Chicago police change recruit eligibility

CHICAGO — Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis says that because of staffing shortages, the department will hold a written test for recruits on Dec. 11 — its first in four years.

At the same time, Weis says the department is changing some of the eligibility rules for recruits, raising the minimum age from 21 to 25 for those who are not military veterans, while offering new hiring incentives for veterans.

Weis told the Chicago Sun-Times the department would not scrap a requirement that nonmilitary applicants complete at least two years of college.

Weis says veterans with a minimum of three consecutive years of active duty can apply even if they are as young as 21 and have no college. Previously, veterans needed four years of active duty to waive the department's education requirement of 60 semester hours of college credit.