(A) The Police Department is hereby established. The head of this Department shall be known as the Chief of Police, and the number of employees of the Police Department shall be determined by the Council, which may be changed from time to time. The Council shall have authority to increase the number of members of the Police Department for temporary duty when, in its judgment, an emergency exists for the preservation of life or property. The Chief of Police and all members of the Police Department shall have the powers and authority of police officers generally and shall perform the duties as are required of them by the Council, the City Manager or by law. The Chief of Police shall have general superintendence of the Police Department and custody of all property used and maintained for the purposes of the Department.
(B) The Council shall establish a voluntary police reserve within the city to be known as the “Waseca City Police Reserve” pursuant to the authority of the City Charter and the provisions of this section.
(1) The qualifications of the members of the Reserve shall be determined by the Council with the advice and consent of the Chief of Police. These qualifications shall include, but not be limited to over the age of 18 years, at least 20 hours of police, first aid and legal training, unimpaired physically and mentally and of high moral character.
(2) The size of the Reserve shall be determined by the Council. The Chief of Police shall be responsible for the administration.
(3) The duties and obligations of the members of the Reserve shall be to provide supplementary assistance at special events, traffic and crowd control, and administrative or clerical assistance. A reserve officer’s duties do not include enforcement of the general criminal laws or the state and the officer does not have full powers of arrest or authorization to carry a firearm on duty.
(4) Individual members may be used as deemed necessary by the Chief of Police, but the entire Reserve shall not be called out to duty except upon direct order of the City Manager or named designate. No member of the Reserve or the Reserve itself shall exercise any authority outside the limits of the city.
(5) Members of the Reserve shall receive no compensation for their services, except that they shall be covered by worker’s compensation insurance while on duty. Upon separation, the reservist may participate in the separation payment program which is based on years of volunteer service.
(`86 Code, § 2.29) (Am. Ord. 571, passed 3-16-88; Am. Ord. 675, passed 3-19-96; Am. Ord. 894, passed 12-20-05; Am. Ord. 993, passed 10-1-13)
Cross-reference:
Police Department fees, see § 34.01