WINNEMUCCA — The Winnemucca Police Department is in the process of hiring two new officers, and the media has been invited to observe.

Police Chief Eric Silva said he was aware of some concerns in the public that perhaps the hiring process wasn’t stringent enough.  For that reason, he’s sharing the process with the public.

SPJ has been invited and will attend each stage of the hiring process.

Silva and Captain Bill Dalley outlined the lengthy process potential employees must go through in order to be considered for the WPD.

The first stage of the hiring process actually has three stages: a physical fitness test, a written test, and an oral interview before a board of WPD personnel to include the captain, street sergeant, and patrol officer.

At the end of the first round, two or possibly three potential hires with the highest scores will go on for further consideration.

Those who failed to make it past any one of these steps can try again. For example, if someone doesn’t make it through the basic physical fitness test they can get in shape and come back and try it again.

During the second stage, those three will be asked to fill out a background questionnaire and must provide all legal documents referenced in the questionnaire.

When those are completed, the background investigation begins.

Silva said this is the point a lot of people wash-out of consideration. Not necessarily because they lied, but because they forgot to include something – like a traffic ticket.  Those who are taken out of consideration at this point for something they forgot to include, like a traffic ticket, may apply again at a later date.

If all two or three people under consideration fail to make it through the background investigation process, the WPD will start all over again at the first stage.

Silva said there have been times when the department has gone through this process three or four times before they’ve found a viable candidate.

During the third stage, potential applicants take the VSA (voice stress test) which is the modern version of the old-fashioned lie detector test.

Silva said that most people who make it this far pass the VSA.  However, if there are any questions about the truth of an answer, the PD will put the test through a second read with an expert from another agency (such as the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office).

During the fourth stage, applicants are given a psychological profile exam, which is a written, multiple choice exam.

There aren’t right or wrong answers, Silva explained, it’s more of a profile to determine whether a person would be a good officer based on their psychological profile.

The test can also determine in what position a person would be best placed.  For example, the person would be a good choice to work with the public, a good D.A.R.E. officer, or whether or not they would excel in detectives.

The fifth stage entails Silva and Dalley making a choice about whether or not they’ll offer someone a position with the WPD.

If someone is offered a position who is not already P.O.S.T. certified (Police Officer Standards and Training) they must go through the 17-week course. Silva said despite the rigorous pre-process, which separates the luke-warm candidates from the best, some folks don’t make it through P.O.S.T. and the whole process starts again.

During the sixth stage, the hire is officially brought on board at the WPD, but they’re not quite through being tested.

Silva explained all new hires, even lateral transfers, must pass a 14-week field training course to make sure the individual can work the equipment, is good with the public, is cognizant of officer safety, etc.

Despite the lengthy weeding-out process, there are individuals who do not make it through the field training program.  Then, the process starts all over again.

However, if the individual passes the field training program, they move to patrol – but only on probationary status.

Silva pointed out the lengthy process from application to full-time officer is almost a year.