It’s a long process that lasted 7 months. First you take the exam online at a proctored environment. Second phase is the physical exam. Third phase the interview and final phase was the background.

Interview process is designed to herd in as many candidates as possible. They need a lot of officers every year and will make you believe you are getting a job ...until they don't. They hurry everyone through every step. Their goal is to have 120 applicants go into background to cut half of them and end up with 60 recruits per class. This is disingenuous because they will string you along even if you may not qualify or meet background standards. You are better off going to an agency that actually evaluates/values your qualifications and eliminates at each stage of the process so you know that you are heading towards a job, competitively. At SJPD, you will go through the fake process, spending time and money only to be cut in background when they have enough recruits. It's OK to meet the needs of the department, but they are deceptive in their practices.