Blacks Can't Pass Police Written & Physical Test. That Makes Exams Racist

Blacks Can't Pass Police Written & Physical Test. That Makes Exams Racist #dmtbka DMTBKA https://rumble.com/user/jackthebarbershopguy

The Maryland State Police agreed to change the way it tests recruits and said it will pay $2.75 million to 48 women and Black applicants who were turned down for trooper jobs after they failed recruiting tests later deemed discriminatory.

The actions, approved Wednesday by the Board of Public Works, are part of a consent decree that settles a two-year civil rights investigation by the U.S. Justice Department into hiring and promotion practices by the police agency.

The probe found that the police “engaged in a pattern or practice of unintentional discrimination against African-American and female applicants” for entry-level trooper jobs, through the use of written and physical tests that disproportionately disqualified those applicants. The rejected recruits were applying to police recruiting classes from 2017 to today.

Col. Roland Butler, the Maryland State Police superintendent, stressed Wednesday that the Justice Department determined the discrimination was unintentional. But he also said the police force agreed with the findings, and that the agency is “committed to making meaningful and lasting change.”

The investigation focused on two tests that are part of the process – including background checks, drug tests and interviews – to hire a new trooper.

The Police Officer Selection Test (POST) is a written test of an applicant’s abilities in math, reading, writing and grammar. A passing grade is 70%, and would-be officers can retake the test up to four times in a year in an effort to pass. Applicants who fail are eliminated from the program.

The Functional Fitness Assessment Test requires applicants to do 18 pushups in a minute and 27 situps in a minute, run 1.5 miles in 15 minutes, 20 seconds, and be able to reach 1.5 inches past their toes while seated to test their flexibility. All four parts of the test have to be successfully completed to pass, but applicants can try three times in a year before being eliminated.

According to the Justice Department investigation, however, the skills assessed in those two tests were not actually essential to a trooper’s job performance. And while 91% of white applicants were ultimately able to pass the POST test, just 71% of Black applicants were able to so. On the physical test, 51% of women passed compared to 81% of men.