Agenda Packets - 2010/06/28 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Item No: 7G Meeting Date: June 28, 2010 Type of Business: CB Administrator Review: ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Thomas Kinney, Deputy Police Chief Item Title/Subject: Resolution 7634, Authorization to Advertise and Create an Eligibility List to Fill a Police Officer Position Background: The Mounds View Police Civil service eligibility list for Police Officer is no longer current, and the police department anticipates an additional opening on July 31, 2010 due to a retirement of a current police sergeant. The purpose of this staff report is to seek approval to create an active Civil Service eligibility list for police officer and seek approval to begin the process to hire a police officer to fill the future vacancy. This most recent vacancy will reduce the number of sworn officers to 17 from the department authorized strength of 19 officers. Discussion: The police officer position is an essential public safety position within the city, and ideally, having a replacement officer in place, ready to hire, at the time of retirement of the current officer is critical to maintaining uninterrupted continuity of policing services in the city. Delaying the replacement of this patrol officer position will result in a reduction of police service, and could result in additional expenses in terms of overtime cost to backfill the vacancy. Significant cost savings will be realized with the hire of a new police officer who would likely start at the step one rate of pay at $20.70/hour, when compared to the step five rate of the patrol sergeant being replaced at $37.83/hour. Upon comparing the annual wages of each position, a savings of $35,630 is achieved for the first year. The cost of advertising and holding a written exam is minimal, as the expense of the written exam administered is passed on to the applicant in the form of a test fee payable upon the examination date. The process of hiring a police officer is anticipated to take approximately three months, so in order to have an eligibility list for hire at the time of retirement the process will need to be started as soon as practical. The Mounds View Police Civil Service Commission has approved the process for hiring a police officer for the current opening. The commission also approved the dissolution of the old eligibility list at a previous meeting and favors the establishment of a new eligibility list by advertising and moving forward with the hiring process. This begins with advertising to fill the positions. Minnesota rules, 6700.0700 set legal requirements for selection standards for peace officers, and The State of Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training Board regulates the procedures for hiring a peace officer. The required hiring process has several steps including: