CLASSIFICATION: POLICE COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST II

Class Code: 6990-18 Date Established: 01-29-74

Occupational Code: 9-5-2 Date of Last Revision: 6-25-15

Exempt Status: Non-Exempt

BASIC PURPOSE: To provide supervision and review of Police Communications Specialist Is, and to
train personnel in analyzing and interpreting information in order to provide critical coordination of law
enforcement response; to receive and transmit messages via two-way radio, telephone, and other
communications equipment nationwide involving enforcement and emergency field personnel.

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Monitors daily functions of Police Communication Specialist Is, reviews assignments, provides
training and mentoring for work and standards, and ensures policies and procedures are being
appropriately followed; provides evaluation and progress notes to assist the supervisor with
performance appraisals and reviews.

• Assists the supervisor when necessary in answering telephones for general testing or
emergency response at nuclear facilities and in contacting agencies to coordinate
services/responses.

• Manages communications and monitors radio traffic and provides law enforcement and
emergency responders with up-to-date information; communicates changes during events
regarding the environment of an incident.

• Applies knowledge of multiple troop stations, patrol areas, geographic make-up of towns, bodies
of water, hiking trails and ranges throughout the state to capture correct information regarding
incident locations, and to appropriately dispatch specific troops or marine patrols as needed, out
of the IPOC.

• Uses a variety of national and state dispatch, two-way radio, emergency alert,
telecommunication, and informational systems to receive/transmit messages and monitor alerts,
changes, and updates in information to relay to emergency responders during incidents,
emergencies, disasters, or critical events.

• Operates complex computer and telecommunications systems to transmit enforcement and

emergency information to a variety of state and municipal agencies. Radios assignment of law
enforcement personnel to proper locations during police emergencies; alerts and coordinates
other emergency personnel and arranges for necessary equipment resources.

• Reviews and completes reports including documentation of towed vehicles, emergency

responses, and traffic records and maintains and organizes a daily log.

• Reviews call logs and reports after critical incidents such as high speed pursuits, shooting
events, major traffic accidents, and riots, and leads incident debriefings.

• Enforces and adheres to policies and standard operating procedures when communicating with
command staff, outside agencies, municipal or federal entities.

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DISTINGUISHING FACTORS:

Skill: Requires skill in developing formats and procedures for special applications OR in investigating
and reviewing the use of equipment and data for a specialized function.

Knowledge: Requires knowledge of business practices and procedures or technical training in a craft or
trade, including working from detailed instructions, to apply knowledge in a variety of practical situations.
Impact: Requires responsibility for achieving direct service objectives by assessing agency service
needs and making preliminary recommendations for the development of alternative short-term program
policies or procedures. Errors at this level result in incomplete assessments or misleading
recommendations causing a disruption of agency program or policies.

Supervision: Requires partial supervision of other employees doing work which is related or similar to
the supervisor, including assigning job duties, providing training, giving instructions and checking work.

Working Conditions: Requires performing regular job functions in a controlled environment with
minimal exposure to disagreeable job elements and little risk of hazard to physical or mental health.

Physical Demands: Requires light work, including continuous walking or operating simple equipment for
extended periods of time as well as occasional strenuous activities such as reaching or bending.

Communication: Requires reviewing summaries and reports and making decisions to solve problems or
to achieve work objectives as well as articulating and expressing those solutions and goals. This level
also requires formal presentations of solutions and goals to employees and the general public to
increase the responsiveness of the agency toward the demands of its client system.

Complexity: Requires a combination of job functions to establish facts, to draw daily operational
conclusions, or to solve practical problems. This level also requires providing a variety of alternative
solutions where only limited standardization exists.

Independent Action: Requires a range of choice in applying a number of technical or administrative

policies under general direction and making routine decisions or in recommending modifications in work
procedures for approval by supervisor.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

Education: Associate’s degree from a recognized college or technical institute. Each additional year of
approved formal education may be substituted for one year of required work experience.

Experience: Four years of experience in a service-oriented position such as paramedic, firefighter,

emergency medical technician, dispatcher, law enforcement, public safety, or a related field, involving a
high volume of interactive public contact, requiring the need for quick response and accuracy, as well as
multitasking ability, while working in a stressful environment; one year of which shall have been as a
Police Communications Specialist I. Each additional year of approved work experience may be
substituted for one year of required formal education.

License/Certification: Must obtain certification as a State Police On-Line Telecommunications Systems

Operator within six (6) months of hire.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
1) Selected candidate will undergo a criminal background check and motor vehicle record check in
order to ensure suitability for exposure to confidential information, in accordance with
department policy.

2) Prospective appointees must possess normal hearing and qualify in a controlled substance
screening test, as determined by the Bureau of Emergency Communications.

RECOMMENDED WORK TRAITS: Knowledge of the practices and procedures of communications.

Knowledge of the procedures and practices of information input and retrieval in a computerized
communications system. Skill in coding information for computer input or storage of information. Ability to
follow manuals and guidelines to operate telecommunications equipment. Ability to recognize unusual
conditions and react quickly and calmly in emergency situations. Ability to communicate clearly and
concisely. Ability to maintain accurate files. Ability to recall names, street addresses, vehicle license
numbers, and radio code signals. Ability to read and understand procedural manuals, computer screens
and written and typed messages. Ability to hear and understand messages under conditions of
background noise and distraction. Ability to perform mentally fatiguing and stressful tasks. Ability to
supervise, train, mentor, and evaluate the work of subordinate staff. Ability to establish and maintain
effective working relationships with associates, supervisors, police officials and the general public. Must
be willing to maintain appearance appropriate to assigned duties and responsibilities as determined by
the agency appointing authority.

DISCLAIMER STATEMENT: This class specification is descriptive of general duties and is not intended
to list every specific function of this class title.