The Fayette County Sheriff’s Department is hiring! Slotted for 36 deputies, they currently have four open slots they’re looking to fill.
If you want to apply, applications can be picked up at any of the Sheriff Department detachments or the County Clerk’s office.
If you follow this path to become a deputy, you must be dedicated.
“Just like fire service and EMS service — we don’t do it for the money, we do it for the community service and it’s a calling,” said Chief Deputy Shannon Morris. “It’s something that you wanna do; you have to commit yourself to, your family’s gotta be committed to it. It’s a 24-7 job.”
Must communicate well, have a clean background, pass a physical test, including running a mile and a half in 14 minutes and 36 seconds or less, complete 18 pushups in one minute or less and 28 sit-ups in one minute or less.
“Everything else we can provide you with the training and show you how to do the job,” Morris said. “Most law enforcement officers they’re successful with just general common sense and good people skills.”
The Fayette County Sheriff’s Department covers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is running short on certain shifts right now.
“We have three shifts: a day shift, an evening shift and a midnight shift. With hiring four people we could put at least one person on each shift to have better staffing to serve the outlying areas in the communities,” said the chief deputy.
During the hiring process, candidates first have to pass a written test, next up is the physical test — after that, you’ll go through a background investigation, and then an interview board. If you pass all those — then you undergo psychological testing.
“If hired then we enroll them in either the West Virginia State Police Academy or the Fairmont State University Police Academy for training,” Morris said. “Once that’s complete they come back to us and we have an FTO program; we put them with a senior deputy and we teach ’em the ropes of how we do things here.”
Becoming a deputy offers longevity and the opportunity to help better your community and keep it safe. There are also other avenues for your career.
“We have the canine unit, we have a SWAT team, we have the detective bureau, we have a drug unit, we have school resource officers. It’s not like you’re just gonna be stuck as a road patrol officer your whole career,” said the chief deputy. “We’ve got different detachment areas. You kind of land wherever you’re good at and we have all those specialized units to offer you.”
