass the tests.

Knightdale’s previous standards reflected that of North Carolina’s Department of Justice – which are loose.

The NC DOJ allows officers three attempts per day over the course of an entire year to pass the state-mandated firearms test. For handgun and shotgun qualification, 70 percent, is a passing score with the DOJ. Wendell operates under this policy.

Brown’s changes in Jan. 2011 limited the attempts of Knightdale officers to nine per year and increased the score requirement to 80 percent for handgun and shotgun qualification.

Knightdale’s new policy is similar to that of Zebulon, which also requires its officers to achieve an 80 percent proficiency score.

Zebulon police have two weeks to qualify but are not limited to a certain number of attempts, according to Chief Tim Hayworth. If Zebulon police fail to pass the firearms test within two weeks, they are dismissed from the department.

“We have disciplined three officers in the past five years for failing to qualify, but none had to be terminated,” Hayworth said. “Firearms proficiency is an absolute necessity.”

In Knightdale, the policy does not require termination of those who fail. They are just reassigned to administrative duty, as Powers was.