Lateral or Exceptional Police Officer

About the role

The City of Lake Forest Park is seeking a Police Officer to join their team. Lake Forest Park Police employs 20 full-time commissioned Officers and 3 support staff members. Located on the Northshore of Lake Washington, the community offers low crime rates and a supportive environment for its officers.

Responsibilities

• Patrols the city to preserve law and order, prevent and discover the commission of crimes, and enforce traffic regulations.
• Provides assistance to citizens in critical and/or emergency situations where the security of lives and/or property may be endangered.
• Takes all steps necessary to preserve and control crime scene(s); assists in the initial investigation including the interview of victims, witnesses, and/or suspects.
• Enforces criminal, traffic, and parking laws and ordinances; investigates criminal activity and violations; issues citations and notices of infractions; prepares probable cause statements; books offenders into detention facilities.
• Operates a speed measuring device to discover speed violations; accesses law enforcement databases to determine stolen or wanted status of vehicles or persons.
• Aids drivers and pedestrians in difficulty; resolves or refers such situations to proper authorities.
• Directs traffic during abnormal situations such as natural disasters, accidents, fires, or periods of congestion; performs crowd control activities at public gatherings as warranted under particular circumstances including dispersal of unruly individuals or groups.
• Responds to any and all emergency calls including traffic collisions, altercations, robberies, burglaries, thefts, industrial or home injuries, water accidents, or deaths and other related emergency calls; takes appropriate reporting or enforcement action.
• Responds to personally sensitive calls such as family disturbances, missing persons, and domestic violence exercising caution relative to personal safety and safety of others at the scene; takes appropriate steps to calm the parties as necessary to resolve the immediate situation; takes appropriate reporting or enforcement action.
• Affirms the nature and urgency of the problem upon arrival at the scene of a call; immediately determines the circumstances and persons involved in relation to the nature of the call; determines if the situation warrants routine or emergency response and if other officers or a supervisor should be called to the scene.
• Prepares written, descriptive reports to a sufficient level of legibility and clarity so that others without knowledge of the incident or situation can readily comprehend the facts and assure that the reports can serve as the basis for subsequent investigations, court proceedings, and testimony.
• Provides court testimony about evidence, facts, and details in criminal or civil cases.
• Utilizes and maintains a variety of specialized equipment such as firearms, police vehicles, radios, baton, handcuffs, flares, breath testing devices, chemical sprays, still and video cameras, fire extinguishers and other authorized equipment according to established policies and procedures.
• Maintains proficiency in driving, the use of firearms, defensive tactics, and in arrest control techniques in accordance with departmental policies and procedures.
• Maintains physical abilities as set forth under working conditions (below).
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• United States citizenship or lawful permanent resident.
• At least 21 years of age by certification date of eligibility list.
• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Satisfactory completion of medical exam and drug screen by a licensed physician to ensure that no physical, emotional, sensory, or mental conditions exist which could preclude individuals from performing the essential job functions.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions.
• Possession of, or the ability to obtain a valid State of Washington Driver's License by date of hire.
• Driving record free of significant or serious moving violations.
• Personal record free of any crimes or convictions for crimes involving moral character such as theft, dishonesty, or history of regular usage of illegal/illicit drugs, etc. as stated in Civil Service regulations.
• Successful completion of oral, psychological, and polygraph tests as prescribed by the Police Civil Service Commission.
• Possession of or ability to obtain a Basic Law Enforcement School Certificate issued by the State of Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission.
• Out of state candidates, who have previously certified in another state, must pass the CJTC equivalency examination.
• Ability to satisfactorily complete field training in which methods, procedures, and techniques of law enforcement work are presented by field training officers.

Qualifications

• At least two years of service employed as full-time law enforcement officer in a police, sheriff’s, or other state law enforcement agency.
• Successfully completed probation and possess current basic certification upon application from the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission (WSCJTC), which can be obtained by successfully completing the WSCJTC Basic Law Enforcement Academy.
• If you have served in the military services of the United States or any other country, please provide dates to/from, branch, rank, discharge date, and discharge type. (Please attach copy of DD214 to online application.)

Skills

• Proficiency in driving, the use of firearms, defensive tactics, and in arrest control techniques.
• Ability to maintain physical abilities as set forth under working conditions.

Benefits

• Monthly Salary: $7,529 - $9,409 (2026 rates)
• 96 hours of paid vacation leave annually (with progressive increases)
• 104 paid holiday hours per year
• 96 hours of paid sick leave annually
• 110 hours Kelly Time off
• Specialty assignment (Detective/Traffic/SWAT/K9/Drone)
• Longevity pay after 6 years (2%+)
• Education pay (2% AA/4% BA)
• Bilingual pay ($1,000 annually)
• Retirement: Commissioned officers work under the LEOFF 2 Retirement System (DRS)
• 401(a) Social Security Replacement
• Optional 457 Deferred Compensation Plan (DCP) with a Roth option (City match up to $50.00 per month)
• Medical (employer pays 100% for employee and 90% for dependents)
• Dental/Orthodontics, Vision, Disability, Life Insurance, Long-term Disability and Employee Assistance Program (EAP) (employer paid at 100%)
• All uniforms and equipment issued by the department, followed by an annual uniform allowance of $850.

Pay

• Monthly Salary: $7,529 - $9,409 (2026 rates)

Schedule

• Work schedule consists of 12-hour shifts (3 on / 3 off rotation)