Any vacancy in an existing position in the police force which
occurs as a result of retirement, resignation, disability or death
may be filled by the Borough Council by the reappointment or reinstatement
of a former employee of the police force who had previously complied
with the provisions of this article. No examination, other than a
physical examination as directed by the Civil Service Commission,
shall be required in any case of reappointment or reinstatement.
In the case of a vacancy in the office of Chief of Police, the
appointive power may nominate a person to the Commission. It shall
then become the duty of the Commission to subject the person to a
noncompetitive examination, and if the person shall be certified by
the Commission as qualified, he may then be appointed to the position,
and shall be subject to all the provisions of this chapter.
All original appointments to any position in the police force shall serve a twelve-month probationary period, but during the probationary period an appointee may be dismissed only for a cause specified in §
16-21 or because of incapacity for duty due to the use of alcohol or drugs. If at the close of a probationary period the conduct or fitness of the probationer has not been satisfactory to the Borough Council, the probationer shall be notified in writing that the probationer will not receive a permanent appointment, and the appointment shall cease. If the probationer is not notified or dismissed in accordance with this section, the probationer's retention shall be equivalent to a permanent appointment. The decision of a borough to suspend or discharge a probationer shall be final and shall not be subject to the hearing provisions of §
16-44.
Whenever there are urgent reasons for the filling of a vacancy
in any position in the police force and there are no names on the
eligibility list for the appointment, the Borough Council may nominate
a person to the Commission for noncompetitive examination, and if
the nominee shall be certified by the Commission as qualified after
noncompetitive examination, the nominee may be appointed provisionally
to fill the vacancy. Within three weeks of the provisional appointment,
the Commission shall hold a competitive examination and certify an
eligibility list, and a regular appointment shall then be made from
the name or names submitted by the Commission, provided that nothing
in this section shall prevent the appointment, without examination,
of persons temporarily as police officers in cases of riot or other
emergency cases.