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In a move the F.O.P. president has called, “too stupid to be true,” the Chicago Police Department is seriously considering scrapping the police entrance exam. City Hall sources say eliminating the test will improve minority hiring, save millions of dollars on test costs, and avoid legal battles that have plagued the department for decades. If they go through with the plan, Chicago would be the only major city in the country to not have an entrance exam.
Brad Woods, who ran the Personnel Division in Chicago under both Terry Hillard and Phil Cline, said a background check and psych exam alone will not eliminate people who should not be working as police officers. “It’s the wrong way to go,” Woods said.
“When you lower your quality, you will get poor police service and more complaints. “Whenever you make it easier to be the police, you’re doing the citizens and the Police Department a disservice.”
Charlie Roberts, who ran the training division from 1995 to 1999, noted that there are “eleven tracks” recruits must go through in the police academy, including the law and the municipal code.
“If you don’t give someone at least a reading comprehension test, can you just put them in and risk the possibility of having so many of them fail? That could get quite expensive,” Roberts said.
“We were getting people with 60 hours of college credit who were reading at a third-grade level.
What do you think you’ll get if you have no screening process?”
The last police entrance exam in Chicago was held on Nov. 5, 2006. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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