Police Officer
Compensation Range: $26.67 - $36.19
Please note: This job opening may close earlier than the stated date, due to high candidate volume. If interested, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible.
At the High Point Police Department, we are committed to protecting our city and building relationships with our community. Our team includes over 300 officers and professional staff who are passionate about serving others.
As a proactive, data-driven agency, we take pride in being nationally recognized for excellence. Our department offers some of the finest in-house training in the country, along with numerous opportunities for growth, development, and career advancement.
A rewarding career awaits you here. Join our team and play a vital role in keeping High Point a safe place to live, work, and visit.
The High Point Police Department offers a competitive salary commensurate with education and experience. We also offer a generous benefit package for full-time employees which include but are not limited to:
- A guaranteed monthly pension upon retirement, vested after 5 years of service
- 401K and 457B Retirement Plans
- Paid Vacation and Sick Time
- Paid Holidays
- Tuition Reimbursement Plan
- Competitive medical, dental, and vision plans effective day one
Step into a career that makes a real difference. As a Police Officer, you'll be part of a committed team working to protect and serve our community through a variety of challenging and rewarding law enforcement duties. Whether you're patrolling neighborhoods, responding to emergencies, investigating crimes, or building trust with residents, every day offers the opportunity to make a lasting impact. This role requires sound judgment and the ability to stay calm under pressure. If you're ready to take on a vital role in ensuring public safety with integrity, respect, and purposethis is the career for you.
Essential Tasks & Responsibilities:
- Effects arrests using handcuffs and other restraints. Subdues resisting suspects using approved maneuvers and tactics when necessary. Incorporates the use of force based on a suspect's level of resistance, up to and including deadly force.
- Prepares a variety of reports, including investigative and technical. Incorporates sketches, uses appropriate grammar, symbols, and mathematical computations.
- Exercises independent judgment in determining when there is reasonable suspicion to detain, when probable cause exists to search and arrest, and when force may be used and to what degree.
- Operates a law enforcement vehicle during both the day and night under conditions including emergencies. This may involve speeds above posted limits, in congested traffic, and unsafe road conditions caused by factors such as fog, smoke, rain, ice, and snow.
- Communicates effectively and coherently over law enforcement radio channels while initiating and responding to radio communications.
- Gathers information in criminal investigations by interviewing and obtaining the statements of victims, witnesses, and suspects.
- Pursues fleeing suspects and performs rescue operations which may involve quickly entering and exiting law enforcement patrol vehicles, lifting carrying and dragging heavy objects, climbing over and pulling up oneself over obstacles, jumping down from elevated surfaces, climbing through openings, jumping over obstacles, ditches and streams, crawling in confined areas, balancing on uneven or narrow surfaces and using body force to gain entrance through barriers.
- Loads, unloads, aims, and fires agency-issued firearms under conditions of stress that justify the use of deadly force and at levels of proficiency prescribed in certification standards. Firearms include both handgun and shotgun.
- Performs searches of people, vehicles, buildings, and large outdoor areas. Searches may involve feeling and detecting objects and walking for long periods of time.
- Conducts visual and audio surveillance for extended periods of time.
- Engages in law enforcement patrol functions during all shifts. Responding to radio and computer-dispatched calls for service. Being proactive in crime deterrence and prevention by remaining vigilant and aware of frequently violated statutes.
- Communicates effectively with all people by giving information and directions, mediating disputes, and advising of rights and processes.
- Demonstrates communication skills in court proceedings and other formal settings.
- Detects and collects evidence and substances that provide the basis of criminal offenses and infractions and that indicate the presence of dangerous conditions.
- Endures verbal and mental abuse when confronted with the hostile views and opinions of suspects and other people encountered in an antagonistic environment.
- Performs rescue functions at accidents, emergencies and disasters to include administering emergency medical aid, lifting, dragging and carrying people away from dangerous situations and securing and evacuating people from particular areas.
- Processes and transports prisoners and committed mental patients using handcuffs and other appropriate restraints.
- Puts on and operates a gas mask in situations where chemical munitions are being deployed.
- Extinguishes small fires by using a fire extinguisher and other appropriate means.
- Reads and comprehends legal and non-legal documents, including the preparation and processing of documents such as citations, affidavits, and warrants.
- Processes arrestees to include photographs and obtaining fingerprint impressions.
- Ensures that all law enforcement work is performed in accordance with OSHA and City Safety Standards and Policies.
Qualifications:
- You will remain a probationary employee of the City until you are performing your job functions in a solo capacity. This could be up to 24 months from your date of hire.
- Ability to perform ALL of the essential tasks listed above, unassisted, and at a pace and level consistent with job performance requirements, including the Physical & Mental Qualifications below.
- High School Diploma or GED equivalent, with formal education to include basic arithmetic and/or business math.
- Valid North Carolina driver's license or valid license from another state, with the ability to obtain a North Carolina license.
- Must be able to lift 100 pounds.
- The ability to successfully complete Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) and meet state requirements for Basic Law Enforcement certification and North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training and Standards Commission.
PHYSICAL & MENTAL QUALIFICATIONS
- Personal Characteristics
- Due to the responsibilities of law enforcement, candidates must demonstrate a documented history of integrity, reliability, sound financial management, and effective interpersonal skills. These characteristics are essential to ensure the public's trust and to mitigate the risk of unethical behavior, including favoritism, corruption, or improper financial gain. Evidence of these traits may be verified through background investigations, credit reports, reference checks, and prior employment history.
- In addition, law enforcement duties often involve exposure to high-stress situations and physically demanding tasks. Therefore, documented histories of certain physical or mental health conditions may be considered in relation to the essential functions of the position. Applicants who present a verified risk to their own safety, the safety of others, or the ability to perform job duties may be deemed unqualified during the selection process.
- Reasoning Ability
- Ability to apply principles of logical thinking to work tasks and practical situations and requests made by supervisors or members of the public; to comprehend and respond to a variety of situations in an expedient manner, possibly under emergency and dangerous conditions.
- Good judgment is essential as often officers must make a split-second decision, independent of direct supervision, which can mean the difference between life and death.
- Mathematical Ability
- Using Arithmetic: Ability to use basic arithmetic to determine distance measurements, speed, monetary values, etc.
- Language Ability
- Read: Ability to read manuals, instructions, directions, report information, car license tags, driver's licenses, ordinances, rules and regulations, street names and signs, and other documents relating to the functions of law enforcement.
- Write: Ability to write figures, take statements, and make detailed reports of crimes and other police related incidents.
- Speak: Ability to be conversant in voice and diction so as to participate in discussions with other employees and the public while remaining polite and courteous. Must sometimes be forceful in providing direction and direct orders related to the enforcement of laws and safety regulations.
- Physical Demands (Strength)