Police Officer

Summary This position is located within the Durham VA Healthcare System, performing law enforcement work and investigation of crimes on Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) controlled property. *This is an Open-Continuous announcement open until 12/23/2024. The first certificate of applicants will be referred to hiring manager on 09/13/2024 and will repeat every two weeks thereafter through 12/23/2024. This announcement could close sooner than 12/23/2024 if all positions are filled before this date. Responsibilities Leads a unit or team of employees and distributes/balances workload in accordance with established workflow or job specialization; Empathizes, engages, and communicates with all individuals encountered to ensure a positive and safe environment; Instructs/trains employees in specific tasks and job techniques; Resolves simple, informal complaints of employees and refers others to supervisor; Assures compliance with federal, state, county and municipal laws and ordinances as they pertain to VA property and agency rules and regulations pertaining to law enforcement work; Writes uniform offense reports covering incidents that contain pertinent information, which is factual, classified properly, and submits reports timely; Questions victims and witnesses at the scene of an incident; Issues citations for personally observed violations of the law, rules, or regulations; Assists victims of accidents or assaults by providing first aid, etc.; Obtains statements from persons involved in or who has witnessed an accident; Pursues and apprehends person feeling a crime scene or attempting to resist arrest while on VA property; Identifies and reacts to overcome life threatening situations such as natural or manmade disasters, hostage, barrier, terrorist attack, kidnap, or felony assault; Conducts long and short-term investigations; Performs all other duties as assigned. Designated Drug-Testing Position: Applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Applicants will not be appointed to the position if a verified positive drug test result is received. Work Schedule: Compressed/Flexible Schedule. Candidates must be willing to work weekends, irregular work hours and extended hours if determined by the needs of the service. Furthermore, candidates must be willing to be placed, detailed, or temporarily assigned to other related services and/or locations, if necessary. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Police Officer/PD99926S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. You may be required to serve a probationary period. Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications In order to qualify for Police Officer, GS-0083-7, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement,. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. Additional Requirements for Police Officer Positions: Applicants must possess a valid, unrestricted state driver's license, have a safe driving record, and demonstrate that he or she is medically qualified to operate the appropriate motor vehicle safely. VA Police Officer must be able to achieve and maintain mandatory firearm qualifications/certification. New VA Police Officers are required to attend an 8-week course at the VA Law Enforcement Training Center in Little Rock, Arkansas within 90-days of entry on duty. A character investigation will be conducted on applicants selected for employment. The purpose of such an investigation is to secure evidence of the candidate's honesty, integrity, general character, and loyalty to the U.S. Government. A medical examination is required. The duties of these positions require moderate or arduous physical exertion and/or duties of a hazardous nature. The following medical requirements apply to all applicants: good near and distant vision, ability to distinguish basic colors, and ability to hear the conversational voice. Applicants and employees must have the capability to perform the essential functions of the position without risk to themselves or others. Applicants and employees must possess emotional and mental stability. A psychological examination is required. In most cases, a specific medical condition or impairment will not automatically disqualify an applicant or employee. A medical condition or impairment is disqualifying on if the condition/impairment, for good medical reason, precludes assignment to or warrants restriction from the duties of the specific position. For some positions, the lost or impairment of a specific function may be compensated for by the satisfactory use of a prosthetics or mechanical aid. Reasonable accommodation shall also be considered in determining an applicant's ability to perform the duties of a position. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include but are not limited to knowledge of basic laws and regulations, law enforcement operations, practices, and techniques and involved responsibility for maintaining order and protecting life and property. Creditable specialized experience may have been gained in work on a police force; through service as a military police officer; in work providing visitor protection and law enforcement in parks, forests, or other natural resource or recreational environments; in performing criminal investigative duties; or in other work that provided the required knowledge and skills. Specialized experience must have included active arrest authority and firearm proficiency with a license to carry; experience as a security guard or corrections officer is generally not qualifying. No substitution of education for training may be made for the required specialized experience at GS-06 and above. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited based on time spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must clearly indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion, long hours of standing, walking, driving and similar activities. The incumbent must respond to alarms, pursue suspects, participate in training activities, climb stairs, and walk during assigned foot patrols in and around large building, campus, and other physical settings. Agility, dexterity, and strength are needed to pursue, apprehend, and detain uncooperative suspects. On a regular and recurring basis, the work requires strenuous exertion physically restraining disorderly individuals to prevent harm to others or the individual. Incumbents must be physically able to lift or carry injured or hurt persons, evacuate persons to safety during storms, disasters, fires, or other emergencies. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Additional Information Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.