Police Officer LATERAL (Experienced Officers)
City of Seattle
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Benefits offered by this job
Job summary
The City of Seattle Police Department is seeking experienced law enforcement officers for lateral entry to join a diverse public safety team. This is a full-time position with a multi-stage pre-employment process including NTN exams, backgrounding, medical and psychological evaluations, and a final offer of employment.
A $50,000 hiring bonus is offered for lateral officers. Seattle provides comprehensive benefits; candidates must meet eligibility standards such as U.S.
Qualifications
- Must be at least 20.5 years old.
- Two years of post‑academy experience as a certified law enforcement officer with full powers.
- U.S. citizenship, or legal permanent residency, or DACA eligibility.
- Training and experience must have occurred in one of the 50 states.
- Offers require completing pre-employment steps including background, medical, polygraph, and related evaluations.
Responsibilities
- Provide for public safety by maintaining order, responding to emergencies, protecting people and property, enforcing motor vehicle and criminal laws, and promoting community relations.
- Operates a patrol car and conducts patrols of city streets, areas, and businesses to deter crime.
- Investigates conditions hazardous to life or property and conducts initial investigations at crime scenes.
- Arrests and detains suspected violators, reviews facts to determine criminal act or statute violations.
- Documents facts to prepare incident and activity reports.
- Presents evidence and testimony in judicial settings.
Skills
Education
Job description
- THIS EXAM IS FOR EXPERIENCED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ONLY, who meet all of the criteria for lateral entry. If you are not currently certified as a law enforcement officer or do not have required law enforcement experience, please apply for entry level police officer.
- Hiring Bonus: The City of Seattle is offering a $50,000 hiring bonus for lateral police officers. Please see the Seattle Police Department website to learn more.
Please read the entire job bulletin information carefully, as it contains important information on the hiring process.
Exam Notes: Candidates are NOT required to complete the NTN Personal History Questionnaire (PHQ) for the Seattle Police Department.
If you have taken the NTN exam for a department other than SPD within the last year, you can elect to send your scores to SPD at no cost via the “Department Add” feature in your NTN account. Please contact NTN candidate support if you need assistance transferring your scores to SPD.
Candidates who meet the eligibility criteria for lateral police officer and successfully pass all components of the NTN test listed above will be scheduled for an oral board interview, which will take place virtually via Microsoft Teams. Candidates who pass the oral board interview will be ranked on an eligible list according to their exam scores. After being placed on an eligible list, candidates must pass the below pre-employment steps to become a Seattle police officer.
Candidates who pass the civil service exams above will receive a link via email from the Seattle Police Background Unit to fill out their personal history information. SPD will then conduct a thorough investigation into the candidate’s history.
Candidates must complete a medical evaluation that includes drug screening, medical history, vision and hearing test, and a stress EKG test. A psychological exam will be completed via Zoom. The medical tests can only be completed in person at specific Seattle locations currently.
If the candidate completes and passes all the above steps, they will be given an official offer of employment with the Seattle Police Department.
The City of Seattle offers multiple forms of preference points. Preference points can only be applied to passing exam scores. Once you pass the exam, instructions for requesting preference points will be emailed along with your final exam results. All requests for preference points will be evaluated in accordance with Rules 9.17 - 9.21 of the City of Seattle’s Public Safety Civil Service Commission.
- Veteran’s Preference: for candidates with qualifying military experience
- Language (Multilingual) Preference: for candidates with proficiency in a language other than English**
- Human/Social Services Preference: for candidates who have two or more years of verifiable full-time professional or volunteer experience or equivalent (4,160 cumulative hours) delivering direct human/social services**
- City of Seattle Work Preference: for candidates who have prior service as a Police Reserve in the Seattle Police Department as well as those who have served as 911 dispatchers and Parking Enforcement Officers
**Please note that candidates must pass the WAPAT in addition to their civil service exams (Frontline National and PSSA) in order to be eligible for language or community service preference points.
The Seattle Police Department is seeking individuals committed to understanding and protecting the ethical, cultural, and ethnic values of the City of Seattle and its residents as Police Officers. As first responders, Police Officers are vital to public safety and under regular supervision, perform basic police services in accordance with the mission, goals, and objectives of the City of Seattle Police Department and in compliance with governing federal, state, and local laws.
- Provide for public safety by maintaining order, responding to emergencies, protecting people and property, enforcing motor vehicle and criminal laws, and promoting good community relations. Explains laws and police procedures to residents.
- Operates a patrol car. Patrols city streets, areas and businesses to deter criminal activity and promote public safety.
- Investigates conditions hazardous to life or property; conducts initial investigations of crime and crime scenes; may assist detectives in criminal investigation work. Conducts search and seizure activities as appropriate. Collects and preserves crime scene and evidence.
- Arrests and/or detains suspected violators of the law. Review facts of incidents to determine if criminal act or statute violations were involved.
- Records facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities.
- Render aid to accident victims and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries.
- Transports individuals in custody.
- Presents evidence and testimony in judicial settings.
The City of Seattle provides police service 24 hours per day, seven days per week. Shift work, including nights, weekends, and holidays, is required.
- Be at least twenty and half (20.5) years of age.
- Hold United States citizenship, OR have legal permanent residency in the U.S., OR be a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient.
- Attained a high school diploma or a certificate of high school equivalency (GED).
- Two (2) years of post‑academy experience as a certified law enforcement officer (municipal, county, state) with FULL law enforcement power and duties during the last 36 months.
- Your training and experience must have occurred in one of the 50 U.S. States.
Applicants must meet all eligibility standards by the date of participation in the exam process.
Prior to the exam:
- Have not used Marijuana within twelve (12) months prior to taking civil service exam, and
- Have not used cocaine or crack within the previous five (5) years, and
- Have not used club drugs, such as, but not limited to: Ketamine, GHB, Rohypnol, or MDMA (ecstasy) within the previous three (3) years, and
- Have not used any Hallucinogens, LSD, Mushrooms, or Psilocybin within the previous five (5) years, and
- Have not used PCP, Angel Dust, Wet or Phencyclidine within the previous five (5) years, and
- Have not used Opium, Morphine, or Heroin within the previous five (5) years, and
- Have not used Methamphetamine, Crank, Crystal, Ice, Speed, Glass, or Amphetamine within the previous five (5) years, and
- Have not inhaled aerosols, sometimes referred to as Huffing (paint) or Whippits (Nitrous Oxide) or used Khat within the previous three (3) years, and
- Have not used any illegal drug(s) while employed in a criminal justice and/or law enforcement capacity, and
- Have not manufactured or cultivated illegal drug(s) for the purpose of the sales/marketing of the drug(s).
- Have not sold or facilitated the sale of illegal drugs.
Also note that use of illegal drugs and the illegal use of prescription drugs, referred to in this standard, means the use of one or more drugs, the possession or distribution of which is unlawful under the Uniform Controlled Substances Act.
Offers of employment are conditioned upon a pre-employment drug screening to confirm abstinence from illegal drug use.
A candidate's driving record will be thoroughly assessed and may be a factor for disqualification. Examples of infractions/traffic crimes that may be disqualifying:
- Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), Reckless Driving, or Hit & Run Driving.
- Suspension of your driver's license within five (5) years of the exam date.
- Three (3) or more moving violations (speeding, negligent driving, etc.) within five (5) years of the exam date will be carefully reviewed.
- Two (2) or more accidents within five (5) years of the exam date, wherein candidate was judged to be at fault and/or charged with a moving violation.
A candidate's criminal history, including all arrests, prosecutions, deferred prosecutions, “Alford” pleas, and non-conviction information will be thoroughly assessed and may be grounds for disqualification. The following will be disqualifying:
- Any adult felony conviction.
- Any misdemeanor or felony conviction while employed in a criminal justice and/or law enforcement capacity.
- Any domestic violence conviction.
A candidate's employment history, including any terminations, or leaving an employer in lieu of termination, will be thoroughly assessed and may be grounds for disqualification.
A candidate's credit history, including excessive credit card debt or unresolved accounts in collection will be thoroughly assessed and may be grounds for disqualification. The following will be disqualifying:
- Failure to pay income tax or child support.
All applicants are expected to maintain a professional appearance at all times. SPD has the sole discretion in determining what is considered professional, as it relates to the position of Police Officer. Any and all tattoos, branding (intentional burning of the skin to create a design), voluntary disfigurement (marring or spoiling of the appearance or shape of a body part), or scarification (intentional cutting of the skin to create a design) shall be carefully reviewed by SPD on a case‑by‑case basis.
- A valid Washington State Driver’s License is required prior to being hired.
- Ability to accurately type at least 35 wpm is highly desirable.
- Seattle residence is not required for application or appointment.
Job offers are contingent on review of credit, criminal and driving history as well as verification of information provided by the applicant as part of the application process.
- NTN Frontline National (Law Enforcement) Exam
- NTN Public Safety Self Assessment
The Public Safety Civil Service Exams Unit oversees the initial exam process, establishes an eligible list, and certifies candidates from the eligible list upon request by the Seattle Police Department.
The Police Department will directly contact and schedule eligible candidates for all the remaining steps in the pre-employment screening process. The Seattle Police Department makes all hiring decisions after a pre-employment selection process, which includes a background investigation, additional interviews, a physical ability exam, a polygraph, and psychological and medical exams.
Disability accommodations are available to those who qualify. For more information on requesting an accommodation, please visit the NTN Testing FAQ Page (Question 16).
The City of Seattle has a comprehensive benefits package for police officers. For more information about benefits, please click here.
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