TEWKSBURY — Chief Ryan Columbus is pleased to report that the Tewksbury Police Department will now accept applications from a larger pool of potential police officers.
Town Meeting approved a warrant article in 2023 petitioning the Governor and Legislature to remove the Department from hiring restrictions of the Massachusetts Civil Service Law. The Legislature concurred, and Gov. Maura Healey signed the petition, which takes effect March 1
“This change will streamline our hiring and cut down on the difficulties of navigating the Civil Service hiring system,” said Chief Columbus. “Hiring police officers has become more challenging for a number of reasons, and this will allow us to attract a wider range of candidates from inside and outside the state.”
In place of the Civil Service examination, Tewksbury Police will offer its own hiring examination and physical fitness examination, with preference given to Tewksbury residents and military veterans.
The Tewksbury Police Department will continue to use Civil Service examinations for making promotions, and officers will continue to enjoy Civil Service protections once they have completed their one year of probationary work with the department. The change will have no impact on current employees.
The Town will take into consideration candidates that took the most recent civil service exam.
Officers who are hired will still have to complete a Massachusetts Police Training Commission-approved police academy and undergo a 12-week Field Training Program.
“We believe this change will enable us to recruit and evaluate even more talented candidates from a wider pool of applicants, which will be extremely useful in this challenging environment,” said Chief Columbus. “We are able to make this change while maintaining a preference for Tewksbury residents and military veterans. We think this will be a big win for our effort to recruit talented candidates.”
Anyone with questions about the change is asked to contact the department by emailing: tewksburypdrecruiting@tewksbury-ma.gov.