SECTION 1. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapter thirty-one of the General Laws, any person who has completed not less than one year of service as a police cadet in the police department of the town of BRIDGEWATER under the provisions of section twenty-one A of chapter one hundred and forty-seven of the General Laws may, subject to a program established by the appointing authority of said town be appointed to fill a vacancy in a position in the lowest grade in the police force of said town, without certification from an eligible list prepared under the provisions of chapter thirty-one of the General Laws; Such program shall include provisions for recruitment of applicants for appointment as police cadets in said town and for appointment from an eligible list prepared after a competitive examination administered under the supervision of the appointing authority of the town.

SECTION 2. Not more than thirty-three and one-third percent of the total number of appointments to the regular police force of the town of BRIDGEWATER in any calendar year shall be made under the provisions of this act. The appointing authority of said town shall report in writing to the personnel administrator in said division of personnel administration any appointment made under the provisions of this act.

SECTION 3. The appointing authority of the police department of the town of BRIDGEWATER shall institute appropriate recruitment procedures for such police cadet force in order to effectuate the purposes and, to the extent practicable, shall be consistent with the provisions of section twenty-six of chapter thirty-one of the General Laws and consistent with basic merit principles and which realize the purposes of this paragraph.

SECTION 4. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2019.