HOW THE HIRING PROCESS WORKSThe eight school resource officer positions at the sheriff’s office were advertised both internally and publicly through an advertisement in the newspaper. As of last week, six of those positions had been filled — four internal candidates and two lateral transfers who are already state certified.Applicants undergo screening and background checks. They are interviewed by a review board of sheriff’s office employees. The candidates get ranked depending on how they score.Hammond is given a list of the top candidates. He gets to choose who gets the positions, he said.”That’s where I could technically play politics,” he said.Most of the time, Hammond said he follows the order, though. He has until August, when school starts, to fill the positions.
Officer Sean Emmer
Chattanooga Police DepartmentA Chattanooga police officer who was fired after he severely beat a federal inmate — but was rehired after being cleared of wrongdoing — has applied to work as a school resource officer at the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office.
“I wanted to start fresh at a new department,” Sean Emmer said on his application.
Emmer repeatedly struck Adam Tatum with a baton, causing numerous breaks in his legs while answering a disturbance call in June 2012. Emmer had worked at the Chattanooga Police Department for more than three years before he was fired.
He and fellow officer Adam Cooley were later exonerated and were rehired as part of a legal settlement, then resigned.