Tinley Park committee approves amendment to civil service rules to streamline police hiring

Trustee Sullivan moved and Trustee Brady seconded to send proposed amendments to the village’s civil service rules and regulations to the Village Board; the committee approved the referral by roll call on Jan. 7.

Hannah, staff member, presented two changes the village is asking the Village Board to consider. First, the lateral-hire qualification that previously required two years of service elsewhere will be dropped to allow candidates who hold the state certification to be hired without any minimum years of prior service; lateral hires would still enter the village’s Field Training Officer (FTO) program and serve a probationary year. “We think that that will help us in terms of catching more good lateral hires,” Hannah said.

The second change affects the entry-level hiring process. Hannah said the village proposes moving to an ongoing, online testing model through the NTN testing network so applicants can take the written exam at any time, rather than waiting for periodic posted testing windows. “So it again, it'll just help us with the hiring process, keep things moving, to improve efficiencies and continue to get good candidates through,” she said. Chief Hilton (police chief) said the change will be “significantly advantageous” and that recent adjustments have already improved hiring results.

Trustees asked about logistics, list aging and legal vetting. Hannah said the village’s legal review was completed and staff do not expect candidates to remain on an eligibility list for longer than existing rules allow. The committee voted to forward the amendment to the Village Board; the committee did not itself adopt a rules change.

The Village Board will consider the amended civil service rules at a future meeting; the committee’s action was a referral for Board consideration.