Far be it from the Czar to take the side of a union.

But when something is this stupid, even we find ourselves in agreement.

The problem? Chicago “diversity watchdogs” believe there are not enough minorities represented in the Chicago Police Department. Yeah, says the cops, but lots of them apply—they just aren’t passing the entrance exam.

So CPD management knows how to fix this problem: eliminate the entrance exam. You can’t fail it if you don’t take it, right?

Look, the Czar is not ignorant in either direction here. The CPD entrance exam ain’t exactly a know-right-from-left questionnaire, but it isnt’t the CPA exam, either. It is intended to be a weed-out exam, but it is completely passable by anyone who takes it seriously.

Fraternal Order of Police President Mark Donahue said the idea of scrapping the entrance exam “sounds too stupid to be true.” The Czar agrees. Cops without basic comprehension, no proven writing or reading skills, or fundamental knowledge? And while the exam is really geared toward police work (a question might pose a hypothetical situation police encounter often), the test is multiple choice (with the usual obviously wrong answer, the outrageous idea, a conditionally correct choice, and the correct answer): nearly anyone with common sense can score pretty well on it with no preparation. That of course is the point: if you don’t have basic common sense, you won’t do well as a cop, and you won’t do well on the test. Get it?

Obviously a lot of wanna-be cops don’t. How comforting to know that if you live in the City of Chicago and need help, the person responding to the call may not know the difference between one right option and three wrong ones. And any good cop will tell you that the exam is easy compared to the weird judgment calls they go through on a real-world basis.

At what point did this sound like a good idea? Of course, if you want to turn your police force into one where anything goes, you better expect them to transform into the New Orleans Police Department circa 1977. And dealing with that consequence is a lot harder than dealing with the reality that competent minorites don’t want to be cops for some reason.

Find out why they’re not taking the exam and only the asshats are.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.