Summary
The mission of the VA police officer is to serve and protect Veterans, patients, employees, contractors, volunteers, affiliates, visitors, and others who frequent VA facilities. Their safety and security is paramount to ensuring that the VA can successfully fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his orphan" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans.
Responsibilities
The incumbent serves as a Federal police officer working for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) performing law enforcement and security duties pursuant to Title 38 USC § 902. VA police officers are a vital part of ensuring a safe and secure environment across VA. VA police officers not only carry out their policing duties but are often the first to interact with and assist Veterans, patients, employees, contractors, volunteers, affiliates, visitors, and others who frequent VA facilities on a daily basis. Incumbent is the face of the VA, and he/she is often the first person a Veteran or visitor encounters when entering a VA facility. Officers must have a special skill set that allows them to empathize, engage, and communicate with all individuals they encounter to ensure a positive outcome and the safety of the facility and all its occupants. Duties include but are not limited to: Identify apprehend and arrest offenders. Advises persons of their constitutional rights. Advises employee of their Weingarten rights. Make judgments regarding arrest, citation or release of suspects/offenders. Conduct searches and seize contraband. Pursue suspects on foot and uses physical force as necessary to control or subdue persons. Conduct surveillance of individuals/locations, investigate crimes against persons and property. Investigate complaints of drug law violations and collect evidence. Present competent professional testimony in court Participate in the developmental and implementation of department goals, objective's, policies and procedures. Take statements, making arrests and conducting short and long-term investigations Recommend and assist in developing additional training to other officers as assigned. Write comprehensive police offense reports. Coordination with facility management to request applicable work orders and monitor a complaint or report from mitigation to resolution Work schedule: 7:00 AM-7:00 PM or 7:00 PM-7:00 AM (May be required to work some evenings and weekends, Rotating Shifts)
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description Title/PD#: Police Officer/ 3729-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Available
Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required
Requirements
Conditions of Employment
Qualifications
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/15/2020. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of federal, state, county, and municipal laws and regulations, law enforcement operations, practices, and techniques and responsibility for maintaining order and protecting life and property. In addition, you must have sufficient knowledge to prevent and/or resolve criminal offenses at the scene; conducting preliminary investigations at a crime scene; pursuing and apprehending persons fleeing from a crime scene or resisting arrest; providing testimony in court; taking charge of a crime or accident scene; and interviewing witnesses of a crime or accident. Experience conducting routine foot and/or vehicle patrols; responding to routine and emergency calls for police assistance; issuing traffic citations; questioning individuals at the scene of a crime; informing individuals about their rights as suspects; subduing unruly individuals; and preparing written reports involving criminal and/or civil offenses. In addition, having experience with arrest authority as a sworn Police Officer and firearms qualifying is highly preferred. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Competency 1 - Ability to enforce Federal, state and local codes to include having the proper authority to initiate an arrest for violations of codes. Competency 2 - Ability to communicate orally with individuals with varying backgrounds and levels of understanding. Competency 3 - Ability to communicate in writing to take statements and prepare reports such as police reports, citations, records affidavits, statements and other applicable documents. Competency 4 - Ability to conduct investigations, recognize if a crime has been or is about to be committed, assessing the situation, and securing the crime scene. Competency 5 - Ability and experience to use police and security skills during random patrols. Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion, long hours of standing, walking, driving and similar activities. The incumbent must respond to alarms, pursue suspects, participate in training activities, climb stairs and walk during assigned foot patrols in and around large building, campus, and other physical settings. Agility, dexterity and strength are needed to pursue, apprehend and detain uncooperative suspects. On a regular and recurring basis the work requires strenuous exertion physically restraining disorderly individuals to prevent harm to others or the individual. Incumbents must be physically able to lift or carry injured or hurt persons, evacuate persons to safety during storms, disasters, fires or other emergencies. The incumbent is expected to maintain a high standard of physical fitness and hand and eye coordination in order to maintain his or her semi-annual qualification with his or her assigned firearm and annua