I just had a quick chat with Capt. Robert Kanaski, who’s heading up the San Diego Police Department’s effort to recruit new cops to the city.
Kanaski and his team just got back from a quick trip to Winona, Minn., where they held a written test for college students and other hopefuls looking for a possible ticket southwest to America’s Finest City.
Kanaski said things went well.
About 40 people showed up for the test, Kanaski said. What was really amazing, however, was the pass rate, he said. The applicants had a roughly 90-percent pass rate, Kanaski said. That’s compared to an average pass rate in San Diego (where, admittedly, lots more people show up for the tests) of 55 to 57 percent.
That doesn’t necessarily mean Winonans are cleverer than San Diegans, of course. The test was, after all, aimed at students at the local university, many of whom are studying law enforcement.
Kanaski was happy with the results:
I’m pretty pleased. I think the numbers will grow, but if you look at the pass rate and the quality of candidates that came through, we’re very pleased.
Kanaski said the SDPD’s Human Resources team is currently performing background checks on the successful candidates. The next step after that will be to bring applicants down for physical testing.