Ridgefield Police Department - Lateral Police Officer
Last updated on June 03, 2026
PST Partner Agency since February 01, 2018
Vacancies: 2
Important Information
Lateral candidates are not required to test through PST. Lateral candidates must enter their name on the lateral list for our department and complete the Personal History Statement (PHS) on the PST site.
Qualified lateral applicants are eligible for a $20,000 hiring bonus as outlined below:
- $5000 - first paycheck following successful completion of field training.
- $10,000 - first paycheck following successful completion of probation period.
- $ 5,000 - first paycheck following successful completion of two-year anniversary.
To be considered a Lateral with the City of Ridgefield, you must:
- Have successfully completed the Washington State Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) or be a graduate of a Basic Law Enforcement Training Academy or equivalent, as accepted by the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission.
- Have 12 months or more active law enforcement as a commissioned, full time, general authority law enforcement officer with a municipal, county or state law enforcement agency and
- Not have been separated from law enforcement for more than 24 months, but less than 60 months.
Names will be pulled from the lateral hiring list as needed. The applicant can expect an email with further information on oral boards or Chief Interview. Invitations to participate in the oral board process will be on a first come, first served basis.
Community Information
Department Information
Area Information
Hiring Status
Salary Information
Benefit Information
Ridgefield Police Department - Lateral Police Officer Requirements
| Category | Requirement | Required at time of... | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Test | Hire | ||
| Written Examination |
No, not required Must complete a Personal History Statement from PST. |
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| LEO/CO Physical Ability Test (PAT) |
No, not required (may be required later) |
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| PST Personal History Statement | Yes, required within 14 days of passing required exam(s) | ||
| Minimum Age | 21 | ||
| Citizenship | US Citizen or Lawful Permanent Resident. | ||
| High School Grad/ GED | Yes | ||
| Driver's License Required | Yes | ||
| Felony Conviction(s) as an Adult | None. | ||
| Felony Conviction(s) as a Juvenile | None. | ||
| Ability to Read, Speak & Write the English Language | Yes | ||
| Vision Requirements | Correctable to 20/20 | ||
| College Requirement | AA degree preferred but not required. | ||
| Basic Law Enforcement Academy Certification | Yes | ||
| Prior Experience Requirement | must have a minimum of 1 year experience as a commissioned, full time, general authority law enforcement officer with a municipal, county or state law enforcement agency. However, if there has been a break in full-time law enforcment employment of twenty-four (24) months but less than 60 months, the applicant shall be ineligible for lateral entry. WAC 139-05-210 | ||
| Other | |||
| Multiple Scores from Same Applicant | We consider all the scores from the same applicant | ||
Ridgefield Police Department - Lateral Police Officer Disqualifiers
The following are automatic and potential disqualifiers. Applicants should not apply to our agency if they indicate any of the automatic disqualifiers. Potential disqualifiers will be considered on a case by case basis.
| Category | Disqualifier | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driving |
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| Drug Usage |
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| Criminal Activity |
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| Employment |
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Contact Information
Ridgefield Police Department - Lateral Police Officer
Agency Test Requirements
Written Examination: No, not required
PAT: No, not required (may be required later)
PST Personal History Statement: Yes, required within 14 days of passing required exam(s)
Other Ridgefield Police Department positions
COVID-19 UPDATES
5/6/2020 Update:
TESTING IN WASHINGTON STATE CANCELED THROUGH MAY 31, 2020
All pre-employment tests in Washington State have been canceled until May 31, 2020 unless government restrictions are eased. With recent updates, facility closures, and government guidelines, this step is necessary and could be modified at any time. The health and safety of our customers, our staff, and their families is of the highest priority.
We will continue to evaluate developments and make changes to this policy as necessary. When we do resume testing, there will be plenty of events for everyone to test. We are in regular communication with our public safety agency partners, assessing alternatives to the traditional testing model and our testing policies. Any future updates will be posted on the PST website and our Facebook page.
4/1/2020 Update:
If you have tested with PST in the past 12 months, there may be additional positions you are now eligible to add. Several departments have temporarily changed their testing policies due to the suspension in testing that COVID-19 has caused. Please login to your PST account and navigate to the ‘New Positions’ page to see what departments you can add! We will regularly update that page in your account as departments send updates.
FUTURE TEST REGISTRATION
We know that there will be testing in the future - we just don’t know when! We want you to be prepared for when testing begins again so we have created test events on our calendar that you can register for that will place you in a queue to be first notified. These tests are not “real” test events, they are essentially a holding area. You will be able to “reschedule” out of that event to any other event date/location at no cost. Registering now will also give you time to work on your Personal History Statement (PHS) so that your data will be ready and up-to-date to send to your departments once testing resumes.
To sign up for this placeholder event, select the June 15, 2020 test date in your category (police, fire, 911 dispatch, corrections, etc.).
You may also click on the test event of interest below to sign up:
Law Enforcement & Corrections Written and Physical Ability Test
Please check back here frequently and ‘Like’ our Facebook page to stay updated.
PST staff are working remotely and are available by email at contact@publicsafetytesting.com. We anticipate a high email volume and will respond as quickly as possible.
