Testing

BACKGROUND

The San Diego Police Department gives three written tests a month, and one PAT. The City of San Diego is in a major fiscal crisis involving the pension. Cut backs and pension reform are coming, and everyone knows it. So their Police Force is jumping ship (there are about 12 Police Department in the County) to secure better salaries, and they are having a hard time finding new Recruits due to the looming financial problems.

Hey good for me. At this point I don't care about pensions and salary, I just wanna be a cop.

But SDPD won't just take any geek off the street. They keep their hiring standards high. If that means that fewer cops are on the streets and more money is being spent on overtime, so be it. Better than having incompetent people that could cost the City more in lawsuits when they fuck up.

THE TEST

So the test is at 8:30 in the morning. I decide to get there by 7:00 because only the first 150 people get in. I went with my buddy Chris from work, and my childhood friend Daniel.

Chris wore a business suit, which was overkill since I suspect some of the people there were homeless, but at least he stood out in a positive way.

I only had about 3 hours of sleep and a McBreakfast, but I felt good. The test was 75 questions that didn't require previous knowledge of law enforcement; mostly reading comprehension, some logic, and grammar. Honestly it was cake. I think I might have only missed 3 questions. Not that it matters; it's a pass/fail test with no ranking.

They said they would call today if I failed. So far I'm in the clear.