Police officers are tasked with ensuring the public’s safety. So when a police department has an opening, it doesn’t want to be any shorter on manpower than it has to be. The quicker it can get a qualified replacement, the better.
Unfortunately for the Columbus Police Department, its hiring process has tended to be long and cumbersome.
But with the help of Cummins Inc., the department is now able to hire new employees faster than before.
The Columbus department called on Cummins to use the Six Sigma process to evaluate and streamline the police department’s hiring process. The process involves written and physical tests, interviews, background checks, polygraph tests, medical tests and board hearings.
Cummins uses Six Sigma, a data-driven analysis tool, to eliminate waste from processes, find cost savings, analyze problems and find solutions.
The result has been a new process in the screening and hiring of police officers that cuts off two to three months of time while doing a better job of eliminating some unworthy candidates earlier. The police department implemented the Six Sigma changes during a pilot program in January.
Not only do the improvements save time and money, but they give the police department a better opportunity to ensure public safety.
Columbus Police Department and Cummins are to be commended for working together to devise a more efficient hiring process that will get new officers on the street faster — a great benefit to the community.
