Lockport Police Department will host a police job recruitment fair from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Aug. 7 at city hall.
Interested individuals can sign up for the civil service exam for police officer candidates that’s scheduled to be given in Lockport on Sept. 28 and sign up for test preparation classes slated for Sept. 12 and Sept. 13.
Police Board chair Cheryl Brown said she thinks the job fair will benefit the community, including minorities who are interested in working in law enforcement. LPD has never employed a Black police officer.
“I do think this is an opportunity to reach out to minorities,” Brown said.
LPD Officer Miguel Bermudez is organizing the fair for a second year and said there’s already a success story.
“One police officer took the prep and is now working in Lockport Police Department. That was from the first year of offering this,” he said.
LPD’s recruitment effort is modeled after Rochester Police Department’s program, which offers civil service exam prep. Bermudez, a Rochester native, approached LPD Chief Steve Abbott about doing something similar and Abbott readily agreed.
“We’re focusing one step at a time,” Bermudez said. “First step is to get people to the fair and sign up. After the test we will be calling back everyone to train for the physical agility test. But we’re focusing on the first step.”
Multiple law enforcement agencies will be represented at the recruitment fair, including LPD, Niagara County Sheriff’s Department, New York State Park Police, and the Niagara Falls, North Tonawanda, Amherst, Rochester, and University of Buffalo police departments.
City Personnel Director Mary Pat Filbert said she’ll attend the fair and help process applications and answer questions about the civil service exam.
The deadline to sign up for the exam is Aug. 26. Applicants must provide a driver license and, if interested in employment with LPD, college transcripts showing 60 credit hours of classes. Written information about the exam and LPD officer requirements is available inside city hall, near the Civil Service office, and online at: https://tinyurl.com/5n93ab85.