Current job openings are listed under Human Resources. The Police Department also uses various online listings and posts openings at area colleges. Information available in the advertisement includes application and testing specifics.

To learn about what it takes to become a law enforcement officer for the State of Iowa, visit Iowa Law Enforcement Academy website.

The Marion Police Department seeks quality candidates for the position of police officer. Being an Equal Opportunity Employer, all races and genders are encouraged to apply. If hired as an officer, you will be sent to the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy for a minimum of 16 weeks of professional training. After graduation, an officer spends at least 12-18 weeks working with Field Training Officers on various shifts being evaluated on all aspects of police work. Marion Police Department officers must reside according to City policy.

Candidates must:

• be a citizen of the U.S. and a resident of Iowa or intend to become a resident upon employment;
• be at least 18 years of age at the time of appointment;
• have a valid driver’s license issued by the State of Iowa upon employment;
• not be addicted to or abuse alcohol or illegal drugs;
• be of good moral character as determined by a thorough background investigation;
• not have been convicted of a felony or any crime involving moral turpitude
• not, by reason of conscience or belief, be opposed to the use of force, including taking a life if necessary to fulfill job duties;
• be a high school graduate with a diploma or possess a G.E.D. equivalency certificate;
• have uncorrected vision of not less than 20/100 in both eyes, corrected to 20/20 and normal color vision;
• have normal hearing in each ear;
• upon job offer, candidate will be examined by a licensed physician and meet the physical requirements necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of a law enforcement officer.

PHYSICAL STANDARDS

It has been well documented that law enforcement personnel, (as an occupational class), have serious health risk problems in terms of cardiovascular disease, lower back disorders and obesity. Law enforcement agencies have the responsibility of minimizing known risk. Physical fitness is a health domain which can minimize the “known” health risk for law enforcement officers. These fitness areas have also been shown to be predictive of job performance ratings, sick time and number of commendations of police officers.  Data also shows that fitness level is predictive of trainability and academy performance. Physical fitness can be an important area for minimizing liability. The unfit officer is less able to respond fully to strenuous physical activity. Consequently, the risk of not performing physical duties is increased.

The actual performance requirement for each test is based on the norms from a national population sample. The applicant must pass every test. The required performance to pass each test is based upon sex and age, (decade).  The absolute performance is different for the eight categories; the relative level of effort is identical for each age and sex group. All recruits are being required to meet the same percentile rank in terms of their respective age/sex group. The performance requirement is that level of physical performance the approximates the 40th percentile for each age and sex group.