Police Officer (Lateral/Waiver)

Police Officer

This listing closes on 9/30/2026 at 11:59 PM Arizona.

Salary: $39.17 - $52.48 Hourly

Location: Scottsdale, AZ

Job Type: Full-Time Regular

About The Position:

City of Scottsdale Police Officers are responsible for protecting life and property, preventing, deterring and investigating crime, enforcing laws and responding to citizen requests through the use of community policing strategies to engage and educate the community.

A Police Officer Lateral is someone who has current Arizona P.O.S.T. Peace Officer Certification. A Police Officer Waiver is an individual who has served honorably as a peace officer in Arizona and whose certified status has lapsed, or a person who has functioned in the capacity of a peace officer for another state or a federal law enforcement agency, may be eligible to gain AZPOST certification through Waiver Testing in lieu of attending an Arizona peace officer basic course at an academy.

To be eligible, a person must:

1. Have previously served as a certified peace officer in Arizona, another state, or federal agency.
2. Have completed basic and advanced training that demonstrates substantial comparability to the Arizona basic course.
3. Obtain an appointment from an Arizona Law Enforcement Agency.
4. Meet all of the minimum qualifications for certification as an Arizona Peace Officer as outlined in Arizona Administrative Code Rule R13-4-105.

At a minimum, substantial comparability is determined as follows:

1. If a person has graduated from a state approved POST basic training academy and has at least one year of experience as a POST academy certified peace officer, they meet the substantial comparability standard.

If a person does not meet the substantial comparability as listed in #1 above, then an actual training and experience comparison to Arizona's basic training will need to be conducted to determine if the applicant qualifies for the waiver process.

Applicant eligibility for the waiver (or out-of-state certified police officers) program will be determined during the background process.

Please review the current Scottsdale Police Grooming Standards before submitting your application. The application and supplemental questions are an integral part of the selection process, and must be completed in full in order for you to be considered as a candidate. Please complete each section and answer all questions as thoroughly as possible. DO NOT state "See resume" in lieu of answering. Unanswered questions, incomplete responses, omissions, or partial information may result in disqualification from the selection process. Applications will be reviewed bi-monthly. There will be a physical assessment included in the selection process for this position. The assessment will be conducted on various dates throughout the recruitment process. For more information on the selection process, please check the Scottsdale Police Department's website.

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience:

• A high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) equivalent.
• Must be 21 years of age at the time of application.
• Must be a United States Citizen.

Licensing, Certifications and Other Requirements:

• Must possess and maintain a valid, unrestricted driver's license with no major citations within the past 39 months prior to the start date. The Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles requires that out-of-state driver's licenses must be surrendered within 10 days of relocating to the State of Arizona.
• Possess and maintain AZPOST Certification.
• Every person employed by the City of Scottsdale shall reside in the State of Arizona during his or her active employment by the City, regardless of whether the employee is approved to remote work.

Essential Functions

Performs duties and responsibilities commensurate with assigned functional area within a department(s) which may include, but are not limited to, any combination of the following:

• Performs law enforcement patrol activities.
• Operates a motor vehicle and observes and monitors the public to determine compliance/noncompliance with prescribed operating or safety standards and laws. Pursues and stops offenders, subdues resisting offenders using necessary force where appropriate, including deadly force.
• Issues citations and makes arrests; searches persons, places, and things; seizes and impounds property and evidence; transports arrested persons and property.
• Mediates disputes; performs crowd and riot control activities.
• Conducts law enforcement investigations.
• Protects crime and traffic accident scenes; conducts face to face and phone interviews; observes, gathers, records, processes, and preserves evidence; measures and diagrams crime and traffic accident scenes; prepares detailed written reports of investigative findings; performs data entry of various police activity into computerized records management system, seizes and processes evidence; presents testimony and evidence in court.
• Responds to citizen requests for assistance to fires, accidents, and crime scenes; administers first aid to sick and injured citizens for a wide variety of illnesses and injuries; assists distressed motorists and crime scene individuals; directs traffic; moves persons, vehicles, and other property.

Work Environment/Physical Demands

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position or that an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Perform a multitude of tasks simultaneously or in logical and efficient succession.
• Sit for extended periods of time while driving a City vehicle.
• Physical agility to pursue offenders on foot; stop and subdue resisting offenders using necessary force where appropriate, including deadly force.
• Access paved, gravel, rough, or turf areas; climb elevations.
• Exposure to dirt, dust, pollen, inclement weather, temperature extremes, traffic hazards, body fluids, hazardous chemical, firearms, various evidence, firearms, and unpleasant odors.
• Perform first aid.
• Lift and move up to 160 pounds for long distances with or without assistance.
• Physically move persons, vehicles, and other property.
• Visually distinguish full range of color spectrum.
• Read maps.
• Use and maintain proficiency with a variety of law enforcement tools, including handguns, batons, and other weapons.
• Visual and muscular dexterity to operate a motor vehicle, computer equipment, and two-way radio maintaining constant vigilance to the surrounding area.
• Utilize two-way radio to hear and respond to radio communications, voice instructions, and/or commands under a variety of working situations and background noise levels consistent with scene processing and/or traffic control.
• Use appropriate Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) when needed/required.
• Travel to/from various locations.
• Work overtime as required.
• Work a variety of scheduled shifts.