Thanks to the AJC for content of this article:

An entire class of Cobb County police recruits was fired Monday after they cheated on a test, authorities said. A police academy instructor caught two recruits comparing answers during a written exam last week. After the academy alerted Mickey Lloyd, Cobb’s public safety director, on Friday, he ordered an inquest and soon learned that all 20 recruits had cheated, he said.

Most of the recruits admitted to cheating when asked about it, Lloyd said. “They’d gotten together and decided none of them was going to fail,” said Lloyd. It’s not clear how the recruits cheated, though Lloyd said they did not steal the test.

The news “dismayed” Cobb County Commissioner Helen Goreham, but she praised the swift response in drumming out the recruits suspected of cheating. “Integrity with our police officers is something we do not skimp on,” said Goreham, the commissioners’ public safety liaison. “The level of service our officers provide the citizenry is top-notch. We will not tolerate an incident of this type.” Investigators do not plan to file criminal charges against any class members — a mix of men and women of various backgrounds — but they might not ever wear a law enforcement badge in Georgia, Lloyd said. Authorities did not release the recruits’ names.

To get into the class, recruits had to have at least a high school diploma and pass a background check as well as psychiatric and polygraph tests — measures intended to weed out certain would-be cops. “You’d think you’d have the cream of the crop,” Lloyd said. The recruits were county employees training to become sworn police officers. They were in the fifth week of a 22-week training period required to join about 600 officers on Cobb’s police force, where salaries start around $34,600.

“The Cobb County Police Department is among the best in the state,” Lloyd said. “There are a lot of fine officers out there. They work hard and they’re honest. This had to be done in order to maintain this reputation.” “Everybody’s very disturbed about it,” said police spokesman Dana Pierce. “It’s a disappointment to all of us.”

So, what is your opinion of Marietta’s Police Department? What experiences have you had with our officers in blue?