Our current Community Service Officer has signed a conditional offer with our department for a sworn police officer position. Her anticipated start date is the beginning of this October. This will require the police department to hire a new Community Service Officer (CSO) at that time.

The department is currently operating with three vacant sworn positions and has another officer retiring in June. Our current CSO will fill one of these sworn vacancies, and we have a process underway now to fill the other vacancies. 

The department has identified a strong candidate to fill the upcoming CSO vacancy and potentially fill a sworn position in the future. The department is requesting approval to add a CSO position to be used in a temporary capacity as a departmental recruitment, retention, and training tool. 

The length of any appointment within this position would be consistent with Civil Service Commission rules on provisional appointment lengths, and the Commission has authorized an appointment (pending approval) during a recent meeting.

Doing this allows us to compete with other agencies for candidates in what is a highly competitive area. Civil Service Commission rules require a process for any full-time position, and that process would take place sometime before October.