86-471
SUFFOLK COUNTY
EMERGENCY COMPLAINT OPERATOR
CIVIL SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES
http://www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Civil-Service
·
LAST FILING DATE: DECEMBER 20, 2023
·
WRITTEN TEST DATE: JANUARY 27, 2024
·
COUNTY ANNUAL
SALARY $42,360
·
GRADE 16
SPECIFICATION # 0165
All
statements made on the application may be verified and
the backgrounds of successful candidates are subject to investigation by the
appointing authority.
APPLICATION PROCESSING FEE and FEE WAIVER
The application
processing fee is $40. Application may be made
via the internet at www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Civil-Service. Payment must be made
by VISA or MasterCard credit card and there will be an additional convenience
fee of $1.95. An acknowledgement of
receipt of application will be sent to all internet
applicants via e-mail. A separate application and processing fee are required
for each examination (identified by examination number) for which you are
applying. The application
processing fee is non-refundable and non-transferable.
The application
processing fee may be waived for Suffolk County residents who are veterans,
active duty military, members of the reserves or National Guard, auxiliary
police, firefighters, members in good standing of a local fire district or
ambulance company, members of a Volunteer Fire Department or Volunteer
Emergency Medical Services Agency Explorers programs, volunteer CERT members
and members of the Suffolk County Police Explorers program. The fee may also be waived if you are unemployed and primarily
responsible for the support of a household and for recipients of Medicaid, SSI,
Public Assistance or those in a training program under the Job Training
Partnership Act/Workforce Investment Act administered by a state or local
social service agency. Applicants should complete the “Request for Application
Fee Waiver and Certification” form online. All claims for application fee
waiver are subject to verification.
VACANCIES
The eligible list for this title will be used to fill future vacancies in the Suffolk County
Police Department.
DUTIES
An
employee in this class receives emergency phone calls and relays messages by
typing them into a computer terminal or printing them on message cards. The incumbent must elicit complete
information from complainants who are frequently hysterical, and transmit this
information to a police dispatcher through use of a computerized dispatch
system. The employee may also receive
non-emergency calls for police assistance.
Work is performed in accordance with standard
police procedures, and is supervised by a supervising officer of the Police
Department. Does related work as
required.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS
Graduation
from a standard senior high school or possession of a high school equivalency
diploma.
Necessary
Special Requirements
Candidates
must be free of any speech, hearing or vision defects which
would impair their functioning in this position. The job assignment may require attainment of
New York State Police Information Network (NYSPIN) certification within (1)
month of appointment; employees must maintain this certification while employed
in this title.
SCOPE OF THE EXAMINATION
The examination for this position will consist
of four parts:
I. The written test will cover
knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such areas as:
1.
Coding/decoding
information;
2.
Name
and number checking;
3.
Understanding
and interpreting written material;
4.
Following
directions (maps);
5.
Retaining
and comprehending spoken information from calls for emergency services*.
* This section of the written test is
audio-based and uses two media:
booklet(s) and audio CD. After
each call is played, candidates will read questions in
the test booklet(s) and answer them on a standard answer sheet)
Note:
The use of calculators is allowed for this examination.
Note: The New York State Department of Civil
Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However, candidates
may find information in the publication ‘General Guide to Written Tests’
helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available online at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.
II. The keyboard performance test will be
administered at a later date to candidates who pass
the written test. The test will be given
on a personal computer (PC) and consists of three (3) parts; each proceeded by
a separate practice session. This is a
keyboard performance test, designed to test your ability to enter common forms
of the information with which emergency telecommunicators
deal in fire services, police services, and emergency medical services
settings. Each candidate for the
performance test will be sent more detailed
information prior to the test. Your
rating on this test will be based on the amount of
information you enter and on the accuracy of your entries. In order to pass this test you must enter
data at a rate of at least 6,000 keystrokes per hour (which is the equivalent
to typing approximately 20 words per minute), with an accuracy rate of at least
97.5%.
Waiver
Policy:
You may qualify for a waiver of the keyboard performance portion of the
examination if you took and passed the Emergency Dispatcher Keyboard
Performance Test for Public Safety Dispatcher I or
Emergency Complaint Operator administered by the Suffolk County Department of
Human Resources, Personnel and Civil Service.
Re-test
Policy: Candidates who fail the
keyboard performance test will be rescheduled for one (1) re-test at a later date.
III.
& IV. Candidates who pass the
written and keyboard performance tests will be called
for the qualifying medical/physical and personality/psychological
evaluations as the needs of the service require. (Medical standards are on page 4 of this
announcement)
Candidates
must pass all parts of the examination in order to be eligible for
appointment. Rank on
the eligible list will be determined by the written test scores only, plus
veteran’s credits if applicable.
NOTES
1.
Should it become necessary to amend any
part of this announcement, the Department of Human Resources, Personnel and
Civil Service reserves the right to make such amendment on the Department’s web
page without notification to applicants.
The most current copy of this announcement is available during the
filing period at www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Civil-Service.
2. Expanded Description of the examination subtests.
3.
Candidates
who apply for this examination and who have not heard from the Suffolk County
Department of Human Resources, Personnel and Civil Service by January 24,
2024 are advised to contact the Department before
the written test date at (631) 853-5500.
N.Y.S.
DATE
PREPARED: October 30, 2023
GENERAL CONDITIONS OPEN-COMPETITIVE
ANNOUNCEMENT
1.
Application
may be made using the Suffolk County Application for
Employment (Forms CS-205A and CS-205B).
2.
Applicants
may complete a “Request for Application Fee Waiver and Certification” form and
submit it with Forms CS-205A and CS-205B.
3.
Unless
otherwise stated, candidates must meet the minimum qualifications by the date
of the written test, or last filing date in the case of training and experience
evaluations. Unless otherwise stated
part-time experience will be pro-rated.
4.
Candidates
found ineligible to compete in the written examination may appeal to the
Department of Human Resources, Personnel and Civil Service for reconsideration
prior to the written test date appearing on this announcement. Appeals received on or after the announced
written test date will not be considered.
5.
Candidates
who fail the examination, or who fail to appear for the examination as
scheduled, will be eliminated from further
consideration for purposes of this competition.
Unless otherwise specified, the final rank order of the eligible list
will be determined on the basis of the score received
on the written test, plus veterans’ credits where appropriate.
6.
Eligible
applicants will be notified when and where to appear for examination. If an application is rejected, due notice
will be sent.
7.
Unless
specifically prohibited by the examination instructions, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand-held, solar or
battery-powered calculators. Devices
with typewriter keyboards, spell-checker, personal digital assistant, address
books, language translators, dictionaries and any similar devices are prohibited.
8.
When
the examination is prepared and rated by the Suffolk County
Department of Human Resources, Personnel and Civil Service, the
provisions of the Suffolk County Civil Service Rules dealing with the rating of
examination will apply.
9.
When
the written examination is prepared and rated by the New York State Department
of Civil Service in accordance with Section 23-2 of the Civil Service Law, the
provisions of the New York State Civil Service Rules and Regulations
which deal with the rating of examination will apply.
10.
The
eligible list established as a result of this
examination will remain in force for at least one year and may be extended by
the Department of Human Resources, Personnel and Civil Service for a maximum of
four years. Changing conditions may make
it necessary to certify to future vacancies at higher or lower salaries than
those announced.
11.
Information
regarding eligibility for veterans’ credits appears on the open-competitive
application form.
12.
Pursuant
to Section 85-a of the Civil Service Law, children of firefighters and police
officers killed in the line of duty shall be entitled to receive an additional
ten points added to a passing score attained in a competitive examination for
original appointment in the same municipality in which his or her parent
served. If you are qualified to
participate in this examination, and you are the child of a firefighter or
police officer killed in the line of duty, please so notify us in writing when
you submit your application for examination.
A candidate claiming such credit must submit appropriate documentation
to verify eligibility to receive these additional credits before the eligible
list is established.
No additional credits will be granted after the
eligible list is established.
13.
Inquiries
may be made as to character and ability and all
statements made by candidates are subject to verification. Some employers may require the candidate to be fingerprinted and to pass a background investigation.
14.
Candidates
must be medically, physically and psychologically capable of performing the
duties of the job. Candidates who are appointed to positions in the Suffolk County service may
be required to pass qualifying medical and/or physical and/or psychological
evaluations.
15.
Residency
is not required for taking any examinations.
However, some jurisdictions, such as schools, libraries, etc., give
hiring preference to residents. Some
towns also require employees to establish residency within the township. For employment in a Suffolk County
Department, with only limited exceptions set forth in Suffolk County Law,
residency within Suffolk County is required within five years of employment
with the county. In any case in which residency preference is given, the
appointee(s) must meet a specific residency standard as defined in the Civil
Service Rules.
16.
Saturday
Sabbath Observers and handicapped persons:
If special arrangements for testing are required, indicate this on your
application.
17.
No
smoking is permitted in the building or on the grounds
of the examination site.
18.
If
you will be on active military duty with the armed forces of the United States
on the date of this test, please contact the Suffolk County Department of Human
Resources, Personnel and Civil Service before the last filing date appearing on
this announcement for alternate test date information.
19.
Multiple Examinations Scheduled for the
Same Day: If you have applied to take a
written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions (county,
town, city) scheduled to be held on the same test date as this written test, you
must notify each of the local jurisdictions no later than two weeks before the
test date, so they can make arrangements for taking all tests at one test site. All examinations for positions in State
government will be held at a State examination
center. If you have any questions,
please call the Suffolk County Department of Human Resources, Personnel and
Civil Service at (631) 853-5500.
20.
For
information regarding a weather-related cancellation of this examination,
please refer to our website at www.suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Civil-Service
and click on the “Weather Related Exam Cancellations” link. Civil Service Announcements are shown at the bottom of that page. Also check News 12
Long Island for notice of cancellation of this examination: NEWS 12 LONG ISLAND, TV CHANNEL 12 or at their
website: www.news12.com.
Suffolk County
Department of Human Resources, Personnel and Civil Service
725 Veterans
Memorial Hwy.
William J. Lindsay
County Complex, Bldg. # 158
P.O. Box 6100
Hauppauge, NY 11788-0099
Phone: (631) 853-5500
SUFFOLK COUNTY OFFICE OF EMPLOYEE MEDICAL REVIEW
PHYSICAL AND MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS
EMERGENCY COMPLAINT OPERATOR
Vision: Candidates must have vision correctable to
20/40 binocular for distance and reading.
Candidates must be able to recognize color traffic lenses (yellow).
Hearing: Single hearing levels should not exceed 25
decibels (DB) at either 500, 1000 and 2000 Hz nor exceed 30 DB at 3000 Hz
frequencies in each ear. For abnormal
testing results between 4000 and 6000 Hz frequencies, further refined audiological evaluation is recommended. Use of one hearing aid is
permitted provided the other ear is within normal standards. Candidates with a hearing aid, at their own
expense, must provide evidence from a licensed audiologist that their aid meets
the stipulated manufacture’s standards using functional gain or real ear
measurements.
Speech: Candidates must be free of speech impediment which would interfere with the ability to
communicate clearly.
Cardiovascular
Health: Candidate must be free of chronically
disabling conditions that would interfere with the performance of required
duties; uncontrolled high blood pressure will be restricted pending
remediation.
Respiratory
Health: The respiratory system must be free of
chronic disabling conditions that would interfere with the candidate’s ability
to perform the essential functions of the position.
Endocrine
& Metabolic: Candidates having a condition or disorder will be evaluated on a case-by-case assessment including
control of disorder, and the presence and severity of symptoms and/or
complications. Ability to perform shift work and overtime will
be assessed.
Neurological
Health: Candidates must be free of neurological
disorders that interfere with the candidate’s ability to perform the essential
functions of the position. Candidates
with epilepsy or seizure disorders must provide evidence of one-year seizure
free history with or without drug control.
Musculoskeletal
Health: Candidates must have manual dexterity to
operate computer and manual equipment and must be free of any impairment that
would interfere with the ability to perform the essential functions of the
position.
Gastrointestinal
Health: Candidates must be free of gastrointestinal
disorders or deformities that would interfere with the performance of job
duties.
Mental
Health: Candidates must be free of mental illness,
serious emotional disturbance or nervous disorders, drug dependence or abuse
that would interfere with the performance of their duties.
General
Medical Statement: Candidates must be free of any medical
condition, including alcohol abuse, and/or psychiatric disorder
which would jeopardize the safety and health of the public and/or other
employees or would clearly interfere with the ability to perform the essential
functions of the position. Candidates
found to be abusing legal or illegal drugs will be
disqualified.
*
The physical and medical requirements are subject to change.
11/2023