Becoming a police officer
You must be a resident of Massachusetts for
the following to apply to you.
Minimum qualifications
Education/experience requirement: A high school diploma or equivalency
certificate issued by the Massachusetts Department of Education or three
years in the armed forces of the United States with last release or
discharge under honorable conditions.
Age requirement:
You must be at least 19 and younger than age
32 as of January 31, 1999 to be appointed as a Police Officer in the MBTA
and in the following civil service municipalities that , as of the
printing of this notice, have not accepted the provisions of chapter 32 of
the Massachusetts General Laws relating to medical and physical fitness
standards:
Acton, Acushnet, Adams, Arlington, Ashland , Bedford, Billerica,
Burlington, Chelmsford, Dalton, Dartmouth, Dracut, Easthampton, Easton,
Great Barrington, Groton, Haverhill, Hingham, Hudson, Ipswich, Lee,
Leominster, Lynnfield, Malden, Manchester, Mansfield, Marblehead, Methuen,
Milford, Newton, Northampton, North Andover, North Attleboro, North
Reading, Norton, Norwood, Orange, Raynham, Rockport, Salisbury,
Southbridge, South Hadley, Stoneham, Sudbury, Tewksbury, Ware, Watertown,
Wayland, Wellesley, Westfield, Westford, West Springfield, Williamstown,
and Wilmington.
The minimum age requirement of 19 years applies to all civil service
jurisdictions. The following civil service municipalities (under the
provisions of chapter 32 of the Massachusetts General Laws) may appoint
candidates who are over age 32 and who meet certain medical and physical
fitness standards:
Abington, Agawam, Amesbury, Andover, Athol,
Attleboro, Auburn, Avon, Barnstable, Bellingham, Belmont,
Beverly, Boston, Bourne, Braintree, Bridgewater, Brockton, Brookline,
Cambridge, Canton, Carver, Charlton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Clinton, Cohasset,
Danvers, Dedham, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, East Longmeadow, Everett,
Fairhaven, Fall River, Falmouth, Fitchburg, Framingham, Franklin, Gardner,
Gloucester, Greenfield, Halifax, Hanover, Holbrook, Holden, Holyoke, Hull,
Kingston, Lancaster, Lawrence, Leicester, Lexington, Lowell, Ludlow, Lynn,
Marlborough, Marshfield, Maynard, Medfield, Medford, Medway, Melrose,
Middleboro, Millis, Millbury, Milton, Montague, Natick, Needham,
Newburyport, New Bedford, North Adams, Northbridge, Norwell, Oxford,
Palmer, Peabody, Pembroke, Pittsfield, Plainville, Plymouth, Provincetown,
Quincy, Randolph, Reading, Revere, Rockland, Salem, Sandwich, Saugus,
Scituate, Sharon, Shrewsbury, Somerville, Springfield, Stoughton,
Swampscott, Taunton, Uxbridge, Wakefield, Walpole, Waltham, Wareham,
Webster, West Bridgewater, Westwood, Weymouth, Whitman, Winchendon,
Winchester, Winthrop, Woburn, Worcester, and Wrentham. In these
communities, as current law requires, candidates will have to meet
physical fitness and medical standards within 30 days of appointment to
police officer positions, and once hired, will be tested regularly during
their employment to be sure that they meet certain medical and physical
fitness standards.. More information about medical and physical standards
testing will follow. This list of communities is subject to change. Any
questions about status changes should be directed to the communities in
question.
Smoking prohibited:
Police Officers hired from the eligible list
resulting from this examination are prohibited from smoking tobacco
products at the time of and after appointment, according to Chapter 41,
Section 101A, of the Massachusetts General Laws.
Character:
No person who has been convicted of a felony
shall be appointed as a Police Officer. A candidate may be disqualified
for evidence of character clearly unsuited for police services. Some
Municipalities include a comprehensive background check as part of the
selection process.
Firearms permit:
You may need a valid firearms permit before
you will be hired by some police departments.
Driver's license:
You may need a valid Massachusetts motor
vehicle operator’s license before you will be hired by some police
departments.
Medical exam:
Some municipalities may require you to pass
both a medical examination and a psychological evaluation before you are
appointed.
Academy Training:
All candidates appointed as full time police
officers as a result of competitive entrance examination will be required
to complete basic academy training as required by the Massachusetts
Criminal Justice Training Council.
Duties:
A Police Officer works under supervision to
perform law enforcement duties, protecting life, property, and the civil
rights of individuals. Primary duties include patrol; interacting with
citizens to provide service and render assistance : and preparing and
completing records, reports, and other paperwork documenting incidents for
use in prosecution. A Police Officer is dispatched to crime and emergency
scenes in response to reported violations, accidents, domestic disputes
and abuses, and other incidents: Carries out crime scene duties; makes
arrest and performs search and seizure; conducts investigations; and
interviews witnesses, suspects, and complainants.
Salary:
Each jurisdiction sets its own salary for
Police Officer. Questions about salary should be directed to the
appropriate city or town or to the MBTA.
Written examination:
You must take the written examination in
order to be placed on the eligible list for appointment as a police
officer.
At the examination site, applicants must present a current valid photo
identification with their signature, such as a current motor vehicle
operators license.
Memorization Ability to memorize and retain new information which
occurs as a routine part of the job.
Visualization Ability to form a mental
image of what an object will look like after it has been changed in some
way.
Spatial orientation Ability to keep a
clear idea of where you are in relation to the space in which you are
located.
Verbal expression Ability to use
spoken or written language to communicate information and ideas to others.
Verbal comprehension Ability to
understand spoken and written language.
Problem sensitivity Ability to
recognize or identify the existence of a problem.
Deductive reasoning Ability to apply
general rules or regulations to specific cases or to proceed from stated
principles to logical conclusions.
Inductive reasoning Ability to apply
general rules or regulations to specific cases or to proceed from stated
principles to logical conclusions.
Information ordering Ability to apply
rules to a situation for the purpose of putting the information in the
best or most appropriate order.
There is a Preparation Guide, which describes
the examination in more detail. Applicants will be sent a written letter
on where and how to obtain one.
Private school or service:
The Human Resources Division (formerly the
Department of Personnel Administration) does not recommend or endorse any
private school or service offering preparation for examinations and is not
responsible for their advertising claims.
You will be advised at the examination site how to claim any of the
preferences listed below.
Veteran's preference:
If you are claiming veteran’s preference and if your eligibility for
veterans’ preference has not been approved before by this division, you
must submit a copy of your DD form 214 (Release From Active Duty) in order
to receive proper credit. Your notice to appear for the examination will
indicate whether or not you are already classified as a veteran.
If not, you will need to submit your DD Form
214. Qualifying service must have been in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps,
Coast Guard, or Air Force of the United States.
Please note that active duty
exclusively for training in the National Guard or reserves does NOT
qualify you for veteran’s preference.
If the dates of your qualifying military service were:
You are required to have:
before 2/1/55, 90 days active service
from 2/1/55 to 8/4/64, 180 days active service
from 8/5/64 to 6/4/76, 90 days active service
If you entered military service after the close of the Vietnam Era on June
4, 1976, you qualify for veteran’s preference if you had at least 90 days
of active duty AND only if you participated in one or more of the
following:
The Lebanese Peace Keeping Force between 8/25/82 and withdrawal from
Lebanon.
The Grenada Rescue Mission between 10/25/83
and 12/15/83
The Panamanian Intervention Force between
12/20/89 and 1/31/90 a campaign medal for wartime service is required
Active duty during the Persian Gulf Conflict between 8/2/90 and a closing
date yet to be determined (no campaign medal required)
Claims for status as a disabled veteran require written confirmation from
the us Veterans Administration of a continuing service-connected
disability rated 10% or higher. Applicants wishing to claim status as
disabled veterans will get the opportunity to claim such at the test site
with further instructions to follow. See clause 43, section 7 of Chapter 4
and Section 1 of Chapter 31 of the Massachusetts General Laws for a full
definition of a qualifying veteran.
Preference for the children of certain police officers/firefighters:
The son or daughter of a Police Officer or Fire Fighter employed in
Massachusetts who was killed or died of injuries received in the
performance of duty, or who was permanently disabled as a result of
injuries received in the performance of duty, is entitled to certification
preference under the provisions of Chapter 402 of the Acts of 1985.
Residency preference:
If "residency preference" is requested by a municipality, applicants who
have resided in that municipality, for the entire twelve month period
immediately preceding the date of the examination are entitled to be
placed on the eligible list for that community ahead of any nonresidents.
Applicants who have had a break in residence or have moved from one
community to another within the twelve month period preceding the date of
the examination will not be entitled to claim resident preference in any
community. You will be asked to fill out a residency preference list form
at the test site.
Racial/ethnic preference:
Due to a federal decree, African-American (Black) and Hispanic applicants
are given certification preference in a number of communities, whether or
not they are residents of those communities . As of the printing of this
notice, the following communities are included in this consent decree:
Boston, Brockton, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Duxbury, Foxboro,
Holbrook, Holyoke, Lancaster, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, New Bedford,
North Adams, Norton, Pittsfield, Randolph, South Hadley, Springfield,
Watertown, Westwood, Williamstown, Winthrop, and Worcester. This list of
communities is subject to change. The definition of Hispanic, for the
purposes of the decree, includes any person born in a Spanish-speaking
country or any person who grew up in a household in which the predominant
language spoken was Spanish
Selective certification for emergency medical technicians:
If a position in a municipality requires that a Police Officer be an
Emergency Medical Technician, Emergency Medical Technician- Intermediate,
or Emergency Medical Technician- Paramedic, the local appointing authority
may request that competition for that position be limited to persons who
have such skills. For eligibility on this basis, you may submit a copy of
your current certificate (issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public
Health , Office of Emergency Medical Services) at any time during the
existence of the eligible list. On the date of the examination, you will
have the opportunity to register as a certified emergency medical
technician. You will need to supply proof of possession of a current
certification as an Emergency Medical Technician at the time of hire.
Selective certification for bilingual police officers:
If a position in a municipality requires that a Police Officer Be fluent
in a second language (such as Spanish, Vietnamese, Laotian, Khmer, Haitian
Creole, or Chinese), The local appointing authority may request that
competition for that position be limited to persons who have such skills.
You will have the opportunity at the test site to indicate the foreign
languages in which you are fluent. You will need to prove your language
fluency at the time of hire.
How to apply:
All persons interested in a
position with the department must first apply at the
-
Massachusetts Human Resources Division
- One Ashburton Place
- Room 303
- Boston, MA 02108-1515
You may get your application and file it and
the examination processing fee (or fee waiver form) in person or by mail
from
Applicants and fee waiver forms may also be
available at city and town clerk’s offices and civil service police
stations across the state. If you mail your application send all
correspondence by certified mail with "return receipt requested", if
possible.
No applicant has the right to a makeup examination due to personal or
professional conflicts on the testing date and applicants are advised to
consider this before applying.
Fee and fee waiver:
Examination processing fee The fee must be paid when you apply. The fee
may be waived .
Written test fee:
The examination processing fee is $50.00.
Please use a money order payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and
print your name, address, Social Security number and the examination
announcement number on the front of the money order.
No refunds unless the examination is canceled by the human resources
division.
Cash or personal checks will not be accepted.
For more information:
Visiting/telephoning the Human Resources Division (Formerly The Department
of Personnel Administration):
You may visit the Human Resources Division Monday through Friday, 8:45
a.m. - 5:00 p.m. EXCEPT HOLIDAYS, or may telephone the Division during
these hours at the following numbers:
In the Boston area: (617) 727-3777, extension 246
TDD Number: (617) 727-7583
Outside the Boston area toll free 1-800-392-6178
Fax Number (617) 727-4917
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