Special Officer

Job Description

ONLY PERMANENT EMPLOYEES IN THE TITLE AND THOSE THAT ARE REACHABLE ON THE SPECIAL OFFICER CIVIL SERVICE LIST ARE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY.

Established in 1805, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (the NYC Health Department) is the oldest and largest health department in the country. Our mission is to protect and improve the health of all New Yorkers, in service of a vision of a city in which all New Yorkers can realize their full health potential, regardless of who they are, how old they are, where they are from, or where they live.

As a world-renowned public health agency with a history of building transformative public health programming and infrastructure, innovating in science and scholarship to advance public health knowledge, and responding to urgent public health crises from New York City’s yellow fever outbreak in 1822, to the COVID-19 pandemic we are a hub for public health innovation, expertise, and programs, and services. We serve as the population health strategist, and policy, and planning authority for the City of New York, while also having a vast impact on national and international public policy, including programs and services focused on food and nutrition, anti-tobacco support, chronic disease prevention, HIV/AIDS treatment, family and child health, environmental health, mental health, and racial and social justice work, among others.

Our Agency’s five strategic priorities, building off a recently-completed strategic planning process emerging from the COVID-19 emergency, are: 1) To re-envision how the Health Department prepares for and responds to health emergencies, with a focus on building a “response-ready” organization, with faster decision-making, transparent public communications, and stronger surveillance and bridges to healthcare systems 2) Address and prevent chronic and diet-related disease, including addressing rising rates of childhood obesity and the impact of diabetes, and transforming our food systems to improve nutrition and enhance access to healthy foods 3) Address the second pandemic of mental illness including: reducing overdose deaths, strengthening our youth mental health systems, and supporting people with serious mental illness 4) Reduce black maternal mortality and make New York a model city for women’s health 5) Mobilize against and combat the health impacts of climate change

Our 7,000-plus team members bring extraordinary diversity to the work of public health. True to our value of equity as a foundational element of all of our work, and a critical foundation to achieving population health impact in New York City, the NYC Health Department has been a leader in recognizing and dismantling racism’s impacts on the health of New Yorkers and beyond. In 2021, the NYC Board of Health declared racism as a public health crisis. With commitment to advance anti-racist public health practices that dismantle systems that perpetuate inequitable power, opportunity and access, the NYC Health Department continues to work in and with communities and community organizations to increase their access to health services and decrease avoidable health outcomes.

PROGRAM AND JOB DESCRIPTION:
The Division of Administration--Bureau of Operations/Health Police Unit oversees, directs, and protects DOHMH employees, clients, visitors, and properties throughout NYC areas on a 24/7 basis. In meeting the growing needs and demands of the agency, this Unit requires adequate resources and staff to perform these services in an effective and efficient manner. Such services include the extension of hours of operations beyond the normal hours of operations at Public Health Laboratories and District Health Centers Neighborhood Health clinics.

The Special Officer under supervision of the Supervising Special Officer will perform work relating to physical security, safety, loss prevention, and maintenance of order.

Duties will include but not be limited to:
- Respond to emergency incidents.
- Maintain heightened security level at key locations and secure other Health Department facilities throughout the five boroughs.
- Patrol of unstaffed locations.
- Complete complaint and incident reports.
- Conduct interior and exterior patrols of DOHMH facilities.
- Special Officers may be required to work various shifts including nights, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays and to work rotating tours, change tours or work overtime when ordered, as permitted
by the collective bargaining agreement.
- Some physical activities performed are working outdoors in all kinds of weather, walking or standing in assigned area during a tour; assist in carrying an injured adult; gripping persons to prevent
escape.
- Carrying or wearing heavy equipment and wearing a bullet resistant vest.

Why you should work for us:
- Benefits: City employees are entitled to unmatched benefits such as:
- a premium-free health insurance plan that saves employees over $10K annually, per a 2024 assessment.
- additional health, fitness, and financial benefits may be available based on the position’s associated union/benefit fund.
- a public sector defined benefit pension plan with steady monthly payments in retirement.
- a tax-deferred savings program and
- a robust Worksite Wellness Program that offers resources and opportunities to keep you healthy while serving New Yorkers.
- Work From Home Policy: Depending on your position, you may be able to work up to two days during the week from home.
- Job Security - you could enjoy more job security compared to private sector employment and be able to contribute to making NYC a healthy place to live and work.


Come join us and help to continue our efforts in making a difference in the lives of all New Yorkers!

Commitment to Equity:

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.

The NYC Health Department is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation to all individuals. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, contact Sye-Eun Ahn, Director of the Office of Equal Employment Opportunity, at or View phone number on aiapply.co.

SPECIAL OFFICER - 70810

Qualifications

1. A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent approved by a state's department of education or a recognized accrediting organization; and
2. Individuals serving in this title are designated as Peace Officers by the New York State Criminal Procedure Law. Therefore, all candidates must be qualified to serve as Peace Officers. Incumbents must satisfy the training requirements established by the State of New York for Peace Officers and obtain certification. Once obtained, this certification must be maintained for the duration of employment.

Additional Information

The City of New York is an inclusive equal opportunity employer committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and providing a work environment that is free from discrimination and harassment based upon any legally protected status or protected characteristic, including but not limited to an individual's sex, race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, veteran status, gender identity, or pregnancy.

Agency: DEPT OF HEALTH/MENTAL HYGIENEJob Category: Public Safety, Inspections, & EnforcementSalary Band: $50,000 to $60,000 Compensation: USD 40480 - USD 58345