Entry Level Police Officer

City of Mukilteo; Mukilteo (WA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Mukilteo seeks Police Officer candidates to uphold public peace, protect life and property, and enforce laws and ordinances of the City and State. Duties include patrols by vehicle (and occasionally by foot, bike, or motorcycle), responding to a wide range of calls, and conducting investigations with attention to evidence and testimony.

Responsibilities also cover traffic enforcement, accident investigation, public outreach, and collaboration with the community to maintain safety.

Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship or lawful permanent resident status.
• Must be at least 21 years old.
• High school diploma or GED required.
• Must possess a valid driver’s license and obtain WA license within 30 days.
• Ability to read/write English to perform duties.
• Must pass physical, psychological, and truth-detection exams.
• Must pass drug screening.
• Clean driving record and no felony convictions.
• Other requirements per Mukilteo Civil Service Rules.

Responsibilities

• Patrol assigned area by car; sometimes on foot, bike, or motorcycle.
• Respond to diverse calls including accidents, burglaries, thefts, and disturbances.
• Conduct preliminary and follow-up investigations; interview witnesses and victims; preserve evidence.
• Enforce traffic laws; monitor speed; direct traffic; issue citations.
• Investigate traffic accidents to determine causes; patrol for enforcement.
• Engage with the public; provide talks and crime prevention information.
• Transport prisoners when needed; serve warrants; contribute to a positive department image.

Skills

Written and verbal communication

Public interaction

Observation and reporting

Vehicle operation

Physical fitness/defensive tactics

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

Performs the functions of law enforcement necessary to maintain public peace, protect life and property, prevent crime, apprehend violators of the law and otherwise assure proper enforcement of the laws and ordinances of the City of Mukilteo and the State of Washington.

• Contributes to the preservation of peace and protection of life and property by patrolling an assigned area primarily by car, and occasionally on foot, bicycle and motorcycle. Responds to a wide variety of calls and complaints involving automobile accidents, burglaries, theft, robberies, domestic disturbances, assaults and other misdemeanors and felonies.
• Contributes to the apprehension of criminal suspects by conducting preliminary and follow-up investigations, This would involve contacting and interviewing witnesses and victims of a crime; photographing a crime scene; dusting for latent fingerprints; and collecting other evidence and preserving the chain of evidence. The position prepares criminal investigation reports and testifies in court.
• Contributes to the smooth and safe movement of traffic on City streets by performing traffic and parking enforcement functions. This would include observing traffic movement, operating radar speed detection units, directing traffic, and issuing traffic citations.
• Contributes to understanding the cause of traffic accidents by conducting accident investigations. Attempts to determine the cause (driver error or mechanical failure) of the accident.
• Contributes to the enforcement of City laws and ordinances by apprehending violators. The subduing and arresting of violators could range from simply advising the suspect that he/she is under arrest to a physical confrontation involving the use of force up to and including the use of a firearm. Once the suspect is in custody, a complete booking procedure will be followed.
• Contributes to the prevention of crime by giving talks; maintaining a high degree of visibility. This involves knowing the layout of City streets; extensive knowledge of federal, state, and municipal law; patrolling key problem areas, and knowing the routines of the City and its citizens in order to identify unusual or abnormal activities.
• Contributes to a favorable image of the Department.
• Performs various other duties as assigned, including the transportation of prisoners to county jails, and serving misdemeanor and felony warrants for arrest.

Peripheral Duties

• Crime scene and accident investigation follow-up.
• Parking enforcement, giving talks, providing citizens with information, serving warrants.
• Working at a desk, working at a computer terminal.
• Working special assignments, detective, crime prevention, training officer, SWAT team, or gang unit.

Skills and Abilities Required

• Must have, or be able to attain a good working knowledge of City of Mukilteo laws.
• Must have good written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to deal with the public in a fair and equal manner.
• Must be able to operate motor vehicle and be able to exit the vehicle quickly to affect an arrest.
• Ability to participate in the use of physical force and training for such on a continuing basis.

Minimum Educational and Experience Qualifications

Any equivalent combination of education and experience which provides the applicant with the knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform the job.

• Must be a United States citizen or lawfully permanent resident
• Must be at least 21 years of age
• Must possess at least a high school diploma or G.E.D.
• Must possess a current and valid driver's license at time of hire and be able to obtain a Washington State driver's license within 30 days
• Be able to read and write the English language at a skill level commensurate with general law enforcement duties and responsibilities.
• Pass job related performance aptitude and physical ability tests.
• Successfully pass psychological and truth detection examinations
• Satisfactorily pass examinations by licensed healthcare providers to ensure that no physical, emotional, sensory, or mental conditions exist which could adversely affect performance of duties, including a drug screen
• Driving history free of conduct or record of violations that show a disregard for the safe and effective operation of motor vehicles.
• Criminal record free of any convictions which relate to fitness to perform the job of Police Officer.
• No felony convictions.
• Other requirements identified by the Mukilteo Civil Service Commission Rules and Regulations.

License or Certification

• Washington State Driver License and driving record acceptable to the City
• Successfully pass examinations as required.

Other requirements identified by the Mukilteo Civil Service Commission Rules and Regulations.

Working Conditions

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit and use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls. The employee frequently is required to talk or hear. The employee is required to stand, walk, reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.

Duties are primarily performed in a patrol vehicle in a variety of weather conditions where traffic control can be potentially dangerous. The employee is required to work in a sitting position for eight to ten hours a day while operating a patrol vehicle.

Contact with irate and combative citizens may occur. Must be able to occasionally lift and move objects weighing up to 100 pounds and to physically and verbally respond appropriately to combative citizens. Must have the physical ability and willingness to affect an arrest or restrain a hostile prisoner.

Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.

Employees must be able to perform multiple work tasks at the same time, perform well with frequent interruptions, and tolerate a fairly high level of stress.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

This is a Civil Service position.

This position is represented by the Mukilteo Police Guild.