Police Sergeant

GENERAL STATEMENT OF DUTIES

Police sergeants perform a broad range of law enforcement duties such as conducting investigations, enforcing laws, preventing crime, responding to emergency and non-emergency calls for service, performing high visibility patrols, making arrests, and rendering assistance to members of the public. Police sergeants are responsible for overseeing designated patrol squads, units, or divisions. This position involves significant decision making and independent judgement in conformity with agency objectives, standards, policies, procedures, and the law.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS, RESPONSIBILITIES, AND TASKS

• Patrols assigned geographical areas by car, motorcycle, bike, or on foot.
  • Utilizes two-way radios and performs queries of computer databases.
  • Responds to emergency and non-emergency calls for service.
  • Enforces traffic laws, impounds vehicles, and investigates traffic collisions.
  • Operates speed detection equipment, computers, and preliminary breath test devices.
  • Responds to roadway hazards, directs motorist, and restores traffic flow.
  • Apprehends, transports, processes, and files charges against offenders.
  • Prepares organized case files and testifies in judicial proceedings.
  • Formulates solutions and takes action to address community concerns.
  • Interviews and interrogates witnesses, victims, and suspects.
  • Documents facts, statements, observations, actions, and dispositions.
  • Participates in youth programs and public engagement events.
  • Renders first aid and performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
  • Safeguards crime scenes; identifies, collects, packages, preserves, and labels evidence.
  • Maintains security of closed businesses; searches commercial, residential, and other structures.
  • Remains alert for suspicious persons, vehicles, conditions, potential hazards, and illegal activities.
  • Conducts preliminary investigations using tact and high degree of proficiency and professionalism.
  • Coaches, mentors, and supervises subordinate employees, reviews performance and quality of work output.
  • Completes reports and forms that are legible, accurate, factual, clear, concise, and in the prescribed format.
  • Willingly performs other duties as assigned by superiors.

REQUIRED SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE, AND ABILITIES

• ABILITY TO:
  •Read, understand, analyze, and interpret technical procedures, laws, regulations, court rulings, professional journals, directives, policies, charts, and job-related documents.
  •Build and maintain a good working relationship with colleagues, citizens, and other persons interacted with at work.
  •Analyze situations quickly and objectively to adopt reasonable courses of action with due regard for surrounding hazards and circumstances
  •Use and care for general office equipment, telephones, computers, digital software, firearms, police vehicles, portable radios, expandable batons, handcuffs, flares, pepper spray, conducted electrical weapons, preliminary breath-test devices, body-worn cameras, and other devices and equipment.
  • Apply the principles and practices of law enforcement work such as search and seizure, rules of evidence, crime suppression. 
  Strategies, traffic enforcement, investigation, crime scene control, evidence collection, interview and interrogation, laws of arrest, juvenile detentions, criminal procedures, and community policing.
  • Follow complicated instructions, accept constructive criticism, independently organize work, set priorities, meet deadlines, and follow up on assignments.
  • Recognize clues of imminent flight, resistance, and physical attack; effectively control the movement of persons.
  • Communicate concisely using proper vocabulary, spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and punctuation.
  • Enforce and conform to Federal statutes, State laws, local ordinances, and the U.S. Constitution.
  • React appropriately in emergency situations and maintain composure when faced with adversity.
  • Retain a necessary amount of job information and knowledge to effectively perform duties
  • Effectively manage subordinate employees and correct work performance deficiencies.
  • Interview and elicit relevant information from victims, suspects, and witnesses.
  • Listen, understand, and properly respond to what others are saying
  • Spot hazards, suspicious conditions, deception, and illegal activities.