The El Dorado Fire Department was pleased with the results of civil service exams that were administered earlier this week, with Fire Chief Chad Mosby saying the department expects to begin making job offers as soon as possible.
However, the results were not the same for the El Dorado Police Department.
The El Dorado Civil Service Commission met Wednesday with Mosby and police Chief Kenny Hickman to discuss the turnout for the fall 2022 testing cycle and to certify the results.
Written and oral civil-service exams for entry-level candidates were administered Oct. 24 for both departments.
Mosby told commissioners that seven of 13 candidates passed the written exam for the fire department, saying, "That's the most successful turnout we've had in quite a while."
He said the department has four vacancies for uniformed personnel.
A fifth position expected to open in early 2023 with the pending retirement of Assistant Chief Bruce Goff.
On Thursday, the EFD began conducting criminal background checks on the eligible candidates and expected to begin making job offers before the end of the week, Mosby said.
"We've got a good group," he said.
The EPD didn't fare as well, Hickman reported.
Only one of three candidates successfully completed the written exam, he said.
"But he failed the oral (interview)," Hickman told commissioners, expressing disappointment with the test results.
The news led to an extensive discussion and action by the civil service commission to help improve the candidate pools and recruiting/hiring efforts for both departments.
Next steps
"Where do we go from here?" ECSC chairman Toddy Pitard asked.
Hickman said the EPD has three vacant positions. The EPD and EFD each have 51 slots for uniformed personnel to maintain parity.
However, the department is "in a relatively good position" with the recent hiring of officers who were already certified and did not need to undergo civil service testing, he said.
Hickman assured civil service commissioners that the department can make it through fall and winter until the spring 2023 testing cycle rolls around.
"I think April will be good. That's the standard. Spring is usually a pretty good period for us," Hickman said.
He noted that the police department is rebuilding connections and relationships with partners and resources, including area colleges, that have been stifled over the last two years because of the COVID pandemic.
EPD officers are also being cross-trained on how to manage and operate the department's new website, which went live earlier this year and is still under construction.
Last December, the El Dorado City Council authorized an expenditure of $9,650 -- funds that had already been allocated in the EPD's budget -- to build the new website.
Hickman said the site contains tools to help with recruitment and the EPD is exploring other options, including how best to use social media and cellphone capabilities, to appeal to younger candidates.
"Being that people in general are kind of not wanting to do it any more -- and this is happening across the country and it's affecting recruiting --, we've got to do some things to get more creative," Pitard said.
Pitard was referring to previous comments by Hickman and Mosby, both of whom have said that interest is waning nationwide in law enforcement and fire-service jobs.
On Wednesday, Hickman said such work is not "easy or microwaveable" but requires commitment and "an investment."
"It's very rewarding. It often appeals to military (service members). They often go into law enforcement because of the teamwork aspect," the police chief said. "They have to work together to solve something."
Negative media reports about the conduct of some law enforcement officers can also color public attitudes about police work, Hickman continued.
"Often, what is represented in the news media, you get the negative side of a very rare event and not the positive things that are going on inside the department," he said.
Commissioner Janis Van Hook asked if there is a specific section of the written exam that typically stumps candidates.
"I don't know. I honestly don't know. I think if I have to pare it down, the thing that probably gets everybody is the math," Hickman said.
Issues with "tacking down" some details and reading comprehension also seem to be a factor in pass-failure rates for the written civil service test, he said.
Pitard asked Hickman and Mosby if they would gather data from past civil service exams to evaluate the situation.
"We need see if we can find out where they're coming up short and if there is anything we can do to help when they go to take the test," Pitard said.
Hickman said applicants receive a test guide that provides examples of the kinds of questions that will appear on the exam.
Van Hook also inquired about why criminal background checks are conducted late in the testing/hiring process.
Mosby said the EPD can conduct its own background checks, while the EFD has to seek written consent and pay a fee for the Arkansas State Police to conduct the fire department's background checks.
Residency requirements
The civil service commission approved requests from both chiefs to amend residency requirements for uniformed personnel.
Both said the changes will help with recruitment and retention.
Commissioners did away with the distance requirement altogether for the EFD and they extended the 50-mile radius limit from a percentage cap at the EPD to cover 100% of officers.
Hickman said that since the radius beyond El Dorado city limits was expanded to 50 miles in 2020, there have not been any issues regarding the requirement within the EPD.
He noted that the EPD has reached its percentage cap.
He and Mosby said overriding factors for uniformed personnel opting against moving to El Dorado have been an unwillingness to uproot their families and the opportunity to live on family land in other areas.
Unlike police officers, Mosby said EFD firefighters work 48 hours on and 96 hours off and they "don't have to drive back and fourth every day."
Additionally, Mosby said firefighters have access to sleeping quarters so that they may rest before driving home after a rough, on-duty tour.
The fire-based EMT aspect of EFD operations is also attractive to candidates who are looking for such a component, he said.
Commissioner Rod Peevy noted that when he was an EFD firefighter, they had to remain on-call, adding that the rule posed problems with firefighters who held down other jobs.
"Some of us had part-time jobs and you have to have an agreement with the other employers that you would have to go in," Peevy said.
"A lot of times, even if they were in town, they wouldn't answer calls or they wouldn't be near a phone," he continued. "The only time they've got to come in is if you would assign them a pager and they had to be compensated for wearing a pager."
Noted Mosby, "If you've got to rely on major call-backs for your staffing, then that's a metric you need to look at to increase your staffing."
He said the EFD has had two major call-out events within the past decade -- one of which occurred in 2017 when the administration building on SouthArk's west campus caught on fire.
The other, a Clean Harbors' environmental-air event, prompted evacuations in the area surrounding the plant.
Mosby said the probationary period for out-of-town firefighters to move into city limits is a year and 90 days after hiring, noting that the 90 days follow their one-year anniversary.
Hickman said that of a handful of officers who live outside city limits, about half hit the radius limit.
"We have several offices from (the Magnolia area) and two from Hampton and they're all good officers," he said.
The ECSC agreed to the chiefs' requests, with the proviso that the situation be reviewed and assessed on an annual basis and taken case by case.
EFD candidates
Candidates who passed the EFD civil service exam and their rankings include:
• Dwight Ferrell, 1.
• Cody Hofman, 2.
• Austin Perry, 3.
• Steven Murry, 4.
• Nicholas Pyle, 5.
• Tykwaveo Madison, 6.
• Tyrus Washington, 7.