Police Sergeant 2025 - INTERNAL ONLY

*INTERNAL ONLY
*Application deadline is February 27, 2025

The Police Sergeant position is a sworn law enforcement position within the River Falls Police Department. This position requires significant involvement and performance in general police work including the protection of life and property, prevention of crime, apprehension of criminals, and the general enforcement of the laws and ordinances within the City of River Falls. The Police Sergeant is responsible for assisting Police Administration in the day-to-day operations of the Department and provides supervisory authority over subordinates as assigned. This position is non-exempt and eligible for overtime. This position is not subject to a collective bargaining agreement.

The incumbent will be subject to rotating shifts, night, weekend and holiday work, on-call duty, various assignments, including mobile patrol, foot patrol or plain clothes assignments. A Police Sergeant will diligently support the Mission Statement and Values of the River Falls Police Department.

Enforcement & Safety

• Issue warnings and citations as necessary to gain an acceptable level of voluntary compliance on the part of the public, and to maintain a safe and orderly social environment.
• Effect an arrest, forcibly if necessary, using handcuffs and other restraints; able to subdue resisting suspects by using trained maneuvers, hands, feet and other approved weapons. Have a full range of movement, physical strength, endurance, fitness and condition to apprehend and control an individual and protect oneself and others.
• Exercise independent judgment in determining reasonable suspicion for further investigation--probable cause for arrest, proper use of force.
• Make quick decisions and process information based on limited information when situations demand that an immediate decision be made.
• Gather information in criminal investigations by interviewing and obtaining statements of victims, witnesses, suspects and confidential informants.
• Pursue fleeing suspects and perform rescue operations which may involve quick entry and exit of law enforcement patrol vehicles.
• Perform searches of people, vehicles, buildings, and large outdoor areas which may involve feeling and detecting objects, walking for extended periods of time, containing people and stopping suspicious vehicles and persons, and conduct a frisk and pat down of a person.
• Engage in law enforcement patrol functions that include such things as working rotating shifts, walking on foot patrol and physically checking the doors and windows of buildings to ensure they are secure.
• Perform rescue functions at accidents, emergencies and disasters, but not limited to include directing traffic for extended periods of time, administering emergency medical aid, lifting, dragging and carrying people away from dangerous situations and securing and evacuating people from areas.
• Process arrested suspects to include taking their photographs and obtaining a classifiable set of inked fingerprint impressions. 

Leadership

• Enforcement of laws, statutes, ordinances and administrative orders in accordance with departmental policies, procedures, directives and mission statement.
• Supervise subordinates as assigned to include directing work, performance review, coaching, counseling, training, recognition and corrective action as appropriate.

Community Policing

• Develop rapport with members of the community as well as surrounding areas, and establishes partnerships with community organizations, residents and business owns to develop and implement crime prevention strategies.
• Engage citizens and businesses within assigned neighborhood district(s) through routing patrols and in-person visits.
• Identifies potential security-related situations, and utilizes problem solving abilities independently and through partnerships with external agencies, community groups and individual citizens and business owners.

Other

•  Prepare investigative and other reports, including sketches, using appropriate grammar, symbols and mathematical computations.
•  Maintain a professional demeanor when confronted with hostile views and opinions, verbal abuse and during antagonistic environments.
•  Comply with all training requirements of the department in the State of Wisconsin.

• Work with people from all cultures, backgrounds and abilities and respond respectfully in a manner that preserves the dignity of individuals, families, and communities.
• Excellent communication skills both oral and written. 
• Audit and inspect work of subordinates.
• Enforce policy and procedures. 
• Operate a law enforcement vehicle during both day and night, in emergency situations involving speeds in excess of posted limits, in congested traffic and in unsafe road conditions by factors such as fog, smoke, rain, ice and snow.
• Hear, comprehend, and understand radio, telephone, and in person verbal communication.   Practice a proactive policing posture which includes action or referral to appropriate agencies regarding circumstances conducive to criminal behavior or otherwise hazardous situations.
•  Load, unload, aim and fire handguns, shotguns and other department firearms, from a variety of body positions, under conditions of stress that justify the use of deadly force and at levels of proficiency described by certification standards.
• Working knowledge and proficiency of city boundaries, streets, businesses, residential areas, schools, parks and city-owned properties.
• Testify in court on cases assigned or directly involved.
• Function for extended periods of time without fatigue or requiring special needs or resources
• Recall from memory details of persons and things.  Demonstrate communication skills in court and other formal settings.
• Read and comprehend legal and non-legal documents, including the preparation and processing of such documents as citations, affidavits and warrants.
• Deal with individuals and groups with truthfulness, understanding, tact, compassion, sensitivity and courtesy.

QUALIFICATIONS
Minimum

• Candidate must meet minimum qualifications as established by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Training and Standards Bureau and all of the following:
• Two-year associate degree in Police Science or law enforcement field, or Sixty-semester College credits in a related field.
• Candidate must have attained the Level 4 status of patrol officer in the department. At the Police and Fire Commission's discretion, candidates from outside of the River Falls Police Department may be considered for this promotional process. Any outside candidate must have a minimum five years of full-time patrol officer experience.
• Candidate must have broad exposure in general law enforcement duties and a commitment to a community policing philosophy.
• Candidate must have the ability to supervise subordinate personnel and act decisively in intense situations. 

 Preferred

• Wisconsin Law Enforcement Certification

WORKING CONDITIONS
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.  
While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls, and talk or hear. The employee frequently is required to sit in a vehicle for extended periods of time. The employee is occasionally required to stand; walk; reach with hands and arms; and stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl. The employee occasionally works near moving mechanical parts; in high precarious places; in outside weather conditions, and is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions, extreme cold and extreme heat. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 100 pounds.
 
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Salary : $47 - $57