The State College Borough Council voted last night to change procedures for testing prospective entry-level police officers.
Effective immediately, the amended selection process will use an additional videotape test, comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and ease vision standards.
The State College Police Department eligibility test will be offered later this spring for the first time in about three years, Borough Personnel Director Michele Nicolas said.
"We normally don't go this long," she said, adding that she hoped the tests soon would be offered on an annual basis. Any United States citizen at least 21 years old may take the initial written examination.
The council unanimously approved a resolution to create a third dimension to the selection process where applicants will watch videotaped, real-life police scenarios.
Police Chief Tom King said the 100 applicants who score highest on the written examination will be asked to respond to eight random videotaped situations, such as domestic disputes, traffic violations or death notifications.
"I think this is going to give us a much better indication of how a candidate will respond to a situation. In the past, we never learned that until we put the person out on the street," he said.
"It's pretty much unheard of on the East Coast," King said, adding that the Virginia State Police recently became the first eastern department to purchase the video.
The additional screening test was developed so that the department could eliminate more applicants before oral interviews are conducted, Nicolas said. The 16 top-scoring applicants who take the written and video tests will then be granted interviews.
The council also agreed last night to have the police department comply with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations by no longer requiring potential officers to undergo medical or psychological tests prior to being offered jobs.
Under the act, however, employment offers will be made contingent upon applicants successfully passing medical examinations before they are are hired.
New vision standards also passed by the council last night will allow new officers with correctable 20/200 vision to serve on the force. The previous, more stringent correctable vision standard of 20/100 was chosen arbitrarily, Nicolas said.
