Psych Test for Leo's. 5% Pass?

I'm reading the Chronicle today and they had an article talking about how Oakland will be hiring 70 new recruits, but getting them in place is tough because only 5% pass the psych evaluation.

Is the psych test really that tough?

I had a friend who was failed because he became irritated when they started probing about his DUI when he was in college. I figured that as long as you don't crack you would pass.

How did you guys feel?

Saying 5% pass the psych is a result of some skewing of the statistics. The truer statement would be that about 5% of the applicants make it through the process past the psych.

Application filed. (100% of applicants documented).
Aplication reviewed/screened (% out as unqualified).
Testing process (% out due to written and physical agility).
Interviews (% out that fail interview).
Background packet issued (% out that do not return packet).
% out that do not pass Background.
% out that fail polygraph.
% out that fail written psych (MMPI or similar).
Written conditional offer issued.
% out that fail medical exam/treadmill test.
% out that fail psych interview.

End result ~5% of the original applicants pass the psych.
It is a long process, usually over several months. One misstep, one missed appointment, one person offended, repulsed or upset by you along the way; you are out. For one reason ar another, 95% don't make it all the way to the Chief's interview.

OPD has got to be one of the hardest PD's to get on:toothles.
I would not be surprised if the 5% were true. When I first got into Police Work, I was advised to keep away from 2 dept's and have my head examined if I ever wanted into OPD. (SFPD & SJPD were the ones to have stayed away from at the time...'77)

(SFPD & SJPD were the ones to have stayed away from at the time...'77)

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When I talked to an officer recently at the local burger joint, he was telling me that San Jose was boring!!!!

But I imagine that Oakland isn't a great place to be.

motorman4life said:

One misstep, one missed appointment, one person offended, repulsed or upset by you along the way; you are out.

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MM4L I respect you, but frankly, PD's are in no position to be that selective. I would argue PD's need recruits ALOT more than recruits need them.

tlsmikey said:

But I imagine that Oakland isn't a great place to be.

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Especially now since the OPD chief forced hundreds of officers to involuntarily go back into street patrol in the worst neighborhoods and at the least desirable shifts. To boot, there is no compensation pay for the sudden change in schedule and job role.

And city council voted to hire even more cops?????? I hope these new recruits take a good hard look at what their getting into and walk away before its too late.

silverbelt said:

MM4L I respect you, but frankly, PD's are in no position to be that selective. I would argue PD's need recruits ALOT more than recruits need them.

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You have no idea what you are talking about, do you?

Brian

NVR FNSH said:

You have no idea what you are talking about, do you?

Brian

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+10,000

[sarcasm] yeah lets do away with all the rigorous testing and just give a gun and a badge to anyone that walks through the door [/sarcasm]

We don't want people who just meet minimum standards. We want the best, not those who are just good enough.

silverbelt said:

MM4L I respect you, but frankly, PD's are in no position to be that selective. I would argue PD's need recruits ALOT more than recruits need them.

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1) I am just stating the facts. I am not making the rules. WTF does my reporting of the facts have to do with your respect for me. Don't kill the messenger.
2) I am not perfect. The guys and gals I work with are not perfect. My department (like most) is pretty unforgiving. It seems at times, they expect and demand perfection. Again, not my choice.
3) If you were picking the person that was going to save your ass (or your wife and kids) in a high-stress, deadly situation, you might be a little picky too. Maybe not. I don't know.
4) The candidate pool is shrinking. Thanks to the past leadership of this country and a wholesale errosion of morals, ethics and standards; the kids coming out of college, by and large, have never considered how their bad choices will affect their futures.

NVR FNSH said:

You have no idea what you are talking about, do you?

Brian

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I do not have LEO experience. However, I certainly have not heard of any bay area police depts that are at the staffing levels they want to be at. In fact, its just the opposite.

So yes, its a sellers (candidates) market per se. If PD's (buyers) want the very best, they are doomed to being severely understaffed forever.

The lure of a career in LE is not what it used to be.

You want to ask if I know what I'm talking about, then go ahead. What I do know is many bay area PD's are understaffed.

silverbelt said:

I do not have LEO experience. However, I certainly have not heard of any bay area police depts that are at the staffing levels they want to be at. In fact, its just the opposite.

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Depends on the department. Large dept's seem to have more of an issue than small dept's.

silverbelt said:

So yes, its a sellers (candidates) market per se. If PD's (buyers) want the very best, they are doomed to being severely understaffed forever.

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Unfortunately, a lot of the 'sellers' have no business being in the position of enforcing laws. They are usually weeded out very quickly.

However, 'lowering' the standards results in people like Perez in Rampart division of LAPD. There is a huge potential for abuse by an LEO and a lot of people just don't have the moral character to do the right thing.

Simple example: I arrested a lady for violating her probation - she was falling down drunk in her apartment and we got a call about a lady screaming for help. Upon searching her, I found a wad of $20s - ~$200 I think. Took her to jail, booked her and her property and I went on my merry way. Later that night I found a $20 in my cargo pocket where I had put her property - I knew it wasn't my $20 because I don't carry anything but my gloves there and I put property there. It took me three days to return her $20 because she had been released to a detox facility and they couldn't tell me she was there even though we all knew it.

How easy would it have been for me to keep the $20? Somebody else might have.

silverbelt said:

The lure of a career in LE is not what it used to be.

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Partially true. Salary is good, retirement can be very good, hours still suck. Hopefully, the days of any high school grad being able to become an LEO are gone. LE isn't rocket science but it does take some smarts - and thick skin.

silverbelt said:

You want to ask if I know what I'm talking about, then go ahead. What I do know is many bay area PD's are understaffed.

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agreed some dept's are understaffed. Just be careful of what you wish for in order to get more officers on the street.

Brian

I dunno, a fully staffed PD with more or less anyone who wanted the job and wasn't a felon? Or a less than fully staffed PD with some obsessive requirements?

Since there are already enough people out there that believe that a) all cops are dicks that got picked on as kids and b) that cops aren't really very bright or they'd have gotten better jobs I'm personally inclined to let the PD be rather picky about who they hire. The current screening processes seem fairly effective at weeding out people who got picked on as kids and are looking for payback, along with the mentally challenged.

If one wanted to live where the police weren't so carefully vetted and trained one could always move to a nice third world country... Me, I like it here as long as MM4L and his pals stay off my six.

Also the reason why most PDs are understaffed has more to do with budget issues than available manpower. There are plenty of folks studying CJ to ensure a pool of applicants. Of course there is plenty of chaff in with the wheat!

cardinal03 said:

+10,000

[sarcasm] yeah lets do away with all the rigorous testing and just give a gun and a badge to anyone that walks through the door [/sarcasm]

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Hey that worked in Washington,D.C. when Marion Barry was the mayor. Now they wonder why there is corruption in the dept.


Also a big plus one on the budget problems within cities departments. That's the only reason I'm not a cop in Northern Virginia now. Well that and "the we will not roll all that passed into the next academy so fell free to reapply).:finger

applying is a joke.. I passed all the test for sjpd and went to the backgroung interview.

i was told that i should reapply next year. du to my driving record 5 years ago. which i was upfront about it since the very first day.

what a waste of time off work and hopes and dreams.. this process took 6 months.

i asked him will 1 extra year make a difference.. he said "yes a lot" what a bunch of bullshit.

he also asked me if i had a temper problem because back in 99 i got jumped and fought back a bunch of thugs (not my fault) and fought in 2001 because a guy slapped the back of my head..

yet they said they want the truth, and are not looking for angels.

i grew up in a bad area and got a BS in criminal justice because of this. Its not at all about the pay,, i just want to make a difference.

the difference from what i see that goes on, that the cops who grew up in a nice neighborhood would never know what i know about the steets.

plain and simple.. you need a perfect backgroud, never done any drugs, sane, and military expierence..

put it this way a lot of people with military expierence want to be cops including me. i just did not have everything handed to me. and a perfect upbringing.

feel like i got a BS for nothing should have picked another major. It seems if you got BS in Criminal Justice, the only jobs you can get are LE and Courts, and PO. yet there is so much competition.
sorry need to vent.

bpowa said:

plain and simple.. you need a perfect backgroud, never done any drugs, sane, and military expierence..

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Don't need a perfect background, there are different rules for drug use set by each department, and I certainly hope you would want the cops to be sane! and I was never in the military, so that is also not required.

bpowa said:

applying is a joke.. I passed all the test for sjpd and went to the backgroung interview. i was told that i should reapply next year.

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Apply to more departments. San Jose is not the only one hiring. It is easy to become dissapointed when the ONE place you want to work doesn't pick you up. It happened to me too. Suck it up and move on. Crying in your beer won't get you the job you want.

Most of the departments in the Bay Area are hurting for cops. Just because SJPD passed on you does not mean you are finished. And the "re-apply in 1 year" deal is not BS either. I have seen guys re-apply at depts. in 1 year and get picked up.

If you have no arrests, no DV history, a clean/valid DL, a relatively drug-free past (nothing recent) and honorable military service... with a BS in CJ to boot, shit! You are an ideal candidate. Get your damned resume together and go fill out some applications!

Fuck SJPD, their loss. Move on.

thanks motorman, for the mitivation...

good to hear it from a POLICE OFFICER..

i'll keep trying..

bpowa said:

thanks motorman, for the mitivation...
good to hear it from a POLICE OFFICER..

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That makes two you heard from, but I guess you did not like my answer.