Employment

 All applicants, regardless of position applying for, are required to fill out the City of Gladewater general application at the bottom of this page.

Officer Employment Requirements:

The Gladewater Police Department does not hire individuals for the position of Police Officer who are not currently certified Peace Officers in the State of Texas.

 Our department does sponsor individuals through the police academy.  Individuals who are “sponsored” by the Gladewater Police Department do not receive monetary compensation while enrolled in the academy and are not considered to be an employee of the City of Gladewater and are not eligible for benefits.

 If you are not yet certified as a Texas Peace Officer and are interested in a career in law enforcement you are encouraged to visit the police department for more information.

Application Process:

The following is the protocol to be followed regarding the processing of applications for employment with the Gladewater Police Department; each step must be successfully completed in order to move on to the next step of the process:

  1. General application for employment with the City of Gladewater
    • The application must be accurate and complete.
    • In the event an application is not accurate or complete, the applicant may reapply for employment after 6 months from the original application date.
  2. Physical Ability Assessment (A Conditional Offer of Employment will be signed by the applicant before the Physical Ability Assessment is attempted)
    • This assessment will consist of a designed obstacle course which simulates a foot pursuit to be completed under a predetermined amount of time, 2 minutes and 55 seconds, and will be administered at the discretion of the department.
    • In the event an applicant does not successfully complete the assessment under the predetermined amount of time, the applicant shall be given two separate opportunities within a time frame of 60 days from the date of the first assessment to do so.
    • If an applicant does not successfully pass the assessment after three attempts, the applicant may reapply for employment after two years from the original application date.
  3. Written Examination
    • The written examination, The National Police Officer Selection Test (POST), will be administered at the discretion of the department and will have a passing score of 75%.
    • If an applicant does not obtain a score of 75% or higher on this examination, the applicant may retake the examination within 30 days of the date of the initial examination.
    • If an applicant does not obtain a score of 75% or higher on the second attempt, the applicant may retake the examination within 30 days of the date of the second test with the requirement the applicant provides proof they successfully passed a practice exam and they pay for the cost of the proctoring of the POST by the department (cost of the test only).
    • If an applicant fails three times to successfully pass the POST, the applicant will be considered ineligible to reapply for employment for a period of 2 years from the original application date.
  4. Personal History Statement (PHS)
    • The PHS must be complete and contain information that is accurate.
    • In the event a PHS is not accurate or complete, the applicant may reapply for employment after two years from the original application date.
  5. Polygraph
    • The department reserves the right to administer a polygraph examination as part of the application process.
  6. Background Investigation
    • A thorough background investigation shall be conducted on all applicants who return a completed PHS.
    • The completed background will be documented using the department format.

Online link to a practice test and a study guide for applicants: https://www.applytoserve.com/Study/

Application is available for download here:
City of Gladewater – Employment Application
Applications are also available at and should be turned in to

Gladewater Police Department
511 S Tyler St
Gladewater, TX 75647