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The Oswego City Police Department is seeking applicants for the upcoming Police Officer Examination scheduled for May 3rd, 2025. Applications for the examination will not be accepted after April 3rd, 2025.

VACANCIES: A single eligible list will be established as a result of this examination and will be used to fill future vacancies as they occur in the City of Oswego. 

POSITION SYNOPSIS: Has personal responsibility in an assigned district during a specific period for the enforcement of all laws and ordinances and the protection of lives and property; assists in the investigation of criminal offenses and the apprehension of criminals; does related work as required. This work consists primarily of routine patrol tasks. There is considerable independent responsibility for the exercise of sound judgment in emergencies. 

RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS:  Candidates must be a legal resident of New York State for a minimum of one (1) month immediately preceding the date of the examination. Residency in Oswego County or contiguous county (Cayuga, Onondaga, Madison, Oneida, Lewis and Jefferson) must be established at the time appointment and maintained throughout employment. 

MULTIPLE EXAMINATIONS SCHEDULED FOR THE SAME DAY: If you have applied to take a written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions (county, town, city) scheduled to be held on the same test date as this written test, you must notify each of the local jurisdictions no later than two weeks before the test date, so they can make arrangements for taking all tests at one test site. All examinations for positions in State government will be held at a State examination center.

APPLICATION DEADLINE POLICY: Applications must be submitted to the City of Oswego Personnel Department before close of business at 5:00 pm on the last filing date listed on the examination announcement. Applications received via U.S. mail will be accepted only if postmarked on or before the last filing date. Applications received through inter-office mail or via facsimile after the last filing date will not be accepted. 

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: (Candidates must meet the following requirements) 

High school graduate or holder of a high school equivalency diploma issued by an education department of any of the states of the United States, or a holder of a comparable diploma issued by any commonwealth territory, or possession of the United States, or by the Canal Zone, or a holder of a report from the United States armed forces certifying his/her successful completion of the tests of general education development, high school level. 

All applicants for City of Oswego Civil Service examinations are required to meet the minimum qualifications stated on the examination announcements. 

Effective March 12, 2010, the City of Oswego's tolerance policy for experience is as follows: 

One month of tolerance will be allowed for each required year of experience up to a maximum of three months. 

This policy applies for all examinations held after March 12, 2010. 

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: 

Candidates must be at least 19 years old on or before the date of the examination to take the test AND PROVIDE PROOF OF AGE (see attached Exam Supplement). Eligibility for appointment as a police officer begins when the candidate reaches age 20. Candidates who reach their 35th birthday on or before the date of written examination are not qualified except as follows: Candidates may have a period of military duty or terminal leave, up to six (6) years as defined in Section 243 (10-a) of the Military Law, deducted from their age for purposes of determining whether they meet the age requirement. 

Candidates must be citizens of the United States. 

Possession of a valid New York State driver's license at time of appointment arid must be maintained throughout employment.

Appointed candidates must satisfactorily complete the Basic Course for Police Officers as prescribed by the Municipal Training Council and required by Section 209-q of the General Municipal Law within one year of appointment in order to attain permanent status in the position. 

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION AND ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS:

Candidates will be subject to a thorough background investigation. Candidates may be required to authorize access to educational, financial, employment, criminal history, mental health records or other records. Conviction of a felony will bar appointment. Conviction of a misdemeanor or other offense is subject to evaluation and may bar appointment. Candidates may be subject to additional screenings as a term and condition of employment, including but not limited to, fingerprinting, polygraph and psychological testing. Drug testing is included in the required medical exam. Candidates will be required to submit the necessary fees for the fingerprinting processing.

Investigative Screening: As stated in Section 58 of the Civil Service Law, there will be a background investigation conducted in accordance with the standards of the municipal police training council (MPTC). Derogatory information will be evaluated and may result in disqualification. All convictions must be reported. Conviction of a felony or misdemeanor, or any falsified or omitted information, may bar appointment or result in removal after appointment, depending upon the relationship of the 

violation or omission to the duties of the position. 

Psychological Evaluation: As stated in Section 58 of the Civil Service Law, you will be required to participate in a psychological evaluation to determine your fitness to perform the essential duties of the position prior to appointment. Failure to meet the standards may result in your offer of employment being rescinded or in your disqualification. An eligible will be called for a psychological assessment as needed to fill existing and anticipated vacancies. 

SCOPE OF EXAMINATION:

Written test will cover knowledge, skills and/or abilities in such areas as: 

Situational Judgment 

These questions test for the ability to identify appropriate and effective responses to work-related 

challenges. You will be presented with scenarios that reflect the types of challenges one could 

encounter in a work environment. Each scenario will be followed by several responses to the 

scenario. You must rate the effectiveness of each response. 

Language Fluency 

These questions test for the ability to read, understand, and present a clear and accurate summary of information. For some questions, you will be given a brief reading passage followed by four 

statements, each summarizing the information. You must then choose the best version. For other 

questions, you will be given several sentences, one of which contains a spelling, grammatical, or 

punctuation error. You must then select the line that contains the error. 

Information Ordering and Language Sequencing 

These questions test for the ability to properly identify the sequence or order of events, or to organize information to fit a timeline. You will be given a brief reading passage followed by one or more questions. You must identify the proper sequence of events in order to answer one or more 

questions. 

Problem Sensitivity and Reasoning 

These questions test for the ability to apply information and to identify a problem or potential 

problem. For some questions, you will be given information in the form of policies, rules, regulations, or laws, which will be followed by a situation. You must then identify the problem and apply the information to select the best course of action to take. For other questions, you will be given a scenario and mock witness statements. You must use this information to answer one or more questions about the scenario. 

Selective Attention 

These questions test for the ability to focus on completing a task and to pay attention to important details while performing repetitive and monotonous tasks. You will be presented with a series of letters, symbols, and/or numbers. You must select the choice that contains the series of letters, symbols, and/or number that matches exactly. 

Visualization 

These questions test for the ability to imagine how something will look when it is moved around or when its parts are changed, moved, or rearranged. You will be presented with an image of a face followed by four images of faces. Each face is disguised or altered in some way. Three of the images have a difference in facial structure or facial features. You must select the choice that contains the image with the identical facial structure and facial features. 

Spatial Orientation 

These questions test for the ability to understand how to navigate within spaces or how to get from one point to another. You will be provided with a map followed by one or more questions. You must imagine yourself at a certain location and orient yourself to the direction in which you would move to get to another location by the shortest (least distance) route. 

Test guide: 

A Guide for the Written Test for Entry-Level Law Enforcement is available at the New York State website:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testquides.cfm. Candidates not having access to a computer or the internet may request copy of the test guide from the municipal civil service office conducting this examination using the contact information found elsewhere on this announcement. 

Use of calculators is PROHIBITED 

MEDICAL AND PHYSICAL FITNESS STANDARDS:

 qualifying physical fitness screening test and medical standards are prescribed by the Municipal Police Training Council (MPTC). Physical fitness screening test results completed no more than 6 months prior to the scheduled fitness test from other civil service jurisdictions will be accepted. The physical fitness standards must be met by candidates as scheduled by the personnel department. The medical standards must be met by candidates upon receipt of a conditional offer of employment. The MPTC Standards are available upon request at the City of Oswego Department of Personnel or may be downloaded at: http://criminaljustice.state.ny.us/ops/docs/registry/policeapptsmed.pdf. 

The MPTC medical standard for visual acuity requires candidates to have vision better or equal to 20/30 in each eye. If a candidate must use corrective lenses (glasses or contacts) in order to satisfy the 20/30 standard, then the candidate's uncorrected vision should be no worse than 20/100 in each eye. A complete description of physical and medical standards can be found as indicated above. 

The MPTC adopted the physical fitness screening test based on the model formulated by the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research. The minimum passing scores, depending on age and sex, represent the fortieth (40th) percentile of physical fitness as established by the Cooper Institute. Failure on any part of the qualifying test will remove your name from further consideration for appointment. 

All candidates who achieve a passing score on the written portion of this exam will be notified of the scheduled physical fitness test. Candidates who do not appear for the scheduled physical fitness test, without providing a reasonable explanation in writing to the Personnel Director, will be removed from the eligible list. Successful candidates may be re-tested after one year.