GOALS and OBJECTIVES: 

The goal of the Lower Township Police Department Recruitment Plan is to attract qualified individuals to pursue a career with the Lower Township Police Department.  The objective is to achieve an overall racial and gender composition of the department in comparison to the service population of the Township through the departments recruiting activities. This agency will make a good faith effort to meet specific goals for recruiting a diverse workforce, in terms of people of color and gender diversity. The goals and objectives will be accomplished through various recruitment activities listed in the Recruitment Activities section of this plan.

GENERAL:

The Lower Township Police Department is a New Jersey Civil Service Commission jurisdiction and must adhere to New Jersey State Statutes and Administrative Code in its recruitment and selection process.

Lower Township has a residency preference in all hiring matters.  Applicants must be a bona fide resident of Lower Township at the time of the closing date of the New Jersey Civil Service Commission Law Enforcement Officer Test.  Once Lower Township residents have been exhausted from the Civil Service Certification List, Cape May County residents are then provided with preference.  If the Cape May County list is exhausted, applications will be open to residents of the State of New Jersey. The Chief of Police is responsible for the Recruitment Plan.

The Township of Lower has adopted the provisions of N.J.S.A.11A:4-1.3 which authorizes the appointment of entry level police officers, who have not passed the Civil Service Examination, but who have successfully completed a Basic Course for Police Officers, at a school approved and authorized by the New Jersey Police Training Commission, to bypass the Civil Service hiring process and be exempted from the Civil Service testing process. Additionally, N.J.S.A.11A:4-1.3 allows the hiring of any candidate as a temporary entry level officer who then must complete a Basic Course for Police Officers within nine months of hire as a temporary entry level officer before receiving a probationary appointment. There is no Township residency requirement.

The Township of Lower is an equal opportunity employer in all facets of the personnel process.

The Chief of Police or designee is responsible for the administration of the Recruitment Plan.

CURRENT DEMOGRAPHICS: 

RECRUITMENT ACTIVITIES:

Activity #1: Identify and maintain contact with local minority organizations and social support groups including, but not limited to educational, religious, ethnic, racial, and gender-based organizations.

Activities include, but are not limited to:

• Provide recruitment brochures and materials to educational, religious, ethnic, racial, and gender-based organizations.
• Contact the local Board of Education to seek permission to address high school students to interest them in a career with the agency following completion of their formal education.
• Attend Career Days at local schools and community colleges.
• Draft, print, and distribute informational brochures that may attract qualified candidates to the agency.
•  Make maximum use of the Lower Township Website to attract qualified candidates to the agency.

Activity #2: Advertise on the New Jersey Civil Service website, the Lower Township Police Department’s Facebook page and other social media platforms, as well as any other appropriate media market, for persons meeting eligibility requirements.

Activity #3: When applicable, contact police training academies and post vacancy announcements for current Alternate Route candidates or waiver-eligible Class II Special Police Officers.

Activity #4: Make maximum use of the State of New Jersey Civil Service Commission Intergovernmental Transfer Program.

Activities include, but are not limited to:

• Post future openings for sworn positions with the State of New Jersey Intergovernmental Transfer Program website. 
• Draft, print, and distribute informational brochures that may attract qualified candidates to the agency.

Activity #5: When applicable, contact the State of New Jersey Civil Service Commission and obtain the “Rice list” of eligible officers who were laid off from other jurisdictions.

Activities include, but are not limited to:

• Conducting interviews with eligible laid off officers to employ such officers as to meet the agency’s recruiting goals.

ANNUAL REVIEW, EVALUATION AND REPORTING

•  The Chief of Police, or designee, shall conduct an annual review of the Recruitment Plan and shall include, but not limited to, performing an annual agency demographic review, determining whether any substantial disparities have been reduced, and if need be, revising the Recruitment Plan accordingly if the goals and objectives are not met.
•  J.S.A. 52:17B-4.10 et seq requires that each law enforcement agency must report certain law enforcement applicant data annually by January 31^st for the preceding year. The data required to be reported is listed in the New Jersey Attorney General Guideline “Promoting Diversity in Law Enforcement Recruiting and Hiring” in Paragraph III.

 https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/agguide/directives/ag-Guidelines-Diversity-in-LE-Recruiting-and-Hiring.pdf

•  The reporting form can be found at:  https://www.nj.gov/oag/dcj/agguide/directives/Appendix-A.xlsx