Police, fire civil service panels starting on new eligibility lists

“We’ll take applications through Aug. 31 for police and fire,” City Clerk Annette Chamberlain said. “There will be one written public safety officer exam. That one written exam will be given to all applicants.

“That way applicants can apply for both,” Chamberlain added. “They don’t have to pick one or the other. It’s to get more applicants on both lists.”

The two civil service commissions also approved physical agility tests for the two departments.

The physical agility test for the police department will be at 10 a.m. Sept. 19 at Robert C. Byrd High School, Chamberlain said.

For the fire department, the test will be at 10 a.m. Sept. 26 for applicants whose last names begin with the letters A through L and 10 a.m. Oct. 3 for candidates whose last names begin with the letters M through Z, Chamberlain said.

Both tests will be at the Clarksburg Fire Department’s North View Substation, she said.

Application packets are available on the city’s website at cityofclarksburgwv.com or at the first-floor front desk at Clarksburg City Hall, 222 W. Main St.

The fire department’s applicant eligibility list is about to expire, while the police department has exhausted its latest list of candidates.

Fire Chief Rick Scott said civil service lists are good for three years, and the fire department’s list expires in September.

“It’s time to start the testing process,” Scott said. “The last time we did it three years ago, the written part was combined with the police department.

“It worked well when we did it before,” Scott added. “Our list stayed good three years. Usually the fire department doesn’t have any trouble getting applicants.”

In fact, a candidate on the current list, Jeremiah Hastings, will be sworn in Wednesday as a firefighter apprentice, Scott said.

That will bring the department up to a full staff of 42 full-time firefighters, including the chief, Scott said.

The police department, meanwhile, needs to start on a new eligibility list after hiring the last candidate offered a job from the current roster, Police Chief Robbie Hilliard said.

More applicants seem to show up when the police and fire departments offer the written test together, Hilliard said.

“Whether it’s for fire or police, I’m not sure,” he said.

The police force stands at 42, although Clarksburg City Council has budgeted for more officers. For a while, the department was losing officers to retirements and other occupations.

The process of developing an eligibility list takes longer for the police department, officials said.

For the fire department, the process consists of the written exam, physical agility test and interviews, they said.

For the police department, the process consists of the written exam, physical agility test, background test, psychological evaluation, polygraph tests and interviews.

“We’ve got a long ways down the road to go,” Hilliard said. “It could be six or seven months before we get anything off of this.”