GULF SHORES, Ala. — Apparently, being a police officer on Pleasure Island is a coveted position.

Both Gulf Shores and Orange Beach are looking to fill openings and both cities have been deluged with applications and inquires.

In Gulf Shores Chief Ed Delmore is looking to add two officers to replace ones who have left the force. Chief Billy Wilkins in Orange Beach is looking for four officers to bring his department to same strength it was at before the economy caused several positions to be cut.

Orange Beach took nearly 200 applications in the fall for two positions filled in January by hiring Kevin Lonsdale from Montgomery and Dwain Riebeling, formerly the chief in Summerdale.

Although Wilkins found lots of worthy candidates in the first search, he says the process starts all over again with the next four the city will hire.

“We’ve got to readvertise and we’ll get tons and tons of applications,” he said. “It’s a lengthy process. My phone will be ringing off the hook and emails and people wanting to come see me. It’s just unreal.”

Delmore’s department added two officers in October when he announced the hiring of officers Leah Carpenter and Josh Gullege. Gulf Shores created a database at the time to keep prospective officers in mind.

“For the past several weeks we’ve been taking applications for police department candidates,” Delmore said. “About once a year we create an eligibility that is good for a year. We have two openings right now.

We have 177 applications from 14 states. We invited 107 to come and take the agility test and then the written test and command staff interviews take place.”

Delmore said 42 showed up to the physical agility test Friday. Of the 42 who were tested 29 passed and were invited to a command staff interview on Saturday or Sunday. Of those 27 showed up for the interview and 12 remain as candidates for the two positions.

Delmore said the next steps are written and in-person psychological examinations, polygraph examinations and physical examinations and drug screens.

Orange Beach will focus on experience to fill its four positions.

“We’re not going to be hiring rookies,” Wilkins said. “We’re not necessarily looking for people with just three, four, five even just 10 years of experience. We’re looking, at this point, for very mature officers that can come, step in and provide us with immediate mature help.

“I’m also looking hard at people that maybe starting a second career, who have had a successful career at other departments. We’re not looking to inherit somebody else’s problem or somebody who just thinks they want to come to the beach because they like the beach life.”

Orange Beach candidates, Wilkins said, need to be currently certified by the Alabama Peace Officers standards and training commission or people that possess a certificate from out of state that can be certified by attending the two-week refresher course.

“We hope to move very quickly,” he said. “We’re not going to draw it out. Sometimes you interview 10 people and you wish you could hire all 10 of them but it comes down to sheer numbers. You have to kind of look at your needs.”

On Tuesday, the City Council approved the hiring of the four new officers. Interested applicants should check the cityoforangebeach.com to see if the application deadline has past.