Patrol officer hiring process initiated

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The Urbana Civil Service Commission approved starting the hiring process for patrol officers during a meeting on Wednesday.

As part of the process, the commission approved the minimum qualifications for the entry-level patrol officer’s position with the Urbana Police Division, announcing the vacancy and establishing the competitive examination process.

Urbana Police Chief Matt Lingrell said the division has used all candidates from the last candidate list. Lingrell said the division is short on staffing and wants to hire one officer with the possibility of hiring another officer if a grant is received.

Candidates must be U.S. citizens, age 21 to 69 on the date of the test, high school graduates or with a GED, have vision correctable to 20/20 and have a valid driver’s license.

Candidates cannot have felony convictions, misdemeanor criminal convictions or first degree misdemeanor traffic convictions within the previous three years or domestic violence convictions.

Candidates must pass tests including a written aptitude test, physical fitness test, background investigation, psychological examination, polygraph examination, medical examination and drug screen.

Lingrell said he hopes that turnout for testing will be larger than in previous instances.

“The last test we gave was probably one of the largest ones we’ve given in years,” Lingrell said. “When I got hired in ‘84, 250 people took the test. We’ve been giving tests over the past 20 years where we’re lucky if we get 25 people – the last test we had 48 people.”

Fire captain lists

Also during the meeting, the commission approved extending two lists for fire captain eligibility.

Urbana Fire Chief Mark Keller asked the commission to extend a fire captain eligibility list and a fire captain certified eligibility list. Keller noted the division originally requested approval of the lists in January and the lists were set to expire on July 20.

Jason Croker was promoted to the captain position in February.

The three candidates on the certified eligibility list in order of highest to lowest scores are Chad Countryman, Tyler Wolf and Eric Beverly. Keller noted the three candidates on this list are eligible for promotion.

The commission also approved extending a fire captain eligibility list containing five candidates.

By Nick Walton

[email protected]

Nick Walton can be reached at 937-652-1331 Ext. 1777 or on Twitter @UDCWalton.

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