Police Officer

General Summary

Under direct supervision of a Division Sergeant, performs a wide variety of police and law enforcement activities. Tasks are service and protection oriented, and includes collecting and dispensing information, arbitrating disputes, providing assistance, protecting and recovering property, preventing crime, investigating, and providing other public protection services. Duties include an element of personal danger, i.e., exposure to life‑threatening circumstances, apprehending criminals, and transporting prisoners.

Incumbents perform duties in accordance with State Statutes and established departmental policies, procedures, and guidelines. The incumbent must be able to act without close supervision and must be able to exercise independent judgment.

• Must be at least 20.5 years old
• Must possess high school diploma or GED
• A minimum of thirty (30) college credit hours from an accredited college, or three years military experience, is preferred.
• Must have or be able to obtain Texas Basic Peace Officer certification

• Conducts routine preventive patrol in designated residential and business areas, and initiates contacts with both business operators and residents to establish open communications, gather and dispense information, and establish the presence of law enforcement within the community.
• Responds to calls for police service and takes action upon observing a circumstance or situation requiring police attention, i.e., responding to domestic disputes and disturbances, disputes among neighbors, juveniles, on‑going criminal investigations.
• Interviews witnesses, victims, suspects, arrested persons, and informants to obtain pertinent information concerning accidents/crimes.
• Provides information to the public, victims, witnesses, and relatives concerning available services in the community.
• Provides assistance and service to the public, i.e., changing tires, directing traffic, unlocking vehicles, and jump‑starting batteries.
• Responds to burglary and fire alarms, and robbery in progress calls, and performs initial building searches.
• Performs CPR at scenes and performs critical emergency care, such as stopping excessive bleeding, during the interim when emergency medical personnel are en route.
• Conducts initial crime scene investigations, i.e., identifies and collects crucial evidence to be secured for processing, labels evidence with data for crime scene reconstruction, packages and stores evidence in a manner to protect chain of custody.
• Enforces State and local traffic laws to ensure safety, investigates motor vehicle accidents, and protects lives and property at all motor vehicle accident scenes.
• Identifies and issues municipal citations to violators of misdemeanor offenses.
• Enforces laws and apprehends misdemeanor and felony violators and fugitives; arrests and transports persons found to have committed a criminal act.
• Testifies in civil, traffic, and criminal court proceedings, ALR and evidentiary hearings, and gives depositions.
• Performs considerable report and record maintenance duties, i.e., initial investigations, crime reports, felony reports, statements, arrest reports, warrant forms, inventory and search, property receipts and dispositions, misdemeanors.
• Attends in‑service training as directed to maintain current knowledge of changes in laws, new methods of enforcement, and other trends and developments in law enforcement.
• Assists fire personnel at the scene as directed.
• Required to report for work punctually, work all scheduled hours, and any required overtime as deemed necessary. Must maintain a physical condition and standards necessary for the proper performance of duties, with or without accommodation.
• Cleans and properly maintains assigned vehicle and equipment.
• Performs related work as directed.

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Note:

The examples of essential functions as listed in this class specification are not necessarily descriptive of any one position in the class. The omission of an essential function does not preclude management from assigning specific duties not listed herein if such functions are a logical…