Jim Thorpe Borough Police Chief Joe Schatz has put forward a proposal to borough council that could potentially streamline and enhance the local police officer employment testing process.

Schatz is advocating for Jim Thorpe to join a new countywide consortium designed to facilitate cooperative testing for prospective police officers.

“I’m in favor of it,” Schatz said during a council workshop Thursday night. “Lehigh and Northampton counties do consortium testing and share in the cost. It doesn’t change how we do the hiring process. It will just give us more of a pool of applicants.”

Under this arrangement, prospective officers would submit their applications, and the Carbon County Police Chiefs Association, of which Schatz is the president, would be responsible for administering the written and physical agility tests.

Each municipality’s civil service commission would still conduct their own oral interviews.

Lehigh County’s existing consortium, which Schatz said serves as a local model for this initiative, currently conducts testing twice a year.

However, he noted that the frequency of testing in Carbon County might vary depending on the hiring needs of participating municipalities.

“We may only need it once a year depending on who is hiring,” Schatz said.

Schatz’s counterparts in neighboring police departments, such as Palmerton and Lehighton, have also shown interest in the consortium and will be taking the idea to their respective councils.

“We met with the Lehigh County police chiefs, and they told us this is the way to go,” Schatz said.

Jim Thorpe Borough Council President Greg Strubinger said the governing body looks forward to getting more information and considering the request, possibly at a voting meeting next week.