(a) Authority. This Carmel Fire and Police Department Merit System is established pursuant to I.C., 36-1-4-14. All references herein to the male gender are to be read as applying equally to the female gender.
(b) Fire Chief; Police Chief. The Chief ("Fire Chief" or “Chief”) of the City of Carmel Fire Department ("Fire Department" or "Department", as context dictates) and the Chief ("Police Chief" or “Chief”) of the City of Carmel Metropolitan Police Department ("Police Department" or "Department", as context dictates) shall each be appointed by the Mayor, shall have exclusive control over and charge of the operations of their respective Departments, subject to lawful rules and orders, and, with the approval of the City of Carmel Board of Public Works and Safety, shall appoint any number of executive assistants as each deems necessary to efficiently discharge executive duties. The Fire Chief shall select executive assistants from any of the Fire Department members, except the Deputy Chief of Operations and the Battalion Chief(s) shall hold the permanent merit rank of Lieutenant or above. The Police Chief shall select all executive assistants from Police Department members who hold the permanent merit rank of Sergeant or above. These appointed ranks shall be temporary, and each member appointed to such a position shall retain the member’s permanent merit rank, except as permitted by the Merit System established herein.
(c) Carmel Fire Department Merit Board; Carmel Police Department Merit Board.
(1) There shall be established, under the Carmel Fire and Police Department Merit System, both a City of Carmel Civilian Fire Merit Board ("Fire Board" or "Board", as context dictates) and a City of Camel Civilian Police Merit Board ("Police Board" or "Board", as context dictates), which Boards shall consist of five commissioners each. One commissioner of each Board shall be appointed by the Common Council and, two commissioners of each Board shall be appointed by the Mayor. In addition, two commissioners of the Fire Board shall be elected by the active members of the Fire Department and two commissioners of the Police Board shall be elected by the active members of the Police Department, all in accordance with the provisions of I.C., 36-8-3.5-8, as amended.
a) Membership Criteria:
1. Each Board commissioner shall be a resident of the City of Carmel or Clay Township and have been a resident of same for at least one year prior to said commissioner’s appointment or election to the Board;
2. No Board commissioner shall be an active member of a police department or a fire department, nor hold any elected office in either the City of Carmel or Clay Township;
3. No Board commissioner shall be the:
a. Parent or step-parent;
b. Sibling or step-sibling;
c. Child or step-child;
d. Spouse; and/or
e. Grandparent or step-grandparent;
of any sworn member of the Department over which the Board commissioner would preside.
4. The Fire Chief and the Police Chief shall be ex officio members of their respective Boards, without voting power;
b) Term of Office:
1. All Board commissioners shall be appointed or elected, as the case may be, to serve for two-year terms, unless earlier removed, and shall serve until their successor is appointed or elected. Commissioners shall serve at the pleasure of their appointing or electing authority, and may be removed at any time with or without cause or right to a hearing, and their replacements to serve the remainder of their term, except that commissioners elected pursuant to I.C., 36-8-3.5-8 shall be removed and their replacement selected in accordance with that statutory section.
2. Board commissioners may be appointed or elected for an unlimited number of successive two-year terms, may be appointed to serve on one or both Boards, and shall not be paid for their Board service, except that they may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their Board duties.
(2) Three commissioners of a Board shall constitute a quorum of that Board for purposes of taking official action.
(3) Within 60 days from the date of its selection, each Board shall establish rules to govern its operation, including the time and place of regular meetings and such special meetings as are necessary to transact its business. Each year, each Board shall select from its commissioners a President, a Vice President, and a Secretary. No commissioner may hold more than one of these offices on a Board at a time.
(4) The Boards shall administer and supervise the Merit System established herein conscientiously and pursuant to applicable law.
(d) Merit Selection; Procedures.
(1) All persons shall be appointed and/or re-appointed to the Fire Department or to the Police Department in accordance with the merit selection and appointment procedures created herein and with such written rules and regulations as may be established by their Department Board in accordance with same. Appointments and re-appointments to the Police and Fire Departments shall be made without regard to a person's political party preference or activity.
(2) Any person who is a citizen of the United States, is at least 21 years of age and less than 36 years of age (unless otherwise eligible by law), has at least a high school diploma or equivalent, and has not been convicted within the past 20 years of a crime that is currently a felony under Indiana law, is eligible to apply to become a member of the Fire or Police Department. The above age requirements do not apply to a person who has previously been employed as a member of either Department. Each eligible applicant must meet and continue to meet all minimum fitness/medical/psychological standards as adopted by their Department as a condition of employment with said Department. Each Department shall develop such job related minimum standards with the assistance of an independent consultant, if necessary, in order to meet applicable federal and state laws.
(3) All persons appointed or re-appointed to the Fire or Police Department must establish their place of residence in accordance with I.C., 36-8-4-2(a), as the same may be amended from time to time, within twelve (12) months of their appointment or re-appointment.
(4) All applicants must pass a written examination that evaluates their aptitude and intellectual capacity for work as a firefighter or police officer, a job related agility test, a structured oral interview process, and such other job related tests and examinations as may be required by the Chief of the applicable Department, prior to beginning work in that Department.
(5) The terms and conditions contained in this section shall, without further action by either Board, be deemed modified to the extent necessary to conform with any change in the law that renders the same unlawful, as set forth in a written legal opinion provided by the Carmel Corporation Counsel.
(e) Probationary Period.
(1) Police Department. The "Probationary Period" for a police officer newly appointed or reappointed to the Police Department shall extend from the date the officer completes the Carmel Police Department Field Training Officer Program ("Recruit School"), until such time as the officer has completed and performed one year of Active Duty in the Carmel Police Department. "Active Duty" shall mean the full duties and responsibilities required of a Carmel police officer and shall include Department approved training (not including Recruit School) and any used vacation time, holiday time, bereavement time, and/or, sick time, but shall not include any other period of leave, any period of suspension, or any period of limited/light duty status. Each probationary police officer shall be evaluated monthly during the officer’s Probationary Period by the officer’s immediate supervisor pursuant to the evaluation system provided for herein or as later adopted by the Police Chief, after consultation with the Police Department Merit Board. The appointment of a police officer to the Police Department shall become permanent when the officer’s has successfully completed the officer’s Probationary Period. While a police officer is in Recruit School or in a Probationary Period, the officer is an "at-will" employee who may be terminated with or without cause and without a hearing.
(2) Fire Department. The "Probationary Period" for newly appointed or reappointed firefighters shall extend from the date a firefighter completes the Carmel Fire Department Fire and EMS Training ("Recruit School"), until such time as the firefighter has completed and performed one year of Operational Service in the Carmel Fire Department. "Operational Service" shall mean the full duties and responsibilities required of an on-shift Carmel firefighter in a Department fire station(s) and shall include Department approved training (not including Recruit School) and any used vacation time, holiday time, bereavement time, and/or, sick time, but shall not include any other period of leave, any period of suspension, or any period of limited/light duty status. Throughout the Probationary Period, a firefighter shall be evaluated pursuant to the Fire Department's evaluation system as adopted and set forth in the Fire Department Rules by the Fire Chief, after consultation with the Fire Merit Board. The appointment of a firefighter to the Fire Department shall become permanent when he/she has successfully completed the firefighter’s Probationary Period. While in Recruit School or in a Probationary Period, all firefighters are "at-will" employees who may be terminated with or without cause and without a hearing.
(f) Merit Promotion System.
(1) There is hereby established a Carmel Fire and Police Department Merit Promotion System ("Merit Promotion System") that shall be administered in accordance with the Fire and Police Departments' respective rules and regulations. The Merit Promotion System shall apply to all promotions of Fire Department members to the ranks of Engineer, Lieutenant, and Captain and to all promotions of Police Department members to the ranks of Master Patrol Officer, Sergeant, and Lieutenant only. The Chief of each Department, after consultation with the Board, shall set standards for merit promotion within the Department in conformity with similar standards of comparable fire or police departments, as the case may be, and shall establish reasonable prerequisites of training, education and experience for each rank in their Department subject to the Merit Promotion System.
(2) In determining years of service for promotion eligibility, all time served by a member from the member’s most recent date of appointment to the Department shall be considered. The Board shall resolve any issues relating to the determination of a member's years of service. A member may be promoted only to the next highest rank in conjunction with the Department's rules and regulations.
(3) The Fire Chief and the Police Chief, after consultation with their Department Board, shall each establish process phases and procedures for use in selecting candidates for promotion to the various ranks within their respective Departments. The Chiefs may use the services of professional consultants from outside their Departments to assist them in developing and administering such process phases and procedures, which shall be established in conformity with standard psychometric procedures, equal opportunity laws and generally accepted standards for such Departments. Such processes may include a written examination, structured interviews, performance evaluations, and/or assessment-centered techniques, structured to accommodate the various rank levels.
(4) The Fire Chief and Police Chief shall make promotions to ranks covered by the Merit Promotion System only after consultation with their Department Board. Such promotions shall be made to position vacancies identified and designated by said Chief. In making these promotion decisions, the Chiefs shall promote those candidates who, in their opinion, after consultation with their Department Board, are best qualified for the position vacancies, based upon the cumulative scores generated by the promotion procedures established under the Carmel Fire and Police Department Merit System, and subject to and consistent with the needs of their Department, the City and applicable law.
(5) All Merit Promotion System policies and procedures applicable to the Fire Department shall be made readily available to all Fire Department members. All Merit Promotion System policies and procedures applicable to the Police Department shall be made readily available to all Police Department members.
(6) All Merit Promotion System promotions shall be made without regard to a member's political party preference or activities.
(g) Evaluations. The Fire Chief and the Police Chief, after consultation with their Department Board, shall each establish a written system for the evaluation of the work performance of each member of the Chief’s respective Department at least once each calendar year.
(h) Discipline.
(1) The Fire and Police Departments shall follow the substantive provisions and procedures set forth in I.C., 36-8-3-4, as amended, when disciplining any regular member of their Department, with their Department's Board taking the role of the "safety board" for purposes thereof. The procedures set forth in I.C., 36-8-3-4 may be expanded upon, but not limited by, written policies and procedures adopted by the Boards.
(2) Any hearing before a Board shall be an administrative hearing, shall be de novo and shall be a hearing of record. The evidence before a Board shall consist of the written charges and the determination of the Department Chief upon those charges, as well as any other evidence requested by the Board, presented by the aggrieved firefighter or police officer, or by the Fire or Police Chief.
(3) Any firefighter or police officer appealing any decision of his Department Chief shall be given notice at least 15 calendar days prior to the hearing before the Department's Board.
(4) Before a Board, legal counsel may represent an appealing firefighter or police officer, and the City Attorney or his/her designee shall represent the Fire or Police Chief.
(5) A Board may fully or partially affirm or completely reverse any portion of its Department Chief's determination that is appealable. In the case of the demotion, a Board may demote a firefighter or police officer, as applicable, only one permanent rank at any one time. A Board may order any firefighter or police officer reinstated with pay for any appealable suspension. In addition, a Board may remand an action for further review by the Fire or Police Chief, as applicable.
(6) After hearing the evidence, a Board shall make a finding by majority voice vote and then reduce its findings and decision to writing. A copy of the findings and decision shall be forwarded to the firefighter or police officer in question and shall become a permanent part of his personnel record.
(7) For the purpose of all hearings before the Chief and a Board, each shall have subpoena power enforceable by the court system.
(8) Any member of the Fire or Police Department may, following a decision of his Department's Board regarding such member, file a verified petition in the superior or circuit court of Hamilton County for a review of such Board decision. The petition for review shall be filed within 30 days of the written decision of the Board, unless a different time period is set by applicable law. The City of Carmel, Indiana shall be the sole defendant in any such petition. Within 30 days after receipt of a summons pertaining to such a petition, the City shall cause the applicable Board to file a complete transcript of the Board's hearing with the court. The court, without jury, shall review the record and render its decision as in other administrative reviews. The clerk of the court shall send a copy of the court's decision to the City Attorney and to the appealing firefighter or police officer. Either party may then appeal the decision of the court as permitted by law.
(Ord. D-1734-04,§ 2, 12-20-04; Ord. D-1741-05, 2-7-05; Ord. D- 1938-09, As Amended, 5-18-09; Ord. D-2471-19, As Amended, 7-15-19; Ord. D-2506-19, 12-16-19; Ord. D- 2665-23, § 2, passed 3-6-23)