Application Process

Department & City Information

The Evansville, Indiana Police Department is located in the extreme Southwestern portion of Indiana on the banks of the Ohio River. The police department is a fully-accredited law enforcement agency, dedicated to a community-oriented policing program. The department includes the operation of three Sector Offices and serves an area of 41 square miles, covering 575 miles of city streets, and has a total authorized strength of 289 sworn officers and 31 civilian employees. The department is divided into four major divisions; Patrol, Criminal Investigations, Administrative, and Support Services. Those divisions are broken down into 18 specialized units which cover all areas of law enforcement necessary to serve the City of Evansville and its approximate 120,000 citizens.

It is the goal of the City of Evansville Police Department and the Evansville Police Merit Commission to recruit the most qualified persons, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin or disability, to serve the citizens of Evansville as police officers. Hiring requirements are based on job-related criteria, taking into consideration the knowledge, personal attributes, skills and training required to perform the job tasks, so as to further the principle of equal employment opportunity.

Basic Requirements

1. United States Citizen
2. Must be 21-39 years of age at time of hire.
3. Have a high school diploma or GED* certificate (see below).
4. Have no convictions of a felony criminal violation
5. Have no conviction of domestic violence or a domestic violence-related offense, either misdemeanor or felony
6. Must be of good moral character
7. Possess a valid driver’s license from current state of residence
8. Military discharge (if applicable) cannot be characterized as “other than honorable”, “bad conduct”, or “dishonorable”
9. Must pass mandatory drug screening
10. Have uncorrected vision at least 20/100 in both eyes, or be a long-term successful user of soft contact lenses correctable to 20/30 (must also be free from color blindness)
11. Must be able to pass a physical agility assessment test
12. Must be able to pass a competitive written exam
13. Must submit to in-depth background investigation; polygraph, psychological testing and medical examination

(*)Applicants with GED certificate must have either 30 semester hours of credit from an accredited college or university with a 2.0 or better GPA or a minimum of 2 years of military service.

Application and Selection Process

The Evansville Police Department accepts employment applications year-round.  Applications are available from the Police Personnel Unit, Room 129 of the Civic Center or from our website at www.evansvillepolice.com.  Click here to be taken back to “Become an Officer” on the homepage, from there click on the link to access the fill-in PDF employment application.

Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Phone: (812) 436-4947

Completed applications may be hand-delivered, mailed, or emailed to the following address:

Sergeant Dexter Wolf – Personnel Unit

Evansville Police Department

15 N.W. M.L. King Blvd., Room 129

Evansville, IN  47708-1891

Email to:   dwolf@evansvillepolice.com

Applications are pre-screened to ensure that the applicant’s basic requirements are met.  Upon submitting an application, you will be contacted by the Personnel Unit via email when the next selection process will begin. Selection process deadline dates will also be posted on the EPD website.

The Evansville Police Department’s Applicant Process may consist of but is not limited to, the following evaluations, which will be offered every two months.

Physical Fitness Assessment Test

Based upon the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy’s physical fitness standards to graduate from the Police Academy.  The standards are the same for males and females.

• Applicants must meet the standard for each exercise to pass the assessment test.
• This is a PASS/FAIL test only.  No points are assigned for results.
• Vertical Jump Test (Standard – 16 inches or greater)
• Timed Sit Up Test (Standard – 29 in one minute or less)
• 300 Meter Run (Standard – complete in 71 seconds or less)
• Push Up Test (Standard – complete 25 push-ups with no time limit)
• 1.5 Mile Run (Standard – complete in 16:28 or less)
• If all physical fitness standards are met, the applicant will be eligible to take the written test.
• Click HERE for more information on the Physical Assessment.

Written Exam

• Created by a professional consulting firm using job-related criteria.
• Is four sections: Arithmetic, Reading Comprehension, Grammar, and Incident Report Writing
• Must score 80% or higher to continue on to interview and assessment phase
• Written test score accounts for 30% of the applicant’s total score.
• Study guides for the written test will be given out after successful completion of the physical fitness assessment.
• Click HERE for more information on the Written Test. 

Structured Oral Interview

• This is a structured interview in front of a selected board of sworn police officers and member(s) of the Police Merit Commission.
• Each applicant is asked the same questions and responses are graded.
• The oral interview score accounts for 50% of the applicant’s total score.

Assessment Center Written Exercise

• The written exercise is completed right after the structured oral interview.
• Each applicant is asked to write a written response to the same topic or question.
• Written exercise is graded based on content, spelling, grammar, etc.
• The written exercise accounts for 20% of the applicant’s total score.

Applicant scores will then be compiled from the above and added to an eligibility list that will be in descending order from highest to lowest passing scores.  Applicants will be notified of their ranking on the eligibility list and will be updated as additional selection processes are completed and new scores are added to the eligibility list.

Once an applicant achieves a score to make the eligibility list, that score will be good for a period of one year.  If an applicant does not receive a conditional job offer within that one year of eligibility, the applicant will be notified that their score is expired and they must submit another application and complete the next selection process in its entirety.

Upon an vacancy occurring, the department will extend a “conditional” job offer to the applicant on the eligibility list with the highest score at the time of the vacancy. At that time, the following evaluations will be completed:

• In-depth background investigation
• Polygraph examination
• Psychological examination and interview with clinical psychologist
• Complete medical examination including vision, hearing, and mandatory drug screen.

If all evaluations are successfully completed and the applicant is accepted into into the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS), the applicant will be sworn in as probationary police officer at the next hiring/academy date.

The Department’s hiring needs may vary year to year, and how much of the eligibility list is utilized is dependent on a number of variables.

For more information about the department or the selection process contact the Personnel Unit at (812) 436-4947 or dwolf@evansvillepolice.com.