How to become a Fulton Police Officer.

What’s required and expected of you.

Filing Fees.

A non-refundable fee of $25.00 is required for each separately numbered examination for which you apply. The required fee must accompany your application. The fee may be waived by the City of Fulton. Send check or money order payable to CITY OF FULTON and write the examination number on your check or money order. DO NOT SEND CASH. You are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified. No refunds will be made to candidates who are disqualified or fail to appear.

Filing fees may be waived under specific criteria. Please contact the City of Fulton Personnel office for further information.

Residency Requirements.

Candidates must be legal residents of New York State for a minimum of one (1) month immediately preceding the date of the examination. Upon appointment candidates must reside in Oswego County or one of its adjacent counties (Cayuga, Jefferson, Lewis, Madison, Oneida or Onondaga).  

Minimum Qualifications.

  • United States Citizenship is required at the time of appointment. It is not necessary for admission to the examination.

  • High school graduate or holder of a high school equivalency diploma.

  • Candidates must be at least 19 years old on or before the date of the examination to take the test AND PROVIDE PROOF OF AGE (see attached Exam Supplement). Eligibility for appointment as a police officer begins when the candidate reaches age 20. Candidates who reach their 35th birthday on or before the date of written examination are not qualified except as follows: Candidates may have a period of military duty or terminal leave, up to six (6) years as defined in Section 243 (10-a) of the Military Law, deducted from their age for purposes of determining whether they meet the age requirement.

  • Possession of a valid New York State driver’s license at time of appointment and which must be maintained throughout employment.

Minimum Qualifications Cont.

  • Appointed candidates must satisfactorily complete the Basic Course for Police Officers as prescribed by the Municipal Training Council and required by Section 209-q of the General Municipal Law within one (1) year in order to attain permanent status in the position

  • A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and/or abilities in the following areas: situational judgement, language fluency, information ordering and language sequencing, problem sensitivity and reasoning, selective attention, visualization, spatial orientation. Use of a calculator is PROHIBITED for this exam.

    Click Here for a test guide offered by the New York State Department of Civil Service.

Background Investigation/Criminal Record Check.

As stated in Section 58 of the Civil Service Law, there will be a background investigation conducted in accordance with the standards of the municipal police training council (MPTC). Candidates may be required to authorize access to educational, financial, employment, criminal history, mental health records or other records.  Conviction of a felony will bar appointment.  Conviction of a misdemeanor or other offense is subject to evaluation and may bar appointment.  Candidates may be subject to additional screenings as a term and condition of employment, including but not limited to, fingerprinting, polygraph and psychological testing.  Drug testing is included in the required medical exam. 

MPTC Medical Standards.

Medical and psychological standards must be met by candidates upon receipt of a conditional offer of employment. The MPTC medical standard for visual acuity requires candidates to have vision better or equal to 20/30 in each eye. If a candidate must use corrective lenses (glasses or contacts) in order to satisfy the 20/30 standard, then the candidate’s uncorrected vision should be no worse than 20/100 in each eye. A complete description of physical and medical standards can be found at the City of Fulton Personnel Office.

MPTC Physical Fitness Standards.

The MPTC adopted the physical fitness screening test based on the model formulated by the Cooper Institute of Aerobics Research. The minimum passing scores, depending on age and sex, represent the fortieth (40th) percentile of physical fitness as established by the Cooper Institute. Failure on any part of the qualifying test will remove your name from further consideration for appointment.

Veteran’s Credits.

Active Service members, veterans or disabled veterans desiring to claim additional credit should submit Veteran's Credit Form, along with the latest copy of their DD214 or current military orders, prior to the establishment of the eligible list resulting from this exam. Forms are available upon request at the Personnel/Civil Service Office.

Multiple Examinations scheduled for the same day? (Cross-File)!

If you have applied to take a written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions 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.

You must bring all admission letters for all exams with you to your test site.