Police Cadet

About the role

The Gaithersburg Police Department is seeking candidates who are interested in a future career as a Gaithersburg Police Officer to be considered for the position of Police Cadet.

Cadets perform a variety of hands-on administrative, technical, and other tasks supporting the functions, services, and operations of the Gaithersburg Police Department while gaining insight and awareness into a law enforcement career and various phases of law enforcement.

Responsibilities

• Learn and receive instruction on the City of Gaithersburg Police Department's organization, chain of command, and rules, regulations, and procedures.
• Participate in classroom and field training to learn law enforcement principles, departmental procedures, and community policing strategies.
• Observe and assist during patrol operations, traffic control, and community engagement activities.
• Shadow officers during calls for service, investigations, and special assignments for learning purposes.
• Provide administrative, technical, or other clerical tasks in support of department functions and services when not attending ride-alongs; work may include, but is not limited to, routine office assistance such as filing, copying, faxing, and scanning documents; answering a multi-line telephone; providing assistance or routine information to callers or visitors to the Police Department; performing data entry tasks; maintaining police related records; conducting research; and preparing reports.
• Report all contact with law enforcement officers.
• Participate in special training programs as assigned.

Qualifications

• Be at least 18 years old (at the time of hire).
• Have the ability to lawfully become employed in the United States.
• Possess a valid driver's license and good overall driving record.
• Be in excellent physical and mental condition as determined by comprehensive examinations.
• Be able to meet the established vision standards required to successfully perform police officer tasks including passing tests for color vision (including a 14-panel Ishihara Vision Test for color blindness), acuity, binocularity, stereopsis (depth perception), and other vision skills.
• Have graduated from an accredited high school, or possess a high school diploma recognized by the Maryland Department of Education or a General Equivalency Diploma (GED).
• Be of good moral character, with no felony convictions or misdemeanor convictions for which a sentence of imprisonment for one year or more could have been imposed.
• Not be a current user of illegal drugs.
• Pass a comprehensive background check.
• Be attending or will attend (as soon as eligible) an accredited community college, college, or university in an area of concentration that will prepare you for a law enforcement career; classes are not limited to criminal justice programs.
• Be able to work evenings, weekends, and holidays, as needed.