10/2/2018
Jim Evancho
Last night was the monthly Civil Service Board Meeting in the City of Jacksonville. The normally scheduled agenda all passed unanimously with only one exception.
Item number 9 on the agenda was the “Police Chief Job Description: Review the proposed job description for the position for the position of Police Chief”. As the members were going over the proposed verbiage that had been supplied to the CSB, there was a question as to the section of the qualifications.
Pat Borstorff began the discussion regarding the possible requirement of a four year degree for candidates for the position of Police Chief. She went on to say that the position is extremely important to a community and a degree in Criminal Justice or Law Enforcement Administration would be beneficial to a leader in Jacksonville.
Lynn Causey responded by saying she believes a potential candidate should be able to also utilize career experience towards qualifications. She went on to say that an police officer that has risen through the ranks has secured some specialized training in order to supervise subordinates. In conjunction with that, there also may be special schools that a potential candidate may take that may not necessarily be a college course, but none the less, considered law enforcement management quality.
June Shirey then spoke and supported the four year degree requirement. A leader of this community’s police department having a degree may inspire the others to continue their educational goals.
Vernon Presley spoke next and advised his opinion was in line with Lynn Causey and believes that an applicant for the position should either have a four year degree or professional experience/training that is comparable.
Mike Abrams, Chairman asked if there were anymore discussions on the matter and asked for a motion on the change in the language. Ms. Borstorff enter the motion to send the notice back with the recommendation of deleting a portion of the language. The motion was seconded. The votes were 2 Yea, 3 votes Nay. The motion did not pass.
Mr. Abrams opened the floor for more dialogue. The board members discussed the options further and the conversation was relaxed. Each of the members discussed that they generally wanted what is best for Jacksonville and the community the Police Department protects.
A second motion was entered to approve the job description as it was written. The Board voted 3 Yea and 2 Nay and the motion was passed.
