Nineteen of 26 applicants seeking to become new officers with the Vicksburg Police Department scored passing grades on the written exams, perhaps reversing a four-year downward trend in the department’s staffing.

Their names were read at Wednesday’s meeting of the Vicksburg Civil Service Commission. The commission certified the list as potential hires.

&#8220This was the most successful entry-level test since I’ve been on this commission,” Chairman Joe Graham said.

In alphabetical order, they were James Barnett, Jeanette Bass, June Beecher, Jerry Davidson, Aaron Gordon, Pardre Gray, Chris Hoxie, Joshua Lawrence, James Lee, Verndell Morgan, Eric Proctor, Christopher Purdy, Jeffrey Riggs, James Rowland, Willie Thacker, Darin Tijerina, Israel West, Leonard White and Marvin Williams.

The potential hires could help boost the number of sworn officers on the force, which has been below Chief Tommy Moffett’s target much of the time since he started managing the department in 2001.

The number had dropped from 108 in October of that year when Moffett was appointed to just 75 by late 2005.

Moffett said he found the department too top-heavy in terms of upper-ranking officers and termed 80 to 85 officers the right number. It has been hard to maintain, however, and department officials have sited competition from other similar-sized agencies and federal agencies.

The potential recruits were among 34 who showed up to take the physical agility test given Feb. 11. Twenty-seven of them passed and 26 took the written exam the same day.

Passing marks on the test are 70 or higher, with the highest score a 96.75.

The next step in becoming officers will be the completion of background checks on each. However, the earlier steps can keep reaping benefits for them if they keep improving.

After being elected to his first term, Mayor Laurence Leyens said poor police department performance was a key reason people voted for him. He pledged to have the best and highest-paid police officers in Mississippi. Since Moffett, former chief in Biloxi, took the reins, a quarterly evaluation pay system for police officers was adopted and a new pay scale was set.

Under that new system, a first-year patrolman can make a maximum base pay of $31,000 annually plus incentives for education and physical fitness. The highest ranking officer under the chiefs, a captain, can make up to $42,700 plus other incentives. The department’s annual payroll is $4.3 million.

In other business, the commission set a hearing date of Wednesday, April 26 at 9 a.m. for the board to investigate the termination of William K. Crawford Jr. from the Vicksburg Police Department.

The commission then heard from Chief Keith Rogers of the Vicksburg Fire Department, who said 17 applications have been submitted for taking entry level testing for VFD.

Physical agility testing will begin at 8 a.m. Friday at Vicksburg Memorial Stadium. Written tests will be given at 9 a.m. March 24 at the Vicksburg Police Department training room on Walnut Street.

Rogers announced Ken Lambert will be ready to report to duty March 16, but Rogers was advised by the commission to wait for the completion of background checks to recommend the lateral transfer of James Lucas Smith from the Natchez Fire Department.

The commission adjourned until April 12 at 4 p.m.