Philadelphia Police department gives Veterans preference

Philadelphia Police department gives Veterans preference

Police recruitment efforts are designed to identify the candidates that are best able to complete their Academy training and who are most likely to perform at the highest levels of operational proficiency in the shortest time. Because of this focus, the Philadelphia Police Department actively recruits veterans of our armed forces for service in the Department.

To claim a veteran’s preference you must be able to answer yes to at least one of the following criteria:
     

The Police Department is structured as a para-military organization. This means that we employ a culture and protocols that closely approximate those of the armed forces. Concepts like the chain of command, organizational hierarchies, military order and discipline, and others are ideas that are present in all police organizations. Because of this similarity to the military services, veterans have demonstrated an ability to quickly assimilate into the police organizational framework and are, therefore, productive in their respective duties quicker and at a higher proficiency level than those who have no experience serving in such organizations.

In addition, veterans are, on the whole, in peak physical condition. Because of this, veterans are more likely to withstand the rigors of recruit training and to satisfactorily complete their courses of study to become police officers. Candidates who lack this degree of physical conditioning are more likely to fail the physical component of training and not complete their term of training. This is more than an inconvenience to the department because such failures result in the wasting of valuable training dollars and delay our efforts to add personnel to the patrol force.

Other than issues concerning training completion, physical conditioning is especially important because policing can, at times, be a very demanding occupation that requires the strenuous application of physical effort. Officer candidates who are unfit will clearly have a more difficult time of adequately responding in these situations, placing other officers and citizens at increased risk.

Veterans have also received prior training in firearms, a phase of training that persons not familiar with firearms may have difficulty with. Again, the idea is to identify the candidates most likely to succeed and to actively recruit them for inclusion in our ranks.

The principle inducements that we offer veterans to apply with our department are the addition of ten points to their raw score on the entrance examination and a waiver of the residency requirement that requires one year of prior residency in the City of Philadelphia prior to appointment to Police Officer.

The addition of the ten points is a particularly significant benefit of veteran status. For example, when I took the entrance examination in 1982 I was among 20,000 Philadelphia residents who took the test. Later, I received my results and learned that my raw score before the addition of the ten points was 94. After doing some checking, I found that this score, if not modified, would have placed me somewhere around one thousand on the list. With the addition of the ten points, however, my score changed to 104 ranking me number four in the city. It is a powerful asset that veterans can take advantage of and, in my case, is one of the main reasons I chose to enlist in the military–to get the ten points.

Another advantage offered to active duty military personnel is a waiver of the residency requirement. For non-veterans, candidates must have established and maintained a residence in the City of Philadelphia for at least one year prior to being appointed to the department. For veterans, however, that requirement was recently changed. Instead of having to live in the city for one year prior to appointment, veterans must relocate to the city within six months of being hired.

VETERAN’S BENEFITS SUMMARY

U.S. Veteran’s Preference
Ten points for veteran’s preference will be added to the scores of those who pass the written examination. You are eligible if you are honorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces. Spouses of disabled or deceased veterans may also be considered. Attach a legible copy of your DD-214, Member 4, to your application if you wish your eligibility to be reviewed.

Military personnel who are still on active duty and do not yet have their DD-214 are ineligible for the ten point benefit at this time. However, they may apply for the addition of the ten points to their raw score upon their honorable discharge.

Military Residence Waiver
The requirement that Police Officer Recruits be residents of the City of Philadelphia for one year prior to appointment has been waived for military service personnel. Military personnel who are on active duty or have been discharged from the military no longer than six months before the examination announcement are eligible for this waiver. Veterans hired under the provisions of this waiver must establish and maintain a bona-fide residency within the City of Philadelphia no later than six months after their appointment. All Philadelphia police officers must reside in the City of Philadelphia at all times.

To claim these benefits, veterans should check the appropriate boxes on the application form and must submit a clear copy of their DD-214 , Member 4, military record with their application.

Preliminary applications are accepted by the Philadelphia Police Recruitment Unit year round and can be submitted in one of three ways:

Please do not submit your application multiple times. Duplicate applications received for the same candidate will be discarded.

We encourage all veterans to take advantage of this opportunity to join the Philadelphia Police Department; an agency dedicated to excellence and cutting-edge law enforcement leadership. We are defining the future of law enforcement in Philadelphia, we invite you to join us in making that vision a reality.