Crime Scene And Evidence Specialist

Summary

Essential Duties & Required Qualifications

• Maintain digital evidence and act as court liaison for discovery and other related physical and electronic evidentiary issues.
• Store and retrieve all property and Evidence collected, seized, or kept by the police department assuring a continuous chain of custody.
• Update storage locations and status for physical property and add supplements to maintain all records related to property and Evidence.
• Manage the delivery of evidence to and from courts, laboratories, prosecutor's offices, and other locations.
• Purges inventory of property/evidence for destruction, conversion, or auction.
• Arrange for abandoned or forfeited property and Evidence to go to auction.
• Maintain knowledge of the law and policies regarding the management, including the process for final disposition of evidence and property.
• Respond to Crime Scenes, gather, and process physical evidence, photograph and sketch Crime Scenes and physical evidence as required by policy. Assure that evidence is collected and stored according to policy.
• Handles, prepares, documents bio-hazardous evidence and scenes.
• Utilizes special processes, methods and equipment for the detection and collection of trace evidence.
• Assists officers in packaging of property/evidence and verify that packaging procedures are being followed daily.
• Write reports regarding the collection and processing of evidence discovered.
• Testify as a witness in court regarding the results of analysis and examination of physical evidence.
• Manage and troubleshoot digital evidence system.
• Provide technical support and training, dealing with evidence and property, for all divisions within the police department.
• Manage the ordering, storing, and furnishing of forensic and evidentiary supplies for all divisions within the police department.
• Maintain on-call status for Crime Scene processing.
• Employees are required to work overtime as the need arises, may have to answer subpoenaed appearances in court on employee’s day off or before and/or after a regularly scheduled work shift.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• High school graduate or its equivalent.
• Two (2) years of full-time Crime Scene investigation and/or evidence room experience or a minimum of 60 college hours from an accredited college or university in criminal justice, forensic science or other related science field.

• At least four (4) years of full-time Crime Scene investigation and/or evidence room experience.
• A four-year degree from an accredited college or university in criminal justice, forensic science or other related science field.
• Knowledge of Texas law and legislature.
• Has completed courses in Crime Scene investigation, latent fingerprint examination, photography, and courtroom testimony.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Municipal police operations.
• City and Departmental policies and procedures, all appropriate laws, including city ordinances, and appropriate administrative laws.
• The use and care of city equipment, including police cars, police radio, and Crime Scene collection equipment.
• Mandates and covenants required by department’s participation in the various law enforcement information and resource systems.
• Possessing excellent customer service skills and phone etiquette.
• Skill and ability in required job skills and knowledge with accuracy and thoroughness. Exhibits ability to learn and apply new skills. Keeps abreast of current developments. Requires minimal supervision.
• Displays willingness to make professional decisions. Exhibits sound and accurate judgment. Supports and explains reasoning for decisions. Includes appropriate people in decision making process. Makes timely decisions.
• Normal speech, normal or corrected vision, and normal or corrected hearing.
• Understand and execute oral and written instructions and ask questions when instructions are unclear.
• Establish and maintain professional working relationships, balancing team and individual responsibilities.

Physical Demands & Additional Information

• Proof of education, certification(s) and experience as listed on the employment application based on the job posting requirements.
• Satisfactory results from a pre-employment criminal history background and driving record check.
• Legal authorization to work in the United States without sponsorship. *
• Compliance with the Selective Service Registration for male US citizens and immigrants, who are ages 18-25.

• The City of Leander participates in E-Verify! Information from each new employee’s Form I-9 will be provided to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to confirm work authorization.

Your well-being and that of your family matters to you, and so it's important to us too. To support you and your loved ones through life's many challenges, we offer our full time employees access to a wide array of benefits including health, dental, vision, life, disability, accident, cancer, flexible spending accounts, health savings accounts, employee assistance, paid holidays, paid sick leave, paid emergency leave, longevity pay, golf course discounts as well as generous retirement and deferred compensation programs and social security participation.
Medical
We offer two types of medical plans (a traditional PPO plan and a high deductible health plan) so that you can choose the one that best fits your needs. The premium you pay is based on which plan you select and who you cover. Covering just yourself? The City currently pays the entire employee-only premium for either plan. Covering qualified dependents in your family? Currently, we'll pay your employee premium and split the remainder of the spouse/child/family premium with you - we pay 60%; you pay 40%. That generous cost share reflects our philosophy that our employees and their families should have the best health care we can afford to provide.
Dental
Dental plans include a DMO option (no cost for employee-only coverage) and two more traditional plans whose premiums are also affordable. You can choose to cover yourself or any qualified dependents and choose which plan best suits your dental needs. Currently, for the DHMO option, we pay the employee premium and split the remainder of the spouse/child/family premiums with you – we pay 50%; you pay 50%. Under the more traditional plans, although we don't pay the entire employee-only premium, we still split the incremental dependent premiums with you 50/50.
Vision
Access to $10 eye exam co-pays and up to $150 frame and contact lens allowances make vision insurance a popular benefit among employees. Cover yourself for just a few bucks a pay period or all of your qualified dependents for not much more.
Life/AD&D
Your basic employee $15,000 term life insurance policy is paid for by the city. Accidental Death & Dismemberment under the plan would pay an additional $15,000 to your beneficiary if you die in an accident. More life insurance coverage is paid for by the City and provided through our Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) program. If that's still not enough coverage, you can purchase more life/AD&D coverage for yourself and your qualified dependents. Over the age of 65? These coverages are subject to an age reduction schedule.
Disability
Both short and long term disability plans which provide up to 60% income replacement are available to purchase at competitive rates.
Accident & Cancer
Need extra coverage for off-the-job medical injuries or a cancer diagnosis? Supplemental plans that pay cash for some of life's most unexpected events are available for purchase.
Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)
Want to set aside some pre-tax dollars for health care expenses or dependent care expenses? If you select the traditional EPO medical coverage, you can set aside pre-tax money for medical expenses through the City's Section 125 medical FSA plan, which is managed by an outside carrier. You can do the same for dependent day care expenses, regardless of which medical plan you select.
Health Savings Accounts (HSA)
The high deductible health care plan has its own provisions for pre-tax health savings (HSA) so you can set aside money for your qualified health care expenses. The City will add $1000 to your health savings account to get you started each plan year.
Employee Assistance Program
We know that sometimes your needs are much different than a doctor visit or a prescription, so the City pays for a generous employee assistance program through Alliance to help you or any household member with counseling, legal referrals or simply a safe ride home.
Holidays
The City has thirteen designated holidays each year.
Vacation Leave
Most full time, regular employees (excluding firefighters on a 24 hour shift schedule and department heads) accrue 3.69 hours of vacation time each pay period and are eligible to use that time after just six months of employment. The longer you work for the city, the more vacation time you receive, with those accrual rates going up at 4, 9 and 14+ years of service. Never use your vacation time? Don't worry; you can bank up to two times your annual accrued hours before you stop accruing.
Sick Leave
As a full time regular employee (excluding firefighters on a 24 hour shift), you accrue 3.69 hours of sick leave each pay period, which you are eligible to use after your first pay period with the city. You can also continue to build your sick leave balance up to 480 hours for those unexpected emergencies.
Emergency Leave
The City allows up to five days of paid leave (or two 24 hour shifts for 24/48 hour fire department) for regular employees in the event of the death of an immediate family member (as defined in city personnel policy).
Longevity Pay
Regular full-time employees after they've been employed for one year or more are eligible for an annual payout of $5 for every month of City service. So, while that first year $60 check might not seem like a ton of money, that $1500 check (minus taxes of course) for your 25 years of service which is paid around Thanksgiving will likely help you feel very thankful for a little extra cash for Christmas shopping.
Retirement
All regular full-time employees participate in our Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS). Your 7% investment each payroll period is matched 2 to 1 by the City and is vested at 5 years. You can retire at age 60 with 5 or more years of service or younger if you have at least 20 years of service. You can also receive service credit for certain types of military service. The City's TMRS plan is one of the most generous retirement plans around.
Deferred Compensation
If saving 7% with a 2 to 1 match through TMRS isn't enough to meet your financial goals, you can stash even more on a pre-tax basis through the City's 457 plan. Start or stop saving at any time – up to $18,000 annually if you're under 50, and up to $24,000 if you're older.
Social Security
City of Leander employees also participate in the social security system under FICA regulations.
Golf Course
We have a gorgeous golf course. Want to learn how to play? As a City employee you can play for 50% off. Check it out!