Deputy Sheriff

The work involves responsibility for the protection of lives and property and the enforcement of laws and ordinances within the County. On an assigned shift, an incumbent performs routine patrol operations in accordance with standard departmental operating procedures and makes arrests and assists in investigations. The work is performed under the general supervision of a higher-ranking officer who gives specific instructions and assistance when special problems arise. Does related work as required.

Graduation from high school or possession of a New York State Equivalency diploma.

A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and/or abilities in the following areas:
1. SITUATIONAL JUDGMENT - These questions test for the ability to identify appropriate and effective responses to work-related challenges. You will be presented with scenarios that reflect the types of challenges one could encounter in a work environment. Each scenario will be followed by several responses to the scenario. You must rate the effectiveness of each response.
2. LANGUAGE FLUENCY - These questions test for the ability to read, understand, and present a clear and accurate summary of information. For some questions, you will be given a brief reading passage followed by four statements, each summarizing the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given several sentences, one of which contains a spelling, grammatical, or punctuation error. You must then select the line that contains the error.
3. INFORMATION ORDERING AND LANGUAGE SEQUENCING - These questions test for the ability to properly identify the sequence or order of events, or to organize information to fit a timeline. You will be given a brief reading passage followed by one or more questions. You must identify the proper sequence of events in order to answer one or more questions.
4. PROBLEM SENSITIVITY AND REASONING - These questions test for the ability to apply information and to identify a problem or potential problem. For some questions, you will be given information in the form of policies, rules, regulations, or laws, which will be followed by a situation. You must then identify the problem and apply the information to select the best course of action to take. For other questions, you will be given a scenario and mock witness statements. You must use this information to answer one or more questions about the scenario.
5. SELECTIVE ATTENTION - These questions test for the ability to focus on completing a task and to pay attention to important details while performing repetitive and monotonous tasks. You will be presented with a series of letters, symbols, and/or numbers. You must select the choice that contains the series of letters, symbols, and/or number that matches exactly.
6. VISUALIZATION - These questions test for the ability to imagine how something will look when it is moved around or when its parts are changed, moved, or rearranged. You will be presented with an image of a face followed by four images of faces. Each face is disguised or altered in some way. Three of the images have a difference in facial structure or facial features. You must select the choice that contains the image with the identical facial structure and facial features.
7. SPATIAL ORIENTATION - These questions test for the ability to understand how to navigate within spaces or how to get from one point to another. You will be provided with a map followed by one or more questions. You must imagine yourself at a certain location and orient yourself to the direction in which you would move to get to another location by the shortest (least distance) route. Test guide: A Guide for the Written Test for Entry-Level Law Enforcement is available at the New York State website: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm. Candidates not having access to a computer or the internet may request copy of the test guide from the municipal civil service office conducting this examination using the contact information found elsewhere on this announcement.

There are no residency requirements for this examination. However, pursuant to Section 3(2) of the Public Officer’s Law, to be appointed and employed as a Deputy Sheriff, a candidate MUST be a resident of Otsego County.

The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill vacancies as they occur in the Otsego County Sheriff Department under the jurisdiction of the Otsego County Personnel/Civil Service Department.