Police May Scrap Entrance Exam: Report

[The Northerner]

Source: NBC Chicago

The Chicago Police Department is seriously considering scrapping the police entrance exam, sources tell Fran Spielman.

Dropping the exam would bolster minority hiring and avert legal battles, according to one source, while others confirm that the exam could be scrapped to open the process to as many people as possible.

However, the lack of an exam would make Chicago the lone major city without one, and experts contend that the exam is integral to eliminating unqualified applicants.

The CPD has tried in recent years to boost minority hiring by offering the police exam online and turning to minority clergy to help in the recruitment effort.

Read more: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/chicago-police-scrap-entrance-exam-80790827.html

[Socal31]

1. Yes, that is exactly what we need.

Chicago has enough uneducated people with weapons as it is.

[theHandpuppet]

2. That's an incredibly dumbass solution

As the saying goes, if all else fails, lower your standards, eh? I think there must be another solution.

[proudohioan]

3. I find that quite offensive.

Why does the CPD feel that it has to "dumb down" for minorities? I know plenty of "non-minorities" out there who are frankly dumber than the rocks that they crawled out from under.
Haven't we as a nation progressed beyond this kind of mentality? (Yeah, I know, if I have to ask....)

BTW, I'm a "non-minority", lest I offended anyone.

[MercutioATC]

6. Sounds like they don't have enough minority candidates passing the test.

Rather than expose themselves to bullshit lawsuits, they'll just hire anybody who walks through the door.

Stupid idea.

[Unvanguard]

14. Nobody hires solely on the basis of entrance exams.

And if they were actually demonstrably connected to merit, they wouldn't have to fear lawsuits.

[MercutioATC]

18. No, but entrance exams are usually used as a screening process.

...and regardless of whether one loses a lawsuit or not, they can be expensive to defend against.

[naaman fletcher]

7. Why is it offensive?

Is it offensive that they said lowering standards will allow them to hire more minorities? Do you deny that is true? Would you prefer that they lie?

[proudohioan]

9. I find it offensive

that CPD would assume that a person is too stupid to pass a test just by the color of their skin.
But that's just me.
Do I claim to know if it's true that lowering standards will result in more minority hiring?
Would I prefer that they lie? Yeah, I guess I would.
Does that answer your questions?

[pipoman]

13. My first thought

was exactly in line with your first post. Then this answer has made me rethink the position..specifically, "I find it offensive that CPD would assume that a person is too stupid to pass a test just by the color of their skin.". I would guess the fact they have been using the test for how long?..they know the statistics as they are right now, failure rates based on shape, size, ethnicity, age, income level, etc. These tests are somewhat difficult..on the level of GED on the scholastic portion in my area. I think there is great demand for young, smart, career minded black workers with many companies and other government agencies struggling to meet internally and externally applied ethnic quotas. Most people don't really want to be a cop..talk about alienating old friends and being relegated to hanging out with other cops socially..not that attractive to me...especially if there are other options.

[bc3000]

10. I find it offensive

because their solution to low test scores by minorities is to lower standards. How about upping the standards of the inner city schools many of these minority candidates attended?

[MercutioATC]

19. I don't think the CPD has much control over that.

[naaman fletcher]

20. they dont control that

[midnight]

15. Precisely

[WriteDown]

4. The new TSA. nt

[La Lioness Priyanka]

5. if the exam is related to the job, then it shouldnt be scrapped

[frebrd]

8. If applicants aren't qualified.......

wouldn't they get eliminated during training, anyway?

[Igel]

12. You'd hope.

But you hope to cut down the number of drop-outs to the smallest number possible.

If you do that, you don't need to waste time and energy and money on training future drop-outs.

You don't have to expand the size of the trainee cohort to accommodate a higher drop-out rate.

You don't have to worry that some important skill that's tested and which is time-critical on the job turns out to be not so job-critical in training.

You don't waste the drop-outs' time. If it takes them a month to drop out, that's a month they've wasted.

It's the reason for lots of entrance exams. It saves the institution time and money, it saves the future drop-outs time and often money.

But there's another problem implicit in the entire proposal. Once they're in training, there are two ways to be dropped: The first is failing a test; this would just kick the can and not prevent lawsuits. The second is to rely on trainer evaluations; these can be fudged and are subject to political manipulation.

The only advantage to doing it this way is to accommodate those who are simply bad test takers, or to accommodate poorly designed tests. The way around the second is to spring for a better test. For the former, there's no solution; on the other hand, by the time you finish high school in the US you should be fairly adept at most of the standard testing techniques, or have documentation that you need to use alternative testing modalities.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

11. Worked fucking great in Miami!

See: The Miami River Murders

[dmr]

21. Yup, MPD lowered the standards, went on a hiring spree, and got “The Enterprise”

I lived in Miami at the time, and remember it well.

Cocaine related crime was rampant, and they needed more cops on the streets. They lowered the hiring standards and ended up with multitudes of deadly and disastrous results.

[AngryAmish]

16. If passing the test is not a bona fide occupational qualification, then lawsuits can happen

Disparate impact - big push in the justice department now.

[Indy Lurker]

17. My local PD has trouble getting recruits

I live in northern Illinois, in a town of 30,000 and I am told we have a very hard time finding qualified candidates that:


Can pass the aptitude test
Can pass the background check (pot, dui will kick you out)
Can pass the Psych test (some are too eager for the power that comes with the job)
Are willing to work for a low starting wage.

[classysassy]

22. My fear

that will allow more dumb racist whites than blacks and other non whites.