What to Know
- Ten recruits in the Philadelphia Police Academy have resigned after it was discovered they had answers to an exam.
- The recruits resigned before the department could take action against them, police say.
- The cheating scandal came to light as the department deals with the fallout of 72 officers being placed on leave over Facebook posts.
Ten Philadelphia Police Department recruits resigned after officials discovered they sought to cheat on a department exam.
Officials initially said Monday that the 10 recruits had cheated on an exam, but later in the day corrected their earlier statement: The recruits had been caught before they took an open-book, multiple-choice exam.
One of the 10, all in the same platoon of the current recruiting class, got answers to the test about motor vehicles ahead of time, officials said. That recruit and nine others then sought to use the answers.
Another recruit who knew about the would-be cheating reported it to higher-ups, police said.
The recruits resigned last week, department spokesman Capt. Sekou Kinebrew said. Had they not, the wannabe officers would have been rejected.
"In many ways it had a fitting conclusion because the recruits who displayed behavior that was inconsistent with our core values will not be police officers," Kinebrew said. "But, the recruit that did display behavior that is consistent with our core values, that he reported it, will become a police officer."
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The cheating allegations came to light as the Philadelphia Police Department deals with controversy over officers' social media posts.
An investigation into racist and insensitive Facebook posts allegedly made by active-duty and former police officers across the country has led to 72 Philadelphia cops being placed on administrative leave, Police Commissioner Richard Ross said last week.
CORRECTION (June 24, 2019, 6:39 p.m.): The story has been updated to reflect clarifications made by police to their initial statement on the recruits' actions.
