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Commission discusses whether to award preference points to internal CSOs; staff cites statutory limits
Summary
Commissioners debated options to give preference to current Community Service Officers on police hiring lists. Staff advised that statutory preference categories are limited and suggested using oral-exam weighting to create discretionary points for prior Villa Park service.
Commissioners spent notable time discussing whether current Community Service Officers (CSOs) who take the police test can be awarded additional preference points for prior service.
The Police Chief argued for recognizing committed, internal employees: “We have employees that are working here ... I mean, why wouldn't somebody get a benefit for that for being an employee, a committed employee?” Staff replied that state law constrains where preference points can be applied, citing education and military preferences established in statute.
A staff member suggested a practical approach that stays within statutory constraints: allocate a larger share of the total score to the oral examination and reserve a small percentage for prior Villa Park experience. As staff put it, the rules provide that roughly 40% of the initial entry score can be based on the oral exam; one suggestion in the meeting was to shift that to 35% and add 5% for prior local service to recognize internal candidates while keeping the process legally defensible.
Commissioners did not adopt a change during this meeting; staff noted the current lateral list is certified and cannot be adjusted retroactively. Any scoring or procedural change would need to be reflected in future selection cycles and in how oral exams are structured.
