City of Bartlesville police and fire officials are actively recruiting applicants for open positions — with one firefighter position and six police officer positions to fill in the immediate future, leadership for both departments said this week.
Fire
Bartlesville Fire Department previously only accepted applications when it had open positions, but the department has become more proactive in keeping a list of potential candidates at the ready by accepting applications anytime. The department holds testing for applicants on a regular basis, from which successful applicants are selected.
“We recently hired five new firefighters from the previous candidate pool and have since been informed of an upcoming retirement, which will create another opening in the department,” Fire Chief David Topping said this week. “So we will be scheduling another round of testing soon, and we’ll fill that position — and, potentially, future positions — from the applicants who successfully complete the testing process.”
Police
Police Chief Tracy Roles said two people were hired recently to begin filling the eight open positions with the department created by the City Council during the budgeting process for Fiscal Year 2022-23, which began July 1.
The council approved funding for six new School Resource Officers (SROs) and two additional police officer positions that will be dedicated to mental health issues. Those positions will likely be filled by more experienced police officers, but this will leave eight entry-level positions open.
“We just hired two of the eight we need, so we have four SROs in the schools now,” Roles said. “We hope to have two to three more on the job at the semester change.”
Roles said a new officer will spend 16 weeks in the police academy and 16 weeks with Field Training Officers (FTOs) before they are ready to work solo.
“So it’s about an eight-month process to get someone hired, trained and ready to go out on their own,” he said.
Applications for these and other City positions can be completed online. For more information, visit www.cityofbartlesville.org.
The City of Bartlesville offers competitive pay and excellent benefits, including insurance, “Zero card” coverage, retirement funding, generous sick, family sick and vacation leave, and 11 paid holidays per year.