Cookeville To Evaluate New Firefighters Over One Year

Cookeville City Council will consider Thursday the extension of a fire fighter’s probationary period to one year.

Human Resources Director Carl Sells said the change is part of multiple updates to the city’s personnel manual set for approval this week. Most of the changes are to correct language or spelling.

Sells said the probationary change would bring the police and fire departments in line for new hires.

“Their training is almost six months long,” Sells said. “So it’s difficult to evaluate a firefighters’ work abilities and skills if that firefighter is in training for the first six months.”

Other changes to be considered Thursday include a change to the code of conduct governing police officers having take-home vehicles. Sells said the policy calls for a 20-minute response time currently. Sells said the change would note a 25-mile radius instead.

Several housekeeping issues in the 1988 manual will also be addressed including the accrual of vacation and longevity pay.

“There are some changes that were brought to our attention that needed to be made and I’m quite confident there will be more to come,” Sells said.