It is the policy of the Manalapan Township Police Department to provide for a fair and objective hiring process and background investigation for candidates who aspire to be police employees with this agency and to provide, as best as possible, for an ethnic and gender composition within the police department that accurately reflects the ethnic and gender composition of the Township.  

SELECTION PROCESS FOR POLICE OFFICER CANDIDATES

The Selection process shall be advertised as a public notice in local newspapers or other media not less than annually.  The notice  shall consist of the below paragraph of section III and all of section IV

 “NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, as required by the Code of the Township of Manalapan, New Jersey (Monmouth County), Chapter 33: POLICE DEPARTMENT, that the following selection process for the hiring of probationary police officers is hereby announced.  The Police Department of the Township of Manalapan is an equal opportunity employer and strives to hire personnel which will accurately reflect the race, ethnicity and gender of the population it serves. “

V.        WRITTEN AND PHYSICAL AGILITY EXAMINATION

A.        The Manalapan Township Police Department invites individuals who are interested in obtaining employment as probationary police officers into the selection process based upon a numerical ranking established by their respective written and physical agility scores as posted on the Police Officers' Eligibility List for Monmouth County Non-Civil Service Municipalities. 

B.        In order to be considered for placement on the eligibility list, interested parties should contact the Monmouth County Police Academy for application information prior to June 1 of the calendar year.

C.        Pass/Fail scores are used to establish the Police Officers' Eligibility List for Monmouth County Non-Civil Service Municipalities only. 

D.        Once a candidate successfully passes all sections of the testing administered by the Monmouth County Police Academy, the Township of Manalapan will then rank interested candidates based on their combined score totals. 

E.        Any candidate who believes that additional factors should be considered in the evaluation of their combined score should inform the Chief of Police in writing at the time of application.  This includes, but is not limited to, candidates who believe that additional consideration is necessary in light of a disability that does not prevent the candidate from performing the essential functions of the job with or without accommodation. 

 VI.      ESTABLISHING A NUMERICAL RANKING BY FINAL SCORE 

A.        The Manalapan Township Police Department establishes a final score for numerical ranking purposes

                        WS = Candidate's Written Examination Score

PAS = Candidate's  Physical Agility Pass Fail Score

FS = Final Score 

B.        All final scores are listed from highest to lowest, taking into consideration any requests for reasonable accommodation or other good and sufficient reason as set forth above based on the candidates written submission to the Chief of Police. 

C.        The candidate with the highest score will receive the numerical ranking of #1, the second highest score will receive the numerical ranking of #2, and so on. 

VII.      INITIAL APPLICATION

Candidates will be given an initial application (Appendix A)  which shall provided limited information used to make notification and maintain correspondence with candidates who may be called in for a preliminary interview. 

A.        Depending upon the number of anticipated openings within the police department, candidates whose names appear on the Manalapan Township Police Department's eligibility list and/or current Manalapan Township Police Department employees (who have taken the current Monmouth County Police Officers examination for non civil service municipalities) will be scheduled for a preliminary interview. 

B.        This interview will be used to determine that the basic requirements prescribed by Township Ordinance are met as well as suitability for the position of a Police Officer. 

C.        A panel of officers designated by the Chief of Police will rank the candidates based on a list of pre-determined questions. 

D.        The three candidates with the highest average score, for every anticipated opening, will move to the next phase of hiring. To the extent possible, interviews will be scheduled in the order of the candidate's numerical ranking.  

A.        Candidates who successfully pass the preliminary interview will be required to complete a confidential questionnaire (Appendix B) that shall be provided by the department. 

1.         Candidates shall be required to complete a Background Release Authorization form for credit reporting agencies 

2.         Candidates shall be provided with a summary of rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act

a.         A “certification to Consumer reporting agencies”  shall be sent to any Consumer reporting agency when information is requested on a candidate

b.         The candidate shall be sent a “letter of impending adverse action”  as a result of any negative information provided by a credit reporting agency so that the applicant can address any issues. 

c.         The letter of impending action will be followed by a “letter of adverse action”

B.        A background investigation shall be conducted on each candidate.

C.        All backgrounds will be conducted utilizing the Manalapan Township Police Department Confidential questionnaire and guidelines located within the Background Investigators guide

D.        Investigating officers have some limited discretion to deviate from the guidelines based on circumstances that may arise in a candidate’s background.    

E.        Candidates that successfully pass the background investigation shall be scheduled for a final interview

A.        Candidates shall be scheduled for a final interview before a board consisting of three (3) to six (6) individuals chosen by the Chief of Police. 

B.        Candidates shall be asked the same questions and shall be numerically graded on their responses. 

C.        Candidates shall then be ranked in order of hiring preference by the Chief of Police based upon the entire hiring process. 

A.        The Chief of Police shall make conditional offers of employment to candidates in the order in which they are ranked. 

B.        The number of conditional job offers shall correspond to the number of open positions within the Police Department. 

C.        Once a conditional job offer is made, and all other pre-employment requirements have been met, the candidate shall be scheduled to report for a detailed medical and psychological examination and assessment. 

1.         Applicants must be given an “applicant notice and acknowledgement”  that they are required to submit to drug testing and that a negative test is a requirement for employment.

2.         Applicants will also be advised of the consequences of a positive test. 

3.         The “drug testing medical information”  shall be used solely for the purpose of the drug and alcohol test and all such information shall be kept strictly confidential.  

D.        The medical and psychological examination shall be taken and all reports received prior to the candidate starting employment with the Police Department.

1.         Candidates who do not meet the necessary medical and/or psychological requirements of the job of police officer shall have their conditional job offer rescinded. 

2.         This determination shall be made consistent with law, considering essential job functions and appropriate reasonable accommodations.

XII.      APPOINTMENT TO THE POLICE DEPARTMENT

All candidates who successfully complete the medical and psychological examinations and assessments will begin employment with the Manalapan Township Police Department following passage of all legally required resolutions by the Manalapan Township Committee.

XIII.     ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW OF HIRING PROCESS

Every other year the Administrative Division Commander shall compare and  review the racial, ethnic, and gender composition of the Township of Manalapan with the best data available and shall compare that to the hiring of personnel which has been completed in the previous two years.  If any disparity or concern is revealed by this process,  the Administrative Division Commander will notify the Chief of Police, the Township Administrator and/or the Township Committee to determine any mechanism that can be instituted to correct the disparity.