Police Patrol Officer jobs in Austin, TX

Summary

Protects the city's residents and property; enforces laws and ordinances; and responds to routine complaints and calls for service.

• Hiring Process Letter
• Background Waiver
• Physical Ability Waiver

Essential Duties & Required Qualifications

• Patrol as assigned, by vehicle, or by foot, to prevent crimes and enforce laws and ordinances, and to protect citizens and property.
• Direct and escort traffic, operate traffic radar, issue citations, and investigate traffic accidents.
• Chase, apprehend, and process persons suspected of criminal acts.
• Respond to emergency and routine calls for service and other line tasks as may be assigned.
• Take initial criminal investigations reports and complete follow-up as assigned.
• Collect evidence from crime scenes, maintaining chain of custody.
• Issue citations, warnings and make custody arrests.
• May work in special programs as assigned.
• Keep records of activities and make reports concerning crimes, complaints, accidents and investigations.
• Coordinate prosecution with District and County Attorneys as required, and make court appearances when required.
• Share information and work with other law enforcement agencies as directed and appropriate.
• When not on duty, may maintain scheduled on-call status for major event response.
• May be assigned to attend civic and related functions in a public relations role.
• Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.

Required Education and/or Experience:

Basic Police Academy Graduate and current passing score on Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) exam.

Preferred Education and/or Experience:

Associate's degree (A.A.) or equivalent from two-year college or technical school; or one year to two years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Certificates, Licenses, Registrations:

Must possess a Peace Officer License issued by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE) and hold a Valid Texas Class C driver license

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

Knowledge of municipal police practices, City and Departmental Policies and Procedures, all appropriate criminal laws, including city ordinances, crime prevention techniques and activities, use and care of city equipment, and contemporary police, technologies, methods, and practices recognized in the police community. Skill/Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with other agencies, officials, and general public; analyze situations and develop quick, effective, and reasonable courses of action that comply with law and policy; communicate effectively in all mediums; perform computer tasks effectively and maintain acceptable operational knowledge of standard software programs utilized by the department. Full agility exam, TCOLE required medical exam, normal speech, normal or corrected vision, and normal or corrected hearing. Must pass all department exam requirements.

Core Competencies:

Customer Service: Displays courtesy and sensitivity. Manages difficult or emotional customer situations. Meets commitments. Responds promptly to customer needs. Solicits customer feedback to improve service.

Dependability: Responds to requests for service and assistance. Follows instructions, responds to management direction. Takes responsibility for own actions. Commits to doing the best job possible. Keeps commitments. Meets attendance and punctuality guidelines.

Job Knowledge: Competent in required job skills and knowledge. Exhibits ability to learn and apply new skills. Keeps abreast of current developments. Requires minimal supervision. Displays understanding of how job relates to others. Uses resources effectively.

Quality: Demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness. Displays commitment to excellence. Looks for ways to improve and promote quality. Applies feedback to improve performance. Monitors own work to ensure quality.

Teamwork: Balances team and individual responsibilities. Exhibits objectivity and openness to others' views. Gives and welcomes feedback. Contributes to building a positive team spirit. Puts success of team above own interests.

Specialized Competencies:

Communications: Expresses ideas and thoughts verbally. Expresses ideas and thoughts in written form. Exhibits good listening and comprehension. Keeps others adequately informed. Selects and uses appropriate communication methods.

Judgment: Displays willingness to make decisions. Exhibits sound and accurate judgment. Supports and explains reasoning for decisions. Includes appropriate people in decision making process. Makes timely decisions.

Safety and Security: Observes safety and security procedures. Determines appropriate action beyond guidelines. Uses equipment and materials properly. Reports potentially unsafe conditions.

Strategic Thinking: Develops strategies to achieve organizational goals. Understands organization's strengths and weaknesses. Analyzes market and competition. Identifies external threats and opportunities. Adapts strategy to changing conditions.

Equipment, Machines, Tools and Work Aids:

Experience in using computer, typewriter, calculator, telephone, tape recorder, fax machine, copier, and postage machine.

Police car, police radio, radar gun, handgun and other weapons as required, baton, handcuffs, pager, first aid equipment, personal computer including word processing software and other equipment as required.

Physical Demands & Additional Information

Physical Demands:
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl; talk or hear and taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, and be able to lift, push, or pull up to and in excess of 100 pounds with or without assistance, if required. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.

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. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Working Environment:
Work may be performed in both indoors and outdoors and the job incumbent may be required to perform normal duties in inclement or severe weather conditions; tasks are performed from vehicles or on foot.

Work may involve an element of danger and requires physical strength and agility at times to apprehend or subdue persons suspected of crimes; job incumbents must have the ability to walk or run rapidly, engage in physical altercations and confrontations, subdue or calm a combative individual and to rescue victims. Job incumbents may be required to work near traffic/accident hazards; near moving mechanical parts, in high, precarious places; and with explosives and may be occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, fumes or air borne particles, toxic or caustic chemicals, vibration, insect stings, and temperature extremes; may be exposed to blood and communicable diseases; may encounter hostile or violent individuals; may be subject to verbal and/or physical attack or assault from individuals and/or may be subject to gunfire. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Other:
Employee is required to rotate shifts, and work overtime as the need arises, may have to answer subpoenaed appearances in court on employee's day off or before and/or after a regularly scheduled work shift

Your well-being and that of your family matters to you, and so it's important to us too. To support you and your loved ones through life's many challenges, we offer our full time employees access to a wide array of benefits including health, dental, vision, life, disability, accident, cancer, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, employee assistance, paid holidays, paid sick leave, paid emergency leave, longevity pay, golf course discounts as well as generous retirement and deferred compensation programs and social security participation.

Medical
We offer two types of medical plans (a traditional PPO plan and a high deductible health plan) so that you can choose the one that best fits your needs. The premium you pay is based on which plan you select and who you cover. Covering just yourself? The City currently pays the entire employee-only premium for either plan. Covering qualified dependents in your family? Currently, we'll pay your employee premium and split the remainder of the spouse/child/family premium with you - we pay 60%; you pay 40%. That generous cost share reflects our philosophy that our employees and their families should have the best health care we can afford to provide.

Dental
Dental plans include a DMO option (no cost for employee-only coverage) and two more traditional plans whose premiums are also affordable. You can choose to cover yourself or any qualified dependents and choose which plan best suits your dental needs. Currently, for the DHMO option, we pay the employee premium and split the remainder of the spouse/child/family premiums with you – we pay 50%; you pay 50%. Under the more traditional plans, although we don't pay the entire employee-only premium, we still split the incremental dependent premiums with you 50/50.

Vision
Access to $10 eye exam co-pays and up to $150 frame and contact lens allowances make vision insurance a popular benefit among employees. Cover yourself for just a few bucks a pay period or all of your qualified dependents for not much more.

Life/AD&D
Your basic employee $15,000 term life insurance policy is paid for by the city. Accidental Death & Dismemberment under the plan would pay an additional $15,000 to your beneficiary if you die in an accident. More life insurance coverage is paid for by the City and provided through our Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) program. If that's still not enough coverage, you can purchase more life/AD&D coverage for yourself and your qualified dependents. Over the age of 65? These coverages are subject to an age reduction schedule.

Disability
Both short and long term disability plans which provide up to 60% income replacement are available to purchase at competitive rates.

Accident & Cancer
Need extra coverage for off-the-job medical injuries or a cancer diagnosis? Supplemental plans that pay cash for some of life's most unexpected events are available for purchase.

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Want to set aside some pre-tax dollars for health care expenses or dependent care expenses? If you select the traditional EPO medical coverage, you can set aside pre-tax money for medical expenses through the City's Section 125 medical FSA plan, which is managed by an outside carrier. You can do the same for dependent day care expenses, regardless of which medical plan you select.

Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
The high deductible health care plan has its own provisions for pre-tax health savings (HSA) so you can set aside money for your qualified health care expenses. The City will add $1000 to your health savings account to get you started each plan year.

Employee Assistance Program
We know that sometimes your needs are much different than a doctor visit or a prescription, so the City pays for a generous employee assistance program through Alliance to help you or any household member with counseling, legal referrals or simply a safe ride home.

Holidays
The City has thirteen designated holidays each year.

Vacation Leave
Most full time, regular employees (excluding firefighters on a 24 hour shift schedule and department heads) accrue 3.69 hours of vacation time each pay period and are eligible to use that time after just six months of employment. The longer you work for the city, the more vacation time you receive, with those accrual rates going up at 4, 9 and 14 years of service. Never use your vacation time? Don't worry; you can bank up to two times your annual accrued hours before you stop accruing.

Sick Leave
As a full time regular employee (excluding firefighters on a 24 hour shift), you accrue 3.69 hours of sick leave each pay period, which you are eligible to use after your first pay period with the city. You can also continue to build your sick leave balance up to 480 hours for those unexpected emergencies.

Emergency Leave
The City allows up to five days of paid leave (or two 24 hour shifts for 24/48 hour fire department) for regular employees in the event of the death of an immediate family member (as defined in city personnel policy).

Longevity Pay
Regular full-time employees after they've been employed for one year or more are eligible for an annual payout of $5 for every month of City service. So, while that first year $60 check might not seem like a ton of money, that $1500 check (minus taxes of course) for your 25 years of service which is paid around Thanksgiving will likely help you feel very thankful for a little extra cash for Christmas shopping.

Retirement
All regular full-time employees participate in our Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS). Your 7% investment each payroll period is matched 2 to 1 by the City and is vested at 5 years. You can retire at age 60 with 5 or more years of service or younger if you have at least 20 years of service. You can also receive service credit for certain types of military service. The City's TMRS plan is one of the most generous retirement plans around.

Deferred Compensation
If saving 7% with a 2 to 1 match through TMRS isn't enough to meet your financial goals, you can stash even more on a pre-tax basis through the City's 457 plan. Start or stop saving at any time – up to $18,000 annually if you're under 50, and up to $24,000 if you're older.

Social Security
City of Leander employees also participate in the social security system under FICA regulations.

Golf Course
We have a gorgeous golf course. Want to learn how to play? As a City employee you can play for 50% off. Check it out!