Police Attorney

Description

Click here to meet some of the City’s “CAN DO” employees.

INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE PROCESSED.

A RESUME WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED IN DETERMINING YOUR QUALIFICATIONS FOR THIS POSITION.

The City of Fayetteville is currently recruiting for a Police Attorney to provide legal advice to Police department personnel in criminal law and procedure; to review policies and personnel actions for compliance with legal requirements; and review disciplinary action and internal investigations as necessary. Represent City and Officers in civil litigation.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Provide legal advice to the Chief of Police and police staff on criminal law and procedures to include investigative procedures, substantive law, procedural law and sufficiency of evidence for court; prepare and present staff reports and other necessary correspondence.
• Advise criminal investigators on investigative procedures involving searches, interrogation law, electronic eavesdropping, evidentiary foundations, and traffic fatalities.
• Respond to and advises police management on legal issues regarding all police shootings, hostage or barricaded subject standoffs, and critical incidents involving injury or public interest.
• Coordinate legal representation with City Attorney and retained outside counsel on civil litigation involving the Police Department.
• Represent City and its employees in civil litigation in state and federal courts conducting discovery depositions, draft and respond to interrogatories, write and argue motions for summary judgment and appellate briefs, including representing City and Police Officers in civil rights litigation involving claims of excessive force and false arrest, subject to supervision by the City Attorney.
• Review drafts of proposed changes in ordinances to assure conformance to legal requirements, subject to consultation with the City Attorney.
• Review drafts of proposed changes in departmental regulations to assure conformance to legal requirements and accreditation standards.
• Review disciplinary files and internal investigations as necessary to ensure fair and unbiased procedures; represent and advise the department in administrative actions.
• Represent the Chief of Police, as necessary, at administrative, disciplinary and unemployment hearings.
• Provide advice and counsel on fair employment practices, and represent the City on charges of unlawful discrimination, subject to consultation with the City Attorney.
• Publish training material on new case law, legislation, and review established case law affecting police operations.
• Coordinate with the North Carolina Justice Academy Director and staff for training courses and providing specialized advanced legal training to state law enforcement officers.
• Teach Police Academy and in-house training programs supervising officers who are assigned for training.
• Provide written or oral legal opinions for officers and command staff on issues of criminal law, criminal procedures, and civil liability.
• Coordinate investigation working with State agencies (i.e. ALE and ABC) to develop factual support for public nuisance actions, and represent City as trial counsel in public nuisance litigation.
• Draft local ordinances and resolutions, subject to review by the City Attorney. Draft related law enforcement state legislation subject to review by the City Manager.
• Participate in management decision-making on, training, and policy development. Review and approve legal documents.
  
  

Minimum Qualifications

For a complete job description, click here.

Experience

Three years of progressively responsible experience in municipal or government law, including extensive legal research preferably in the law enforcement area.

Training

A Juris Doctorate from an accredited law school.

LICENSING & CERTIFICATIONS

Required

Membership in the State Bar of North Carolina.

Preferred

General Instructor certification.

From the time of closing, the selection process is anticipated to last approximately 4 - 6 weeks. The process will consist of an assessment center which will include a presentation exercise, in-basket exercise and a panel interview with the selected candidate being subject to a pre-employment drug screen, background check and driving history check.

An Equal Opportunity Employer

Health And Dental Insurance

The City of Fayetteville Employee Healthcare Benefit Plan provides comprehensive and affordable health and dental coverage while maintaining reasonable costs to employees. Coverage is available for all regular status employees scheduled to work 30 hours or more per week. Employees may also choose to cover eligible dependents. The premium is deducted on a pre-tax basis, with the City paying a portion of the premium. Qualifying employees are eligible for benefits on the 1st day of the month following 30 days of service.

Employer Paid Leave

Vacation Leave

Regular employees begin accruing vacation leave the first day of employment. Accruals are based on years of service

and the number of hours an employee is scheduled to work.

Sick Leave

Regular employees begin accruing sick leave the first day of employment. Accruals are based on the number of hours

scheduled to work; regular full-time employees accrue eight (8) hours per month. Sick leave hours accumulate without

limits and may be used toward creditable service upon retirement from the NC Local Governmental Retirement System.

Holidays

The City of Fayetteville observes 12 paid holidays per calendar year. When Christmas day is on a Wednesday, an

additional holiday is provided making for 13 paid holidays.

Bereavement

Regular employees are eligible for bereavement leave. The City will authorize 24 hours per calendar year to mourn or

attend a funeral or memorial service of a family member.

Retirement

The City of Fayetteville assists employees in securing their financial future during retirement by participating in the NC

Local Governmental Employees’ Retirement System, administered by the State of North Carolina. Regular employees

scheduled to work 20 hours or more per week become members in the retirement system upon employment. As a member

of this system, employees are required to contribute 6% of their gross salary on a tax-deferred basis.

Deferred Compensation Plans

To further assist employees in saving for retirement, the City offers two supplemental retirement savings programs. These

programs enable regular full-time, and part-time employees working at least 20 hours per week, an opportunity to save a

portion of their salary on a tax-deferred basis to supplement their retirement benefits. These programs are the NC 401(k)

administered by Empower and the 457 plan administered by Mission Square. Currently, the City contributes 3% of base

salary to an eligible employee’s NC 401(k) account.

Cafeteria Plan / Supplemental Benefits

Realizing that each employee may have different insurance needs, the City offers its employees the opportunity to supplement City-provided benefits by selecting from the benefits listed below. These benefits are offered at employee's expense through payroll deduction:

• > Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) – Healthcare and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts (pre-tax)
• > Short-Term and Long-Term Disability Insurance
• > Optional Life & Accidental Death & Dismemberment
  
  

Death Benefit

The first year an employee contributes to the retirement system, the City provides a death benefit of $3,000 once the

employee is benefits eligible. After one year as a contributing member of the Retirement System, a death benefit is provided

by the NC Retirement System that is equal to the highest 12 months’ salary in a row during the 24 months before death, no

less than $25,000 and no more than $50,000. There is no cost to the employee for this benefit.

Pay Periods / Deduction For Benefits / Direct Deposit

City employees are paid bi-weekly (every other Friday). Benefit deductions are taken for 24 pay periods of the year. As an added convenience and safety measure, the City requires all new employees to sign up for direct deposit.

Employee Assistance Program

The EAP is available at no cost to all employees and their household members. The EAP provides confidential guidance

on legal, financial and personal issues affecting your health, relationships and job.

01

Responses to the supplemental questions must reflect the information provided under the "Work Experience" section of the application. Your responses will be used to determine whether or not you possess the minimum qualifications required for this position at the time of application.

• I have read and complied with the above statement.
  
  

02

Are you a current City of Fayetteville employee?

• Yes
• No
  
  

03

Have you held an out-of-state driver's license (other than NC) in the past 3 years?

• Yes
• No
  
  

04

Do you possess a Juris Doctorate from an accredited law school?

• Yes
• No
  
  

05

Do you currently have a license to practice law in North Carolina?

• Yes
• No
  
  

06

How many years of experience do you have in municipal, government or criminal law?

• 7+ years
• 5 - 6 years
• 3 - 4 years
• 1 - 2 Years
• Less than one year
• None
  
  

07

Briefly describe your experience in municipal, government or criminal law. (If this question does not apply, please type N/A in the space provided below.)

08

Do you have experience practicing law in the area of law enforcement?

• Yes
• No
  
  

09

If you answered 'yes' to the above question, in the space provided below, please describe your experience practicing in the area of law enforcement.

10

Do you have a General Instructor certification?

• Yes
• No
  
  

11

This position requires you to be on-call. Are you willing to accept these working conditions?

• Yes
• No
  
  

12

INCOMPLETE APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE PROCESSED! You may attach a resume; however, the application MUST include a 10-year history. Please answer all questions on the application in their entirety and your application MUST include the following:

• Drivers License Number
• Employer information including salary, address, phone number, supervisor name, and reason for leaving for each employer
• Complete Education History (including High School)
• A complete 10-year history to include gaps you have had between employment and/or school attendance. Example: Office Assistant 1/2011 – present The Company 123 Hay Street Fayetteville, NC 28301 (910) 555-5555 Unemployed 6/2004 – 12/2010 Unemployed Student 12/2000 - 6/2004 My High School Fayetteville, NC 28301 Applications without a 10-year history and all the required information will be considered incomplete and will not be processed. Please take a moment to review your application for completeness.
• I have read and understand the above statement
• Required Question