Fugitive Apprehension Agent

Agency: Department of Corrections — Office of Inspector General. Location: Office of Security Threats Intelligence. Full-time, regular appointment.

About the role

Positions in this job family perform advanced-level specialized investigations to locate, apprehend, and return offenders who have escaped the custody of the Department of Corrections. Additional investigations cover criminal activities within state correctional facilities, administrative investigations of staff policy violations, and facility inspections for compliance with inmate security procedures.

Responsibilities

• Plan, conduct, and coordinate specialized investigations to locate, apprehend, and return escaped offenders.
• Gather and analyze information through interviews of cellmates, associates, relatives, visitors, and DOC employees; identify and interview others who may know the escapee’s whereabouts.
• Arrest and return escapees to DOC custody; testify in court regarding the investigation, apprehension, and escape prosecution.
• Coordinate and participate in undercover investigations, raids, and surveillance; obtain and execute arrest and search warrants and other court orders; prepare and present affidavits to District Attorneys; testify on new felony charges discovered during fugitive investigations.
• Assist federal, state, county, and city law enforcement agencies with criminal investigations occurring on DOC property or involving DOC employees, inmates, or community-supervised offenders.
• Plan and implement executive protection assignments when threats are made against the Director or Executive Staff, including intelligence gathering, static and mobile surveillance, shadow and bodyguard details, and security for visiting dignitaries.
• Assist the agency Legal Division with ongoing cases, including surveillance, record inquiries, and service of subpoenas in civil and criminal matters.
• Maintain a current record system of all escapees at large; maintain equipment in constant readiness; notify all law enforcement agencies of escapes.
• Conduct criminal investigations of crimes within correctional facilities (murder, rape, illegal drug use, robbery, theft, arson, fraud) and investigate accidents resulting in death or serious injury.
• Interview witnesses, suspects, and victims; secure crime scenes; mark and tag evidence to maintain chain of custody; prepare investigative reports; appear and testify in court.
• Conduct quarterly facility inspections to monitor security procedures; investigate alleged policy violations; research death row inmate information and prepare reports for the Governor; monitor inmate mail and telephone calls; maintain custody of contraband seized during searches; maintain urinalysis testing equipment and supplies.
• Collect information for initial threat assessment and entry into DOC data systems regarding inmates who pose a threat inside DOC or to outside communities.
• Collect intelligence on threat groups within DOC, including criminal street gangs, prison gangs, Mexican drug trafficking cartels, international and domestic terror groups, and other threats that may extend beyond DOC.
• Conduct preliminary investigations into individuals and groups involved in threat matters to determine if full criminal investigations are warranted.
• Respond to requests for information and assistance from outside law enforcement agencies.
• Develop and present training seminars on individuals and groups involved in threat matters.
• Assist in developing written products to help DOC and law enforcement identify threat actors and their tradecraft.

Qualifications

Level I

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 24 semester hours in any combination of penology, psychology, sociology, social work, criminology, education, police science, or criminal justice administration and one year of professional experience conducting criminal investigations for a city, county, state, or federal law enforcement entity;
• OR five years’ experience as a correctional officer within a state or privately owned correctional facility;
• OR an equivalent combination of education and experience (substituting one additional year of qualifying experience for each year of required education).

Level II

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 24 semester hours in the fields listed above and three years of professional experience conducting criminal investigations for a city, county, state, or federal law enforcement entity;
• OR ten years’ experience as a correctional officer within a state or privately owned correctional facility;
• OR an equivalent combination of education and experience (substituting one additional year of qualifying experience for each year of required education).

Level III

• Bachelor’s degree with at least 24 semester hours in the fields listed above and five years of professional experience conducting criminal investigations for a city, county, state, or federal law enforcement entity;
• OR fifteen years’ experience as a correctional officer within a state or privately owned correctional facility;
• OR an equivalent combination of education and experience (substituting one additional year of qualifying experience for each year of required education).

Skills

Level I — Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of investigation principles and techniques; federal and state laws on search and seizure; laws, rules, and regulations governing correctional operating units; interviewing methods for reports and background information; discipline methods for persons under restraint; use and care of firearms; deadly force and firearms safety practices.
• Ability to organize and present facts clearly and concisely (orally and in writing); evaluate situations and adopt effective courses of action; exercise alertness and respond quickly in emergencies; complete required agency training; maintain physical fitness for assigned duties.

Level II — Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• All Level I knowledge requirements.
• Ability to perform highly independent work; conduct several investigations simultaneously.
• Polygraph examinations conducted by employees assigned to this level.

Level III — Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• All Level II knowledge requirements, plus knowledge of a specific area of investigation practice (e.g., crime scene investigation, polygraph, cellular telephone forensics, computer forensics).
• Ability to provide consultation, training, mentoring, and oversight for other staff in complex investigation practices.

Pay

• Level I: $50,000.00 per year (non‑negotiable)
• Level II: $55,000.00 per year (non‑negotiable)
• Level III: $60,000.00 per year (non‑negotiable)

Schedule

Full‑time, regular position.