Police Officer

ISSUED: June 20, 2024

 

ANNOUNCES AN OPEN-COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR:

 POLICE OFFICER

 EXAM NO. 89056-010

 

DATE OF EXAMINATION:            September 28, 2024

EXAM FILING FEE:                        $20.00

LAST DAY FOR FILING:               Applications must be received no later than close of business August 2, 2024.

VACANCY:          This examination is being held to fill future vacancies in the Village of Lowville Police Department.

SALARY:             $27.63 hr. – $29.18 hr.

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT:  Candidates must be legal residents of Lewis County or the contiguous county of Jefferson, Oneida, St. Lawrence, Oswego, or Herkimer for a minimum of one month immediately preceding the date of the exam.  Preference in appointment may be given to successful candidates who are legal residents of the Village of Lowville or Lewis County.  To be eligible for appointment, an applicant must be a resident of Lewis County or a resident of a contiguous county (listed above).

DUTIES:  Involves responsibility for the protection of lives and property within the department’s jurisdiction through the enforcement of Vehicle and Traffic Law, New York State Criminal Procedure Law and local ordinances.  The duties consist primarily of routine patrol tasks, assisting in investigation of criminal offenses and the apprehension of criminals.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma (issued by an appropriate State education authority).  The diploma issued to the high school graduate must be from an accredited public or private school recognized by the New York State Education Department.  Diplomas issued through a home study course and not by an appropriate educational authority are not acceptable.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS FOR APPOINTMENT:

1. Candidates must be at least 19 years of age on or before the date of the written exam to be admitted to the test.
2. Eligibility for appointment begins when the candidate reaches age 20.
3. Candidates must be citizens of the United States at time of appointment.
4. Possession of an appropriate level New York State driver’s license at the time of appointment. License must remain valid throughout appointment.
5. Under Section 58.1(a) of the New York State Civil Service Law, candidates who reach their 35^th birthday on or before the date of the examination, are not qualified except as follows: Candidates may have a period of military duty or terminal leave of up to six (6) years, as defined in Section 243(10-a) of the Military Law, deducted from their age for purposes of meeting the maximum age requirement.
6. Candidates who may be impacted by the maximum age requirement and who are requesting an alternate test date (for active military duty, Sabbath observance or for an alternate test date situation which meets the conditions of the test date policy) are advised to contact the Civil Service office at the time of application.
7. Conviction of a felony will bar appointment; conviction of a misdemeanor or other offense is subject to evaluation and may bar appointment.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION AND ADDITIONAL TESTS:  Candidates who pass the written test will be subjected to an extensive background check and must meet the physical fitness and medical standards prescribed by the Municipal Police Training Council and required by Section 209-q of General Municipal Law. Candidates must pass the written test to be eligible for the qualifying physical fitness test.  The three elements measured in the qualifying physical fitness test are core body muscular endurance, upper body muscular endurance, and cardiovascular capacity.  Failure on any portion of the physical fitness qualifying exam will bar candidates from appointment. Candidates given a conditional offer of employment will be scheduled to take the required medical examination.  Drug testing is included in the required medical exam.

INVESTIGATIVE SCREENING: As stated in Section 58 of the Civil Service Law, there will be a background investigation conducted in accordance with the standards of the municipal police training council (MPTC). Derogatory information will be evaluated and may result in disqualification. All convictions must be reported. Conviction of a felony or misdemeanor, or any falsified or omitted information, may bar appointment or result in removal after appointment, depending upon the relationship of the violation or omission to the duties of the position.

PSYCHOLOGICAL EVALUATION: As stated in Section 58 of the Civil Service Law, you will be required to participate in a psychological evaluation to determine your fitness to perform the essential duties of the position prior to appointment. Failure to meet the standards may result in your offer of employment being rescinded or in your disqualification. An eligible will be called for a psychological assessment as needed to fill existing and anticipated vacancies.

SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION:  A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1. Situational Judgment: These questions test for the ability to identify appropriate and effective responses to work-related challenges. You will be presented with scenarios that reflect the types of challenges one could encounter in a work environment.  Each scenario will be followed by several responses to the scenario.  You must rate the effectiveness of each response.
2. Language Fluency: These questions test for the ability to read, understand, and present a clear and accurate summary of information.  For some questions, you will be given a brief reading passage followed by four statements, each summarizing the information.  You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given several sentences, one of which contains a spelling, grammatical, or punctuation error.  You must then select the line that contains the error.
3. Information Ordering and Language Sequencing: These questions test for the ability to properly identify the sequence or order of events, or to organize information to fit a timeline.  You will be given a brief reading passage followed by one or more questions.  You must identify the proper sequence of events in order to answer one or more questions.
4. Problem Sensitivity and Reasoning: These questions test for the ability to apply information and to identify a problem or potential problem.  For some questions, you will be given information in the form of policies, rules, regulations, or laws, which will be followed by a situation.  You must then identify the problem and apply the information to select the best course of action to take.  For other questions, you will be given a scenario and mock witness statements.  You must use this information to answer one or more questions about the scenario.
5. Selective Attention: These questions test for the ability to focus on completing a task and to pay attention to important details while performing repetitive and monotonous tasks. You will be presented with a series of letters, symbols, and/or numbers.  You must select the choice that contains the series of letters, symbols, and/or number that matches exactly.
6. Visualization: These questions test for the ability to imagine how something will look when it is moved around or when its parts are changed, moved, or rearranged.  You will be presented with an image of a face followed by four images of faces.  Each face is disguised or altered in some way.  Three of the images have a difference in facial structure or facial features.  You must select the choice that contains the image with the identical facial structure and facial features.
7. Spatial Orientation: These questions test for the ability to understand how to navigate within spaces or how to get from one point to another. You will be provided with a map followed by one or more questions.  You must imagine yourself at a certain location and orient yourself to the direction in which you would move to get to another location by the shortest (least distance) route.

TEST GUIDE:   A Guide for the Written Test for Entry-Level Law Enforcement is available at the New York State website:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm. Candidates not having access to a computer or the internet may request copy of the test guide from the municipal civil service office conducting this examination using the contact information found elsewhere on this announcement.

CALCULATOR STATEMENT:  The use of calculators is PROHIBITED

 

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

APPLICATIONS:  Unless otherwise indicated on this announcement, the candidate will complete one “Application for Examination or Employment” for each exam he/she wishes to take.  No copies will be accepted.  Applicants must answer every question on the application form and make sure that the application is complete in all respects.  Incomplete applications will be disapproved.  All statements made by candidates are subject to verification.  POST-MARKED APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

FILING FEE:  The fee must accompany the application.  Applicants whose forms are not accompanied by the appropriate fee or whose personal checks are returned for insufficient funds will not be considered as candidates.  Payment must be in the form of check or money order made payable to the Lewis County Treasurer.  Refunds of fees will not be issued to applicants who are disqualified for failure to apply by the last day for filing, not meeting the minimum qualifications, or a candidate’s failure to appear for testing on the scheduled test date.

WORK EXPERIENCE:  Unless otherwise noted, experience credited towards meeting the minimum qualifications must be full-time paid work experience.  Part-time paid work experience will be accepted based on its full-time equivalent.

APPLICATION FEE WAIVER:  A waiver of application fee will be allowed if you are unemployed and primarily responsible for the support of a household.  In addition, a waiver of application fee will be allowed if you are determined eligible Medicaid, or receiving Supplemental Security Income payments, or Public Assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Family Assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or Safety Net Assistance) or are certified Job Training Partnership Act/Workforce Investment Act eligible through a State or local Social Service agency.  All claims for application fee waiver are subject to verification.  If you can verify eligibility for application fee waiver, complete a “Request for Application Fee Waiver and Certification” form and submit it with your application by the close of business on the application deadline as listed on the examination announcement.  Fee waiver forms are available at the Lewis County Civil Service office or online at lewiscountyny.gov.

TIME AND PLACE OF EXAM:  Accepted candidates will be notified when and where to appear for an exam.  No one will be admitted to an exam without the official admittance notice.

RESIDENCY:  New York State Residence is not required for most positions.  However, you must be eligible for employment in the United States.  An appointing authority may exercise its rights under Section 23-4a of Civil Service Law to give preference to legal residents of their jurisdiction.

VETERAN CREDITS:  If you are a War-Time Veteran, or if you are currently in the United States Armed Forces, you may be eligible to have extra credits added to your passing exam score.  However, it is your responsibility to submit the appropriate Veterans’ Credit form(s) on or before the date of the examination.    Forms are available in the Civil Service office or online at: lewiscountyny.gov    In addition to the Veterans’ Credit Form, you must include a copy of your discharge papers (DD-214).  The time periods for which veterans’ credit is permitted are listed on the Veterans’ Credit Application.

ADDITIONAL CREDIT ALLOWED CHILDREN OF FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY:  In conformance with Section 85-a of the Civil Service Law, children of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty shall be entitled to receive an additional 10 points in a competitive exam for original appointment in the same municipality in which his or her parent has served.  If you are qualified to participate in this exam and are a child of a firefighter or a police officer killed in the line of duty killed in this municipality, please inform this office of this matter when you submit your application for exam.  A candidate claiming such credit has a minimum of two months from the application deadline to provide the necessary documentation to verify additional credit eligibility.  However, no credit may be added after the eligible list has been established.

ELIGIBLE LISTS:  Eligible lists will be established in the order of final rating for successful candidates and will be established for a minimum period of one (1) year and a maximum of four (4) years.  Appointment from an eligible list must be made from the top 3 candidates willing to accept appointment.

SABBATH OBSERVERS/DISABLED CANDIDATES/MILITARY MEMBERS:  Applicants whose religious beliefs or military service prevent their taking exams on the scheduled date and disabled candidates who require special accommodations to take the test should indicate the need for special arrangements on their application.

MULTIPLE EXAMINATIONS SCHEDULED FOR THE SAME DAY:  If you have applied to take a written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions (county, town, city) scheduled to be held on the same test date as the written test, you must notify each of the local jurisdictions no later than two weeks before the test date, so they can make arrangements for taking all tests at one test site.  All examinations for positions in State government will be held at a State examination center.  The Cross-Filer form is available at the Lewis County Civil Service or online at lewiscountyny.gov.

CALCULATORS:  Unless otherwise notified, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand-held solar or battery powered calculators.  Devices with typewriter keyboards, Spellcheckers, Personal Digital Assistants, Address Books, Language Translators, Dictionaries, or any other similar devices are PROHIBITED.

CELL PHONES or ELECTRONIC/COMMUNICATION DEVICES AT THE TEST SITE:  Do not bring cell phones, beepers, headphones, or any electronic or other communication devices to the test site.  The use of such devices at the test site in the test room, hallways, restrooms, building, grounds, or other areas could result in your disqualification.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS:  If you move, it is your responsibility to notify the Civil Service Office of your new address.  The Civil Service Office makes no attempt to find candidates who have moved.  Failure to notify the Civil Service Office could result in being passed over for appointment.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION:  Appointees from an eligible list are required to undergo a criminal history background investigation, which may include a fingerprint check to determine suitability for appointment.  Failure to meet the standards for the background investigation may result in disqualification.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT FOR APPOINTMENT IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS:  Per Chapter 180 of the Laws of 2000, and by regulations of the Commissioner of Education, to be employed in a position designation by a school district as involving direct contact with students, a clearance for employment from the State Education Department is required.

This examination is prepared and rated by the New York State Department of Civil Service in accordance with Section 23-3 of the Civil Service Law.  The provisions of the New York State Civil Service Rules and Regulations, which deal with the rating of examinations, will apply.  Federal and State law prohibits discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin.

 APPLICATIONS AND FURTHER INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED AT THE LEWIS COUNTY CIVIL SERVICE OFFICE, 7660 N. STATE STREET, LOWVILLE, NY  13367.  PHONE (315) 376-5349.

LEWIS COUNTY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.