Employment FAQ

We are always accepting applications for Police Officers, however we might not have a vacancy. Visit our employment website to view the police job announcements for vacancy information and to apply online. Go to: www.governmentjobs.com/careers/sumnerwa

Ride alongs are offered as part of the screening process after a candidate passes the oral board. 

Yes. In order for us to streamline the background process, we require the waivers to be notarized before you submit them. If you do not submit your waivers with your application or if you submit waivers that are not notarized, your application will be considered incomplete and you will not move forward in the hiring process. 

You must re-apply and attach all required documents to your application for it to be considered. 

Sure! The notary can just cross out the reference to the state of Washington. 

Police Officer Position Hiring Levels:
Entry Level Police Officer: 0 years’ experience as a fully commissioned law officer.
Exceptional Entry Police Officer: Less than 2 years’ experience as a fully commissioned law officer, with no more than a 24 month break in service.
Lateral Police Officer: 2 or more years’ experience as a fully commissioned law officer, with no more than a 24 month break in service.

The typical process for Entry Level candidates is as follows: 

1. Go to the Public Safety Testing website to sign up to take the written and physical tests. 
2. Select the City of Sumner to receive your test scores from Public Safety Testing. 
3. After you pass your tests, go to our employment website, view the job announcement and print off the required documents to complete and have notarized. 
4. After you have all of your documents in order, go back to our employment website to apply.
5. If you submitted a complete application with all of the required documentation and notarized waivers, you will be placed on the Initial Eligibility List and be ranked based on your Public Safety Testing (PST) scores. 
6. You will be invited to participate in an oral board in rank order. Higher scores will have a better chance of participating in the oral board process. Oral boards are scheduled on an as-needed basis. Not all candidates will be invited to participate.
7. If you pass the oral board, you will be moved to the background phase of the recruitment and will be ranked on a certified eligibility list based on your PST scores and your oral board scores combined.
8. During the background phase, your PHS and other documents will be reviewed by the background investigator. Eligible candidates will participate in additional background processes such as a ride along, reference checks, home visit, medical screening, polygraph, psychological evaluation and Chief’s interview. 

The typical process for Exceptional or Lateral Level candidates is as follows: 

1. Determine what position you qualify for and make sure to apply to that specific job. If you apply for a position that you do not qualify for, your application will be rejected. We cannot “move” your application to a different position, you must reapply for the job you qualify for.
   Entry Level Police Officer: 0 years’ experience as a fully commissioned law officer.
   Exceptional Entry Police Officer: Less than 2 years’ experience as a fully commissioned law officer, with no more than a 24 month break in service.
   Lateral Police Officer: 2 or more years’ experience as a fully commissioned law officer, with no more than a 24 month break in service.
2. View the job announcement to see what documents must be completed, notarized and submitted with your application. 
3. After you have your required documents, go back to the job announcement to apply.
4. If you submitted a complete application with all of the required documentation and notarized waivers, your application will be reviewed by the background investigator in a background pre-screening process based on the department’s hiring principles tied to our core values. 
5. If you pass the pre-screening background, you will be invited to participate in an oral board. Oral boards are scheduled on an as-needed basis. Not all candidates will be invited to participate.
6. If you pass the oral board, you will be moved to the background phase of the recruitment and will be ranked on a certified eligibility list based on your oral board scores.
7. During the background phase, your PHS and other documents will be reviewed by the background investigator. Eligible candidates will participate in additional background processes such as a ride along, reference checks, home visit, medical screening, polygraph, psychological evaluation and Chief’s interview. 

If the Police Department has a vacancy, you will be notified via email if you are invited to an oral board. 

Entry level candidates are invited to participate in oral boards by rank order, based off of your scores from Public Safety Testing. 

Lateral and Exceptional Entry candidate applications are reviewed and will be invited to the oral board if approved by the Chief of Police. 

If you are invited to an oral board, the panel will explain the next steps to you at that time. Candidates who pass the oral board will go through a thorough background check. This process can sometimes take more than a month to complete and the department will be in touch with you constantly through the process. 

Automatic Disqualifiers:

• Illegal use of ANY controlled substance while employed in a criminal justice capacity.
• Any adult felony conviction.
• Any misdemeanor, or felony conviction while employed in a criminal justice capacity.
• Been convicted of any crime under a domestic violence statue.
• Unlawful sexual misconduct.
• Lied during any stage of the hiring process.
• Falsified his or her application, personal history questionnaire, or any other forms during hiring process.
• Previous revocation or denial of (CJTC/POST) certified status, or suspension of current CJTC/POST certified status.

Potential Disqualifiers:

• Drug use will be considered on case by case basis.          
• Adult misdemeanor convictions will be carefully reviewed.
• Juvenile felony conviction will be carefully reviewed.

Yes. All candidates for all Police positions are required to complete a thorough background including a polygraph and a phsychological evaluation.

Not all candidates who apply will be invited to an oral board. There are several factors that impact the duration of the hiring process. Each candidate’s timeline is different depending on their work history, background, schedules and availability. The background process is very thorough which can take more than a month to complete.

For qualified entry level officers who are hired with the city, who do not yet have a Peace Officer Certificate, the City will pay for the employee to attend Basic Law Enforcement Academy.

Candidates who are applying to use their Veterans Scoring points must attach their waiver and their DD214 in order for points to be applied. If you simply marked “yes” to Veterans Scoring, or only attached 1 of the 2 required documents your eligibility could not be determined and therefore points were not applied. Please make sure you read the job announcement thoroughly which includes all information for your scores to accurately be reflected on the Initial Eligibility List. 

Oral Boards are scheduled as needed depending on number of vacancies and the number of candidates who are already in the background process. If you are selected to participate in the oral board process, you will be notified by email to schedule your oral exam. Oral boards are not guaranteed for all applicants.