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)
