An Examination of the Civil Service Exam and Police Reform Efforts

• In Event: Law Enforcement and Immigration Administration

Abstract

The civil service exam was created to reform the hiring process for public officials, focusing on merit (skills and expertise) versus political patronage. While much of the 20th century focused on reforming the civil service, these reforms failed to adhere to the changes in practitioners objectives. Alongside the exams inefficiencies, scholars and practitioners alike debate the exams ability to decrease inequality in the hiring process, and argue that the exam hinders bureaucratic reform efforts. In the case of police departments, the civil service exam has acted as a hindrance to its “21st Century Policing” goals. Through in-depth interviews of current police chiefs and civil service administrators in Albany county in New York, this study seeks to understand police influence and insight regarding the civil service exam, placing some of the voice and input for civil service reform on police departments, instead of local and state bureaucrats. The study will also examine possible changes to the civil service exam that could lead to a more equitable hiring process.

Author

• Amani Edwards