Part-Time Special Investigator - Backgrounds

Summary

The position involves conducting comprehensive investigations on assigned hiring packets by reviewing existing reports and utilizing various methods to verify an applicant's background. This includes interviewing relevant individuals such as family members, friends, employers, colleagues, landlords, and others identified during the investigation process. The role requires the preparation of a detailed and well-organized investigative report, ensuring the findings are clear and accessible for review by multiple supervisors.

THIS IS A NON-CIVIL SERVICE POSITION

Essential Functions

• Perform work in accordance with City of Lubbock and Lubbock Police Department policies, rules, regulations, and standard operating procedures;
• Keep records and prepare activity reports;
• Review existing police reports and documents related to the assigned background;
• Contact all listed persons and several unlisted persons and obtain statements from them;
• Be familiar with Civil Service Suitability Standards, as well as state law, as it may pertain;
• Display empathy and patience and an unbiased attitude when dealing with applicants and the people they provide in their personal history statement
• Be responsive to applicants and chain of command in reference to the personal history statement they are working on;
• Follow up on all parts of the personal history statement in a timely fashion;
• Ensure proper storage electronically and physically of all associated paperwork generated;
• If obtaining a statement from an applicant in person, utilize an interview room and record the interview when possible;
• Work with other agencies by obtaining or sharing information relative to assigned cases;
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Honorably Retired Peace Officer from a local, state, or federal Law Enforcement Agency. Have at least two years work experience in criminal and or back ground investigations.

Knowledge and Abilities

Knowledge of:

• Standard investigative practices and processes;
• Universal law enforcement procedures;
• Texas laws and regulations;
• City of Lubbock and Lubbock Police Department policies, rules, instructions and procedures.
• Have and maintain all required documentation from the last employing agency (TCOLE – Texas Commission on Law Enforcement or other agency listed above);
• Confidentiality laws and issues such as confidentiality of criminal records, handling requests for information on criminal cases from operating departments, public, or the media;
• Rationales for confidentiality sufficient to ensure the integrity and personal privacy of the applicant and the investigation file and all information contained therein;
• Principles and practices of confidentiality sufficient to recognize actions that may compromise the integrity of investigations or investigation file documents;
• Various technical specialists available to assist in an investigation and when to request such assistance;

• Learn;
• Communicate effectively with others;
• Understand, follow, and give oral directions to others;
• Drive an automobile;
• Make keen observations and remember names, faces, and details of incidents;
• Write clear and accurate reports;
• Read, comprehend and interpret detailed, complex written material;
• Prepare clear, concise written reports;
• Analyze complex ideas or activities into smaller parts; simultaneously consider numerous facts, perceive patters and relationships, develop theories about past occurrences based on numerous small bits of information or evidence, compare and interpret information, recognize and examine discrepancies, and draw logical conclusions;
• Manage time sufficient to prioritize and combine investigations when practicable to ensure timely completion;
• Handle several cases at one time;
• Utilize appropriate investigative techniques for criminal investigations;
• Communicate and deal tactfully, persuasively, and effectively with coworkers, supervisors, management and the public;
• Demonstrate cultural sensitivity through tact and courtesy when dealing with individuals from various social, cultural, racial, and economical backgrounds;
• Work cooperatively as part of a team;
• Remain calm and focused when interviewing distraught, angry, or combative persons;
• Demonstrate effective interpersonal skills required to discuss matters which are of a sensitive and sometime inflammatory nature with victims, supervisors and management;
• Listen, in person and on the telephone, as required to pay close attention to what is being said and ask follow-up questions;
• Develop pertinent questions for interviews, perceive when the person being interviewed has not understood, rephrase/clarify questions, follow-up on unanswered questions or conflicting statements and keep the interview focused on the material to be covered;
• Persons with disabilities may be able to perform the essential duties of this class with reasonable accommodation. Reasonable accommodation will be evaluated on an individual basis and depends, in part, on the specific requirements for the job, the limitations related to the disability, and the ability of the hiring department to reasonable accommodate the limitations.