Unfortunately, there is no simple answer, and it is very important that individuals continue to ask the question. When a municipality increases its manpower authorization for a police department effective for a particular date, an anticipated opening occurs. Generally, this is a paid, full-time status, and the officer is a member of the respective police department.
Unanticipated openings are the most common and most undesirable.
An unanticipated opening happens when a vacancy exists in a police department for any number of reasons. Since the majority of police departments do not have an excess of police officers, the shortage of even one officer can often result in overtime, or at best, schedule disruption and almost always creates a burden for all the members of the department. Therefore, the vacated slot must be filled as soon as possible. They are then placed on a list of candidates for the particular department to which they applied. Specified points are awarded for veterans, and the municipality must hire from this list.