NORTH BRUNSWICK – The North Brunswick Police Department has an opportunity to use an alternate hiring process, one that does not use an examination as a requirement to secure a position.
During the Jan. 31 Township Council meeting, Police Chief Joseph Battaglia said that through the Civil Service Commission, the township typically has police candidates take a Civil Service test, pass the test, get ranked on a list, and then administrators choose one of three from the first names on the list.
According to a recently adopted law, qualified police officers who are currently employed at law enforcement agencies throughout the state, as well as certain individuals who have received Police Training Commission certification, but who have not yet worked as a police officer, are now eligible to work without having to take a qualifying examination.
According to the legislation, the Civil Service Commission will grant a testing exemption for officers who have either completed a basic course for police officers, attended and passed a training course at an authorized institution, or completed a training program with a federal, state, public or private agency that meets requirements established by the Police Training Commission.
The legislation permits any municipal or county police department to hire exempt officers after an ordinance or a resolution has been adopted or passed by a governing body.
If this is passed during the Feb. 7 Township Council meeting, Battaglia said the township could hire any police officer at the time, in lieu of going off the list. He said this will allow the police department to hire qualified individuals and help diversify the police department.
And, because qualified candidates are exempt from civil service testing, the hiring process will be shortened.
It is unknown if North Brunswick will bypass the use of the Civil Service process, or how this may affect Class II or Class III officers. Police department administrators could not be reached by press time.
