The Mobile Police Department promoted nearly 30 sworn officers this summer under a newly overhauled evaluation process that shifts weight away from academic credentials and toward hands-on performance and experience.
Police Chief James Barber said the changes were designed to remove longstanding barriers that, in his view, kept qualified officers from advancing. Under the department’s previous promotion system, holding a college degree provided a scoring bonus on top of an officer’s test results, even when experience on the street told a different story.
“Historically we’ve had a difficult time getting qualified people into positions,” Barber said of the old approach.
The new process requires officers seeking advancement to complete a three-part evaluation: a 100-question exam covering law and department procedure, along with practical simulations of the tasks expected at the next rank up. Supporters within the department say the format gives a clearer picture of whether an officer is ready to lead.
Among those promoted was a Mobile native with 23 years in law enforcement, 13 of them with MPD, who moved up to corporal and began new duties in the department’s planning and research unit. He also works as one of the department’s self-defense instructors. He said the previous system had effectively penalized experienced officers without degrees, since a lower test score paired with a degree could outrank a stronger score without one.
“The city of Mobile deserves a well-trained, well-disciplined police force,” he said, adding that he supports the direction Chief Barber has set for the department.
The round of promotions touched every rank in the chain of command, from captains moving up to major down to patrol officers stepping into corporal roles. Sergeants advanced to lieutenant, corporals moved up to sergeant, and officers across multiple units earned corporal stripes, reflecting a broad reshuffling of MPD’s leadership structure heading into the second half of 2015.
Department officials say the revised promotion criteria will remain in place for future evaluation cycles, with the goal of building a more consistent pipeline of leadership from within the ranks rather than relying heavily on formal education alone. The change comes amid a broader national conversation about how police departments identify and prepare officers for supervisory roles.
MPD did not indicate whether further adjustments to the testing format are planned, but officials said they will monitor how the new system performs in upcoming promotion cycles.