(a) The Police Department shall consist of the Police Chief and such other police officers as the Village Council shall authorize.
(b) Total hours authorized to be worked by the Chief of Police and other Police Department officers shall be authorized by Council. Federal wage and hour laws shall be adhered to as to payment of officer’s salaries, wages and overtime.
(c) The Chief of Police shall be the head of the Police Department, and such duties and/or orders as he may give shall be obeyed by all other members of the Department.
(d) The Mayor, as Chief Village Law Enforcement Officer, is the executive head of the Police Department. The Mayor shall exercise control over the Police Department through oral or written directives issued to the Police Chief. The Mayor may authorize the Village Administrator to assist him in seeing to it that his directives are understood and carried out.
(e) The dispatch or answering service shall be hired or contracted by the Village Administrator and shall be under the direct orders of the Mayor, or the Mayor’s designee. Dispatchers shall keep a complete register of all phone calls received concerning police or fire matters and shall transmit this register to the Mayor monthly, or sooner, if so directed.
(f) The Chief shall be responsible for scheduling shifts set for the personnel of the Police Department. During each shift, each officer will be allowed sixty minutes for one meal, and it will be their duty to notify the dispatcher when they are going to eat and when they return to duty.
(g) Any request for salary increases shall be made through the Mayor to Council.
(h) The duties of all police officers shall be to preserve the peace of this Village and to enforce all ordinances enacted by Council and all laws of the State of Ohio.
(i) The Chief of Police shall:
(1) Follow all of the rules governing all members of the Police Department in this Chapter of the Village Codified Ordinances;
(2) Make monthly reports on arrests, phone calls, accidents, and other pertinent matters to the Mayor and Council in writing;
(3) See that all the rules and regulations of the Police Department are carried out completely and correctly by his subordinates;
(4) Take full responsibility for the training and equipping of all new members of the Police Department;
(5) Summarize the monthly reports to the Mayor and Council in a yearly report to be delivered to the Mayor no later than February 1st of each year;
(6) Accept and discharge such other duties as Council may lawfully see fit to assign.
(7) Cooperate fully with the Village Administrator in undertaking and discharging any and all assignments as directed by the Mayor.
(j) The following rules and regulations shall govern all members of the Police Department:
(1) No alcoholic beverage shall be consumed while on duty;
(2) No person shall report for duty either under the influence of alcohol or when having the smell of alcohol on their breath;
(3) Every member of the Department shall conduct all police business of the department in a professional manner at all times, and shall maintain good moral character and shall take no actions that reflect adversely on the Department;
(4) No member of this Department shall transmit any information concerning any matter brought to the attention of the department to any person except to another police officer or to the Mayor or to one to whom the Mayor shall direct the information to be given; requests for information under the state public records law shall immediately be referred to the Police Chief, the Mayor or the Village Administrator for response;
(5) Every phone call or personal complaint shall be kept in writing, with full information regarding the incident, and such report shall show time, date, and subject matter of complaint or report, the name of the officer taking report, and action taken on matter. All reports shall be filed daily before the officer leaves duty, and shall be given to the officer who either relieves or takes over for the officer going off duty. The Police Chief shall keep all such reports and tabulate them in his monthly report to the Mayor;
(6) The front and back doors of all business places in the Village shall be checked after each store has closed. The finding of any door open or of any other unusual occurrence shall be noted and the owner contacted immediately. The officer shall, if at all possible, remain at the scene until the owner appears;
(7) The Village street lights shall be checked nightly and any lights not burning shall be logged by pole number when available, with proper and prompt notice being given the power company;
(8) In the event of a fire alarm, the police officer on duty shall aid the Fire Department insofar as practicable when it will not interfere with other necessary police duties;
(9) The following rules shall be in effect in regard to the patrol car:
A. It shall be kept at least one-half full of gas at all times;
B. It shall be serviced at least every 2,000 miles.
C. Whenever it is left standing, the keys shall be removed, and, if not in the direct view of the officer on duty, it shall be locked;
D. It shall be kept clean; this shall be the primary duty of the 12-8 shift man;
E. Each officer shall log the number of miles traveled during his shift; this shall be done daily and submitted to the Chief of Police.
(10) The sidewalks and the interior of the jail shall be kept clean. The cleaning of the jail shall include the lavatories and the stools. This duty shall be assigned by the Chief of Police. The sidewalks in front of the jail and the Fire Department shall be swept and kept clear of snow, this being the duty of whichever officer is on duty at the time of the snow.
(11) No police officer shall loiter in any business place or other residence.
(12) No police officer shall visit their home except for the sixty minute meal break and only then after the police dispatcher has been notified. The operator should be informed as to their whereabouts at all times.
(13) No person, other than a sworn police officer, a member of the Village Police Auxiliary or a person who is being transported after being placed in custody, shall be allowed to ride in the police patrol car without the direct permission of the Village Administrator or the Mayor;
(14) A mutual aid police agency or the sheriff’s department shall be contacted for aid, backup or assistance, by any officer on duty when that officer has reasonable cause to believe it is necessary to request such assistance to protect himself, or to protect any other police officer, or to prevent injury or harm to the public, or to prevent harm to public or private property;
(15) Each police officer shall become familiar with the use of all of the various firearms authorized for use by Village officers. The Village will provide ammunition for this familiarization;
(16) Each officer, when relieved by another officer, shall inform their relief of all pertinent information occurring during their shift;
(17) Each officer coming on duty shall contact, personally, by radio or by phone, the officer from the immediately preceding shift that he/she is relieving, to obtain pertinent information about investigations or other matters needing follow up by the relieving officer;
(18) Switching hours may be done with the permission of the Chief;
(19) A minimum of one day off duty shall be provided each officer each week, except in time of emergency;
(20) All arrests and warning shall be documented in writing;
(21) All arrests for misdemeanors where a citation is issued and the person cited is not taken into custody shall be set for initial hearing at a date previously assigned or scheduled by the Village Magistrate or by the Bowling Green Municipal Court. If necessary, bond shall be set for appearance on said date from the bond schedule issued by said Magistrate or Court.
(22) A written receipt shall be given by any officer taking any monies for the Village.
(23) It shall be the duty of each officer to personally conduct a public relations campaign for this department. No officer shall publicly degrade any member of this Department. Complaints or concerns must be brought to the attention of the Chief of the Mayor.
(24) All grievances shall be handled by the Mayor or at the Mayor’s direction by the Mayor’s designee and/or by Village Council as required by law.
(25) Any officer violating any of these rules and regulations will be subject to disciplinary action taken in accordance with the provisions of Ohio R.C. Sections 733.35 through 733.39.
(26) All officers will comply with and/or follow such other lawful rules, regulations and policies issued by order of the Mayor and approved by Council.
(27) If an officer on duty requires assistance, he/she shall first summon any other Village officer then on duty in the Village; if no other officer is on duty, then the Chief of Police; if the Chief is not available, then the next officer scheduled to come on duty; if that officer is not available, then a mutual aid agency if available;
(28) All officers shall log in writing, all calls made from the police phone; said log shall be kept by the Chief and turned over to the Mayor at the end of each month.
(29) All records of this Department shall be kept intact and shall not be shown to any unauthorized person. Newspapers requesting information, shall be given the basic facts on any matter then under investigation provided disclosing that information will not adversely affect the conduct of the investigation. Requests for additional or more detailed information shall be referred to the Chief. When in doubt, refer the information request to the Chief or a superior officer.
(30) No Village patrol car will be parked at or near the residence of any police officer, except in an emergency or during that officer’s sixty minute meal break.
(31) Each officer shall complete the required affidavits for each arrest.
(32) All accidents shall be investigated and the required reports and forms completed; affidavits shall be filed against the parties or persons clearly at fault.
(k) Every officer shall be between the ages of twenty-one and sixty-five years of age and shall furnish a certified copy of his/her birth record or other adequate evidence thereof.
(l) Every officer shall familiarize themselves with all existing Village ordinances and state laws so that he can readily enforce the same. (Ord. 07-34. Passed 11-20-07.)