(A) Duties of Chief of Police.
(1) It shall be the duty of the Chief of Police to command and supervise the city police force under the direction of the Mayor, and to see that the duties of the members of the Police Department are properly performed.
(2) The Chief of Police is authorized and empowered, and it shall be his or her duty, to perform all acts required by statutes and ordinances, and such other duties as may be required of him or her by the Mayor and City Council.
(3) The Chief of Police shall be the custodian of all properties that come into his or her hands as articles of evidence, or that otherwise have been confiscated or delivered as being lost, abandoned, or stolen, which the Police Department is or it may be assumed to be under legal obligations to accept, hold, and safeguard until properly transferred, released, or otherwise discharged and discarded.
(4) The Chief of Police shall make, maintain, and deliver any reports and records required by statute, ordinance, the Mayor, or which may be requested by a federal, state, or county government agency or an official thereof. The Chief of Police shall be the custodian of the records of the Police Department.
(B) Duties of police officers.
(1) It shall be the duty of each member of the Police Department to acquire and have a general knowledge of the criminal statutes of the state and of the ordinances and regulations of the city; to use his or her best efforts to prevent the commission of offenses against the statutes of State of Kentucky and the ordinances and regulations of the City of West Buechel; to observe and enforce all such laws, ordinances, and regulations; to detect and arrest offenders; to maintain order within the city; and to protect persons within the city form violence and property from malicious mischief and damage.
(2) Each police officer under the supervision of the Chief of Police, is authorized and empowered and it shall be the officer’s duty, to do and perform all acts and things required of a police officer by state statute or by ordinance of the city, and the officer shall perform such other duties as may be required of a police officer by the Mayor or City Council.
(3) Each police officer shall be subject to call to duty in case of an emergency and such call shall be made by and at the discretion of the Mayor or Chief of Police.
(C) Duties of all members.
(1) The Chief of Police, or such member or members of the Police Department as the Chief may designate, shall be sergeant-at-arms at City Council meetings. The officer shall carry out all orders and instructions given by the Presiding Officer for the purpose of maintaining order and decorum at Council meetings. When directed by the Presiding Officer, it shall be the duty of the sergeant-at-arms or any police officer present, to place any person who violates the order and decorum of the meeting under arrest, and to cooperate in the prosecution of the offending person for disorderly conduct or breach of the peace.
(2) It shall be the duty of every member of the Police Department to appear as a witness whenever necessary in a prosecution for violation of a city ordinance, regulation, or order, or of a state or federal statute.
(3) It shall be the duty of every member of the Police Department to conduct himself or herself in a proper and law-abiding manner and to avoid the use of unnecessary force and conduct unbecoming a professional police officer during the performance of his or her duties.
(Ord. 77-82, passed 5-4-82; Am. Ord. 232-2010, passed 2-1-11)