Investigative Specialist

City of Arvada; Arvada (CO); On-site; USD 47,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Arvada is seeking an experienced Investigative Specialist to support the Patrol and Investigations Bureaus. This role focuses on criminal case management, discovery coordination, investigative support, and prosecution preparation while upholding Colorado law and Rule 16 requirements.

Ideal candidates are highly organized, analytical, and able to handle sensitive information with competing deadlines in a fast-paced law enforcement environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or higher required; field preferred.
• CJIS Certification preferred or required.
• Strong organizational and multitasking abilities.
• Experience handling criminal case documents and discovery materials.

Responsibilities

• Acts as liaison between Arvada Police Department and District Attorney’s Offices for multiple districts and the Municipal Court.
• Manages deadlines for charging documents, court hearings, directives, and Colorado Rules of Criminal Procedure.
• Communicates with evidence personnel, crime lab staff, medical facilities, and other agencies to coordinate cases.
• Organizes, reviews, and amends case filings for prosecution readiness.
• Obtains and manages discovery materials ensuring compliance with Colorado Rule 16 and related policies.

Skills

Criminal case management

Discovery coordination

Prosecution preparation

Attention to detail

Organizational skills

Communication skills

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

CJIS Certification

Job description

Internal Candidates must apply through Jobs Hub in Workday. All positions close Friday morning at 12:01am.

The City of Arvada promotes Equal Pay for Equal Work. Starting salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity. The range listed reflects the entire range and typical placement is entry to mid range. Pay Range: $33.80-$46.22 Hourly

The Arvada Police Department is seeking an experienced and detail-oriented Investigative Specialist to support the Patrol and Investigations Bureaus. This position plays a critical role in criminal case management, discovery coordination, investigative support, and prosecution preparation while ensuring compliance with Colorado law and Rule 16 requirements. The ideal candidate is highly organized, analytical, professional, and able to manage sensitive information and competing deadlines in a fast-paced law enforcement environment.

Hiring Process Application → Personal History Questionnaire (PHQ) → Interview → Testing → Polygraph → Psychological Exam → Background Investigation → Drug Screen Public Safety Automatic Disqualifiers Please review the Public Safety Automatic Disqualifiers before applying. These standards apply to all Public Safety employees within the department.

Tentative Hiring Timeline 9/18: Position Posted 10/2: Application Period Closes 10/12: Applications Reviewed / PHQs Sent 10/19: PHQs Due Week of 10/26: Interviews & Testing Testing will be completed by top candidates and will include Filing and Attention to Detail. Week of 11/2: Conditional Offers

Essential Job Functions

• Serves as a liaison between the Arvada Police Department and the District Attorney’s Offices for the 1st and 17th Judicial Districts and the Municipal Court.
• Meets internal and external deadlines surrounding charging documents, court hearings, Department written directives, Colorado Revised Statutes, and Colorado Rules of Criminal Procedure.
• Communicates effectively with evidence personnel, crime lab personnel, medical facility personnel, Coroner’s Office personnel, District Attorney’s Office personnel including technicians and attorneys, Court Clerks, and law enforcement and professional personnel from various government organizations.
• Assesses deadlines required of the requested or required discovery material and determines completion priority; Ensures all case filings completed by the Patrol Bureau and Criminal Investigations Bureau are discovered to the appropriate District Attorney’s Office within required deadlines.
• Organizes, reviews, and amends Patrol Bureau case filings and other paperwork as needed prior to presentation to the District Attorney’s offices for prosecution.
• Locates and obtains discovery materials in cases being prepared for prosecution; performs comprehensive discovery work as requested by Sergeants and Detectives, including but limited to medical reports, dispatch recordings, computer-aided dispatch reports, audio recordings, documents, and case reports within appropriate deadlines to ensure compliance with Colorado Rule 16 of Criminal Procedure internally and with other law enforcement agencies.
• Submits requests with other Police Departments for discovery material when those agencies have connecting incidents with Arvada Police Department cases.
• Coordinates with other internal professional staff, such as Digital Evidence Technicians and Records Clerks, to fulfill document and digital evidence discovery requests, processes, and documentation.
• Ensures media releases have been requested from digital media personnel.
• Completes responses to ongoing case monitoring and daily discovery requests in existing cases.
• Reviews reports and cases to ensure all initial and ongoing discovery has been disseminated.
• May give sworn oral testimony at hearings.
• Requests, collects, submits or uploads, and documents paper evidence as needed.
• Writes official documents including police reports, affidavits, memos, staff studies, recommendations regarding department written directives, and communications to other law enforcement and government agencies using proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
• Provides procedural assistance and in-service training to the Patrol Bureau and Criminal Investigations Bureau when expertise is required.
• Demonstrates a respectful attitude toward customers and coworkers that promotes teamwork, open communication, and effective customer service.
• Acts with the customer in mind, responds to requests promptly and provides effective services or solutions for customers.
• Exercises appropriate level of initiative and judgment to make decisions within the scope of assigned authority.
• Travels to and attends team and organizational meetings, training, events and activities and appropriately and professionally represents the department.

Other Job Functions

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

• Requires a strong ability to multitask and prioritize responsibilities.
• Remain highly flexible with technology and software systems as they evolve and change, to work efficiently.
• Requires strong analytical and organizational skills.
• Ability to organize, prioritize, and perform work independently.
• Maintain knowledge of the criminal justice system and administrative procedures.
• Requires the proficient skill and ability to use office computer software, tools and equipment including word processing and publishing software, records management systems, computer scanners, facsimile machines, and printers.
• Basic knowledge of investigative resources and computer databases such as CCIC, NCIC, DMV, Colorado Secretary of State, Homeland Security, State and County Court databases, Social Security Administration, police databases and people searching databases.
• Basic knowledge of CORA/CCJRA requirements and procedures.
• Investigative skill to aid in locating involved agencies and organizations that may have pertinent discovery materials.
• Ability to prepare narrative reports explaining investigative activity and findings and supporting prosecution of cases.
• Ability to write detailed, concise, and accurate reports, memos, and letters;
• Requires a command of the English language and excellent grammar, spelling, and punctuation skills.
• Requires a strong knowledge and experience base with public contact work, investigative procedures, and law enforcement.
• Ability to effectively communicate information, both verbally and in writing, to support organizational objectives and interact with all levels of personnel within the city in a positive and cooperative manner.
• Maintains extensive knowledge of all applicable Colorado Revised Statutes and City Ordinances.
• Must be able to operate a motor vehicle.

Knowledge Skills Abilities Preferred

• Knowledge of software applications used to automate law enforcement processes, such as Niche (RMS), eDiscovery, and CCIC.

License & Certification

• Must successfully complete all annual and as-needed in-service training and certification requirements.
• A valid Colorado driver’s license and acceptable driving record is required.

Education Degree

Bachelor’s Degree (BA,BS,BBA)

Education Required

An equivalent combination of education and experience may be considered.

Work Experience Related

• Three (3) years of experience providing administrative support and coordination in a busy office environment.
• Demonstrated proficiency in Google and Microsoft word processing, spreadsheets, and database management.
• Demonstrated ability to be professional and exercise discretion in handling confidential information.

Work Experience Preferred

• Prior experience working in a police setting.
• Colorado POST certification.

Other Qualifications

• Minimum 21 years of age.
• Must obtain and maintain a Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Certification.
• Must pass a criminal background check and a driving record check, if required by the position.

Physical Demands

• Light to moderate physical effort that includes frequent standing or walking or maintaining arms and hands in the same position for repetitive tasks.
• Frequently works with light objects and light hand tools.

Hazards

• Marginal to moderate exposure to conditions that are unpredictable and may lead to injury.

Work Environment

• Exposure to routine office noise and equipment.

Vision: We Dream Big and Deliver Mission: We are dedicated to delivering superior services to enhance the lives of everyone in our community.

Values

• Innovation: We excel in creativity, flexibility and the use of best practices while valuing diverse backgrounds, ideas and perspectives.
• Passion: We are a high performing, inclusive team inspiring each other to pursue excellence.
• Opportunity: We value our diversity, embrace possibilities, face challenges, persevere and take action to deliver quality results.

The City’s Core values are in every employee’s individual Performance Plan which helps us to reinforce our expectations for living and working by our Core Values.

Every City employee is expected to perform his/her job to the highest professional standards. This includes upholding the City’s values with integrity and accountability, acting in a manner that is respectful and inclusive towards others, and adhering to the City’s policy on employee conduct as detailed in the personnel rules sec. 70-143.

The City is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

We have consistently received Top Workplace awards since 2012. Most recently, we received USA Today's Top Workplaces Award.