Communications Officer

COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

The City of Palm Bay is actively recruiting Communications Officers and Communications Officer Trainees.

Please note: The starting salary for a Communications Officer Trainee is $39,787. Once Public Service Telecommunicator (PST) certification is received, the employee will receive a promotional increase of 5% or the minimum of the paygrade ($48,361), whichever is greater at the time of promotion.

Newly hired (entry level) employees of the Communication Center may be eligible for a lump sum signing payment at the Chief's discretion based upon the following schedule:

a. Newly hired (entry level) Communication Officer Trainees, with PST certification not yet achieved may receive a one-time signing bonus of $2,500. Payment of the bonus will be as follows: 25% at hire, 25% at 6 months, and the remaining 50% of the bonus paid upon completion of probation. If the employee resigns during the first three (3) years of employment, the employee is required to reimburse the City for the full amount of the sign-on bonus that has been received up until that date. Repayment is to be made within 3 months of resignation date.

b. Newly hired (entry level) Communication Officers, who possess a PST certification and have one or more years of experience in the field, may be eligible for a lump sum signing bonus at the Chief's discretion not to exceed $4,000. Payment of the bonus will be as follows: 25% at hire, 25% at 6 months, and the remaining 50% of the bonus paid upon completion of probation. If the employee resigns during the first three (3) years of employment, the employee is required to reimburse the City for the full amount of the sign-on bonus that has been received up until that date. Repayment is to be made within 3 months of resignation date.

Graduation from high school, or GED. Requires typing skills and multi-tasking skills. Must possess a valid Florida Driver's License and have and maintain an acceptable driving record.

Special requirements: Must be able to accurately type a minimum of forty (40) WPM. Adjusted or Net typing test score must be 40 wpm or greater.

Within twelve (12) months of being assigned to the position, must receive training in dispatching police units and attain 9-1-1 Public Safety Telecommunicator Certification through the Department of Health. This certification is the individual's responsibility. Direct supervision is required until this certification is achieved. Employee will promote to Communications Officer upon completion of training and certification. Must be available to work rotating shifts, weekends, holidays and during emergencies. Must be able to work 12 hour shifts as needed.

Within six (6) months of being assigned to the position, must attain certification by the Criminal Justice Training Section of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in operation of the Florida Criminal Information Center and National Crime Information Center.

Emergency declaration status: Code 1: Essential Employees may be required to work during an undeclared emergency and/or declared emergency. On an incident by incident basis, the employee's Department Head will make the determination as to who will be required to work.

General statement of job: Under general supervision, trains in performing specialized public safety communications and radio work for the City Police Department. Work involves training in receiving incoming emergency and non-emergency calls for service and taking appropriate action including the dispatching of police personnel and operating a computer terminal connected to the Florida Crime Information Center, National Crime Information Center, the National Weather Service and a variety of local, regional and/or state emergency response databases. Work also includes training in transferring fire and medical calls to Brevard County Fire/Rescue and monitoring for police response, dispatching units from the City Police Department, and coordinating operational support with federal, state, and local public safety agencies including the Brevard County Sheriff's Department, Highway Patrol, wildlife services, animal control, etc. Hours of operation are 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Reports to the Shift Supervisor.

Specific duties and responsibilities: Essential job functions include training in receiving emergency and non-emergency calls for service by telephone or radio; obtaining and documenting essential information to include associated history and determine the proper course of action. Training in dispatching the appropriate police units, and/or relays requests to the appropriate service agency. Training in monitoring 911 calls for fire or medical emergency services response. Training in documenting incoming calls and dispatching information into an automated system; entering information pertinent to calls for service; dispatching units responding times and actions taken; maintaining records of calls for service and dispatching activities to include notifying on-call personnel, wrecker services, Fire/EMS personnel, mutual aid activities, etc. Training in operating and maintaining emergency and non-emergency equipment such as the 911/administrative telephone, trunked radio system, computer-aided dispatch system, mapping system, audio playback, City networked computers, and various software programs; troubleshooting minor operating problems. Training in assisting officers and other department personnel with the means provided in the Communication Center. Training in running queries, entering and interpreting information in state/national network which includes the Florida Crime Information Center, the National Crime Information Center and a variety of local, regional and/or state emergency response databases. Training in providing real time information and corresponding with other law enforcement or public services jurisdictions computer networked systems. Training in processing and documenting all information and maintaining the status of emergency response units and state of emergency equipment by use of the computer-aided dispatch system and/or manually tracking. Ability to read and interpret geographical maps and provide accuracy. Learns to relay information to emergency response personnel, and City departments, coordinate emergency service response with other public safety agencies. Ability to manage confidential information.

Additional job functions: Performs other related work as required. This job description is not intended to be and should not be construed as an all-inclusive list of all the responsibilities, skills or working conditions associated with the position. While it is intended to accurately reflect the position responsibilities, management reserves the right to modify, add or remove duties and assign other duties as necessary that are a logical assignment for the position.