Individuals with at least four years of military experience will be eligible to become a Chicago police officer under new qualifications approved by the city and Chicago Police Superintendent Terry G. Hillard.
Applicants will be allowed to substitute four years of continuous active duty in the U.S. armed forces for the college credit requirement, which stipulates that recruits must have earned at least two years of college credit to qualify to take the police exam.
“With this change, the city and the police department are able to tap into a pool of highly-trained and motivated recruits who might have looked elsewhere for jobs after getting discharged from the service,” said Supt. Hillard. “A military background is a superb prerequisite for becoming a police officer.”
Part of that marketing effort will include stepped up recruitment efforts at area military bases, outreach through direct mailings and targeted advertising in online and print publications that cater to military personnel and reservists.
The change in qualifications comes as the city and the police department prepare to hold the next written exam for police recruits on Jan. 12, 2002.
Registration for the test will be held Saturday, Nov. 3, when the police department will hold its yearly recruitment day at the Timothy J. O’Connor Education and Training Center, 1300 W. Jackson Blvd. An additional registration period will be held from Dec. 3-15.
“We’re looking forward to a big turnout on recruitment day,” said Sgt. Janice D. Barney, head of the Chicago Police Ambassador Program, which oversees recruiting for the department. “We plan to have a lot of hands-on demonstrations to give people a sense of what they’ll need to do to prepare for the test in January and for eventually becoming a police officer.”
To qualify for the exam, applicants must be between the ages of 21 and 40 by Dec. 31, and present a valid driver’s license. Test applicants also must have earned at least 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours of college credit prior to March 15, 2002, in order to take the test. Under the new qualifications, four years of continuous military service may be substituted for the college credit requirement.
Candidates interested in taking the test must submit an application in person along with a $20, cash-only fee on the scheduled registration days at the Police Department, Area 3, 2452 W. Belmont Ave.
Applications will also be accepted at the Timothy J. O’Connor Education and Training Center on the Nov. 3 recruitment day. Applications are available at the registration sites and at all Chicago Public Library locations.
For more information about the test and the qualifications for becoming a Chicago Police officer, visit the Chicago Police Department Web site at www.cityofchicago.org/CAPS or call Ernst & Young at (312) 474-0175.
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