The police department of this city shall consist of the chief of police and such number of regular police officers as the city council may from time to time authorize by resolution.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:A)
All police officers shall be appointed by the mayor, by and with the advice and consent of the city council, at any time, and may be removed by the city council at any time.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:B)
Upon the appointment of any person as a member of the police department, it shall be the duty of the city secretary to issue him a certificate of appointment, signed by the mayor and attested by the city secretary, and such person shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe the official oath prescribed in the constitution of this state and in the city charter before some officer authorized to administer oaths, which oath shall be endorsed upon the certificate of appointment, and such certificate filed in the office of the city secretary.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:C)
(a)
It shall be the duty of all police officers to execute and make return of all process and orders issued to them by the city judge or other officer authorized to issue the same, and in the execution of their duties they shall be vested with and have all the power and authority conferred on “peace officers” by the laws of this state.
(b)
It shall be the duty of the police officers to attend the city court as witnesses against persons whom they shall have arrested, without being summoned, and, if any such police officer shall fail to appear at the trial of a person arrested by him, he may be attached and punished for contempt of court.
(c)
It shall be the duty of the chief of police and all police officers, on becoming cognizant of the violation of any law, ordinance, or provisions of the Code of Ordinances, to forthwith arrest, with or without process, any and all persons guilty of such violation, or of aiding, abetting or assisting therein, and to take such person or persons before the city judge or other competent tribunal within the city for trial.
(d)
It shall be the duty of the chief of police and all police officers to arrest without warrant all persons found in suspicious places and under circumstances which reasonably show that such persons have been guilty of some felony or breach of the peace, or threaten or are about to commit some offense against the laws, ordinances or provisions of the Code of Ordinances, and such officers shall arrest, with or without warrant, all violators of the public peace, and of the laws, ordinances or provisions of the Code of Ordinances of the city, and all who obstruct or interfere with them in the execution of their duties.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:D)
In the execution of their duties in arresting any person accused or suspected of crime, or in the suppression of any riot or unlawful assemblage, or in preventing any violation of law, the chief of police and all police officers shall have the authority to require the aid of any citizen or bystander.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:E)
The chief of police and all police officers are authorized to enter, in a peaceable manner, or with force if refused admittance after demand is made, any house, enclosure or place within this city in which any person who has committed or is suspected of having committed a felony may take refuge, or in which any felony has been or is about to be committed, or in which any alarm, outcry or disturbance is made.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:F)
In all cases of the arrest of any person without a warrant for a violation of any law, ordinance or provision of the Code of Ordinances of the city, the officer making such arrest shall forthwith take such person before the city judge for trial, if within the hours for holding city court; if not within such hours, such officer shall commit the person so offending to the city jail or calaboose, there to be securely kept until said court shall be in session, when he shall forthwith be taken before the court for trial; provided, the chief of police or officer making the arrest may take good and sufficient bail for the appearance of such offender before said court.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:G)
Whenever any person arrested shall have on or about his person any deadly weapon, the officer making the arrest shall take charge of the same and turn it over to the chief of police, who shall keep it subject to the order of the court. Should such weapon so taken remain in the custody of the chief of police for six (6) months without any lawful claimant therefor, the same shall be sold after five (5) days’ notice posted at the city hall and the proceeds thereof paid into the city treasury.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:H)
Police officers shall see that free passage for persons, animals and vehicles is at all times preserved on the streets, sidewalks or other public places in the city; shall use only such force as may be necessary to secure the arrest and detention of offenders; shall preserve order, peace and quiet in the city to the best of their ability; shall see that all offenders against the laws, ordinances and provisions of the Code of Ordinances of the city are promptly arrested and taken before the court for trial; shall obey the lawful orders of the mayor and chief of police; and shall perform such other duties as may be enjoined on them by the laws, ordinances and provisions of the Code of Ordinances of the city.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:I)
It shall be the duty of each and every member of the police department to arrest with or without warrant all persons found in suspicious places, or under circumstances which reasonably show that such person has been guilty of some felony or breach of the peace.
(1986 Code, ch. 8, sec. 5:J)