The Department of Public Safety, Nevada State Police is having their opening testing event at the Stewart Facility. In effort to fill 160 open positions throughout the state of Nevada.Â
23 trainee's for the Nevada State Police Open Training are required to go through their first initial test to be considered to be a future police officer.
James Simpson, the Major of the Nevada State Police Highway Patrol Division explains "We're looking for very specific people who want to take on this challenging career to serve the public, their neighbors and community."
With being a police officer also comes the unexpected, you never know what your day will hold. Officials say you have to be fit and able to take on any challenge you may face on the job.
Simpson tells us "Physical fitness is the baseline for mental wellness as well, and mental wellness is very important for our officers."
During the trainee's testing day, they'll do a 300 meter run, agility run, half mile run, sit-ups, push-ups, a vertical jump test and written exam.
Simpson adds "Many people attend the physical fitness exam not knowing right where their physical abilities are."
Heather Almaraz, one of the Trainee's tells us "I've been practicing as much as possible, so we'll see how it goes so far, it's been good for me right now."
Simpson mentions "it's a challenge for some people, we encourage those who don't pass to come back in 30 days and take the test again."
He adds, the vast majority of candidates do pass the physical and written exam.
Almaraz tells us "The written should be good, and hopefully from there I can keep the ball rolling you know and get on with the department."
Officials say they have a lot of vacancies in police departments in Nevada, and they're hiring in both the urban and rural areas.
Simpson says "The Nevada State Police, we have 2 academies 1 in Carson City that's been here for years and years, and we also have 1 in Las Vegas which started a couple years ago."
In the state of Nevada they have 160 openings for law enforcement. Simpson says they want to fill these positions as soon as they can with good candidates, to help keep the community safer.
Almaraz tells us "I'm interning right now with the Parole and Probation department, they really need help, so being in there and seeing what they need, it's really important to get some officer in there"
