Ohio City Plans to Toss Police Recruit Exam Scores

DAYTON, Ohio --

An Ohio city plans to discard test scores of 748 people who passed its police recruit exam and instead base hiring on oral interviews in an effort to improve its minority hiring.

Dayton had to develop new selection procedures as part of a discrimination lawsuit settlement with the Department of Justice in 2009. The federal lawsuit accused Dayton of discriminating against blacks in the hiring of police officers and firefighters.

The Dayton Daily News reports the 30-minute oral exams will consist of five questions. The newspaper says only those who passed the written exam can take the oral exam.

Dayton's police union president Randy Beane called the change "outrageous" and said the process won't be objective. Beane says the union is checking to see if the change is legal.

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Information from: Dayton Daily News, http://www.daytondailynews.com