[HISTORY: Adopted by the Board of Alderman of the City of Derby 9-23-1976
as Ch. 21 of the Charter and Revised Ordinances. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The Police Commissioners shall make all regulations for the conduct
and control of the Police Department and may at any time amend, rescind or
repeal any rule, provided that such rule shall not be inconsistent with the
laws of this state, the Charter, this Code or other ordinance of the city.
Before any rule or amendment of any rule shall take effect, it shall be posted
in a conspicuous place in the police office at least 24 hours.
The Police Commissioners shall make inquiry concerning the fidelity
and efficiency of each member of the police force, and shall encourage members
of the force in the faithful discharge of duty. They may, upon due inquiry,
approve any bill or part thereof relating to or contracted in behalf of the
Department, including any bill resulting from any property or physical injury
or sickness suffered by any member of the Department resulting from the faithful
discharge of duty of such member, including any expense incurred by any member
in defending any action brought on account of any act of any member of such
Department in the faithful discharge of duty, which bill or part thereof so
approved shall be paid by the city.
The Chief of Police and the Lieutenant of Police shall respectively,
before entering upon the duties of such offices, execute and deliver to the
city bonds in the sum of $1,000 and $500, with surety satisfactory to the
Board of Aldermen, conditioned upon the faithful discharge of their duties.
Each other member of the regular police force shall, before entering upon
his duties, execute and deliver to the city a bond in the sum of $200 with
surety satisfactory to the Board of Aldermen, conditioned upon the faithful
discharge of his duties.
The regular force of policemen shall be divided into two grades, namely
Grade A and Grade B.
Grade A shall include only regular patrolmen appointed by the Police
Commissioners to a permanent position as such, the compensation of whom shall
be a fixed salary and the hours of service determined by the Police Commissioners
not to exceed eight hours a day, five days a week. Members of this grade so
appointed shall not be removed from such grade except for cause and under
the conditions prescribed in the Charter.
Grade B shall include only regular patrolmen on duty part time with
compensation fixed by the hour.
The Chief of Police, under the direction of the Mayor and Police Commissioners,
shall have command and control of the Police Department and shall be held
responsible for its faithfulness and efficiency.
The Chief of Police is authorized to direct Grade A policemen to perform
extra police duties whenever, in his sole discretion and judgment, there is
an emergency and Grade B and supernumerary policemen are not readily available
to perform such duties. Grade A policemen performing such extra police duties
shall be compensated at the hourly rate of pay in effect for Grade B and supernumerary
policemen.
Each member of said force shall conform to the rules and regulations
of the Police Department and to this chapter or other ordinance of the city.
He shall use his best endeavors at all times to prevent crime, preserve the
peace, maintain good order and enforce all provisions of law. He shall secure
or assist in securing the detection, arrest or conviction of any offender
of any provision of law and assist each other member of the force in the discharge
of his duties. He shall aid the Mayor and execute his orders as conservator
of the peace of the city; obey all lawful orders of his superior officers;
notify any person whom he has reason to suspect of intending to commit any
breach of this chapter or other ordinance of the city or any criminal act
to desist; arrest without warrant any person for any offense when taken in
the act or upon immediate information of another and take the offender to
the police station; furnish the proper prosecuting officer the names of witnesses
of any offense and any information which he may be able to secure or which
he may have and which may be useful in the prosecution of any offender; to
report to the proper officer in charge at the police station any information
that may come to his knowledge of the violation of this Code or other ordinance
or of any law and any other matter that should properly come to the knowledge
of the Chief of Police or the officer in charge of the Department or station;
to abstain from slander; report in writing to the Chief of Police or the Police
Commissioners any breach of duty by any other officer of which he has knowledge
and to perform any other duty to which he may be assigned under any provisions
of law, including this chapter or other ordinances and rules and regulations
of the Department.
A. The Chief of Police shall keep an account of all the
expenses of the police force, police station and lockup, including any expenses
incurred by any member of the force in pursuing any alleged offender or in
securing him and placing him in the lockup or other place of confinement,
and including any necessary expense incurred in recovering or restoring stolen
property, except such items as may be taxable by the City Court. He shall,
at the end of each month, present to the Police Commissioners a proper bill
for the same against the city, certifying to the correctness thereof, with
vouchers accompanying the same if the same are required and may be had. Any
such bill approved by the Commissioners shall be paid in the same manner as
other bills against the city. The Chief shall cause any items of expense referred
to in this section which are taxable by the City Court to be presented to
such Court for taxation but in no other case shall any police officer receive
from the Clerk of the City Court any payment of expense or fees as an indifferent
person or otherwise, except as by law provided. The Chief shall keep the payroll
of the Department and biweekly shall present to the Police Commissioners,
for their approval and signature, payroll vouchers for each member of the
Department to whom any pay is due. Such vouchers, being approved by the Commissioners,
shall be passed and the account paid in the same manner as other bills against
the city.
B. The Chief of Police shall receive and keep, subject to
the order of the Commissioners, all property taken from any person under arrest
and all property recovered which may have been lost or stolen, including property
which may have been found or obtained for evidence, keeping a record of the
same, which records shall include a description thereof and of the circumstances
under which the same was taken, recovered, found or held, including its estimated
value and the disposition which may have been made thereof. He may discharge
any person arrested without a warrant when the offense is clearly of a trivial
character. He shall promptly report to the Commissioners each case of dereliction
of duty or of inefficiency, including also any complaint made to him against
any member of the Police Department.
C. The Chief of Police shall cause to be kept a book to
be known as the "Ordinance Book," which book shall be kept in the police office
and at all times open to the inspection of any officer of the city, in which
shall be entered all reported violations of this chapter or other ordinance,
with the date of the offense, the location thereof, the nature of the offense,
the name of the offender and the name of any witnesses thereof.
No person shall be appointed a member of the police force unless:
A. He is able to read and write the English language understandingly.
B. He is a citizen of the United States.
C. He has been a resident of the city for a term of two
years next prior to his application for appointment and an elector of the
city at the time of appointment.
D. He has never been convicted of crime.
E. He is certified by some competent physician to be in
good health, sound body and mind.
F. He is at least five feet seven inches in height.
G. He is of good moral character and habits.
[Amended 7-14-1987]
A. Each applicant for appointment to membership in the police
force shall present a petition in the following form which shall be signed
by not less than five citizens and taxpayers in the city:
|
To the Honorable Police Commissioners of the City of Derby.
|
|
The undersigned states that he was born on the .
day of and is therefore years of age. He respectfully
asks an appointment as supernumerary policeman in the Police Department of
the City of Derby and respectfully refers to the following:
|
|
NAME
|
ADDRESS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The undersigned, residents and taxpayers of the City of Derby, each
for himself respectfully certifies that he knows the above named applicant
and that he is of good moral character, of sober and industrious habits; that
he has never known him to be guilty of any criminal act or disorderly conduct,
that the undersigned is ready to appear at any time before the Commissioners
and to make affidavit to the truth of the representations herein made and
to furnish or be examined concerning any other information in relation to
the applicant.
|
|
NAME
|
ADDRESS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
B. The Derby Board of Police Commissioners shall accept
applications for positions in the Derby supernumerary police force from applicants
who live within an eight-mile radius of the Derby Police Station.
Any member of the police force may be punished by the Police Commissioners
in their discretion either by reprimand, forfeiture of and withholding of
pay not exceeding 30 days for any offense; by being reduced in rank or grade
or by dismissal from the force for any of the following offenses, namely:
intoxication; any act of insubordination or disrespect to a superior officer;
any act of oppression or tyranny; neglect of duty; violation of any rule;
neglect or disobedience of orders; any violation of any law, this Code or
other ordinance; absence without leave; immoral conduct or conduct unbecoming
an officer or conduct injurious to the public peace and welfare; mental, physical
or educational incapacity; any breach of discipline; contracting any debt
under any false or fraudulent pretense or refusal or neglect to pay any debt
for any necessity.
No member of the Police Department shall, while on duty, drink any intoxicating
liquor, or smoke while in uniform and on street duty, or enter any disorderly
house or place where intoxicating drinks are sold or furnished except in the
performance of duty.
Each member of the Police Department shall report immediately to the
Chief or officer in charge at the police station any information that may
come to his knowledge of the violation of any law, this chapter or other ordinance
and of other matters that should come to the knowledge of the Chief and of
which such member may have information.
No member shall communicate to any person not a member of the Department
any information respecting any order, regulation or any other matter affecting
any interest of the Police Department or of the city, which information has
been procured in the service of the Department of the city, except by permission
of the Chief of Police or a Police Commissioner; and no member of the Department
shall leave the city or absent himself from duty except with the permission
of the Chief except in the performance of duty, in which event he shall, as
soon as practicable, report such absence to the Chief and his reasons therefor.
No member of the Police Department, excepting the Chief of Police, shall
release from arrest any person having been placed under arrest, and any member
of the Department placing any person under arrest shall, without delay, take
or convey such person to the station house and deliver him to the officer
in charge or place such person within the lockup.
Whenever any person shall be arrested and taken to the police station,
the officer in charge or, if there is no officer in charge, the officer making
the arrest shall enter in a record kept for that purpose the name, residence,
occupation, age, height, weight, color of hair and eyes, complexion and nationality
of the person arrested, whether married or single, with the cause and date
of such arrest, including the name of the officer making the arrest and the
final disposition made of the person arrested. Any person so arrested shall,
if probable cause exists for the support of the complaint unless sufficient
bail is furnished conditioned for his appearance in court as provided by law,
remain in custody until the city court convenes, when complaint and due presentment
of such person shall be made to the court.
No member of the Police Department shall receive any fee, gift, reward
or compensation, directly or indirectly, from any person under arrest or against
whom any complaint or charge of violation of any law may have been made, for
any services which may have been rendered by such member as a police officer,
and no member of the Department shall receive any fee, gift, reward or compensation
on account of any services rendered by such member except with the permission
of the Police Commissioners.
The officers and members of the Police Department, excepting members
of Grade B and supernumerary policemen, shall work eight hours per day, five
days per week.
Members of the Police Department specified in §
37-20 shall
receive the following periods of absence with pay:
A. Not exceeding seven days per annum due to sickness.
B. Fourteen days for annual vacation, except in the case
of the Chief and Lieutenant of Police who shall receive 21 days for annual
vacation.
C. The following holidays: New Year's Day, Good Friday,
Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas
Day; provided, however, that such officers and members shall be required to
work an extra workday in every week in which any such holiday falls.
All time under §
37-21 shall be computed on a nine-hour-day
basis subject to the following conditions:
A. When any officer or member of the Police Department specified
in §
37-20 desires to absent himself from duty, he shall submit
his request therefor in writing to the Chief of Police for approval by him
and the Board of Police Commissioners, and in addition when sick leave is
requested beyond 48 hours, such request shall be accompanied with a certificate
from the attending physician giving the nature of the sickness.
B. Leave of absence may be obtained for less than a day
at a time, but in all cases such leaves shall be charged against annual or
sick leave as the case may be.
C. Any officer or member of the Police Department, excepting
members of Grade B and supernumerary policemen, injured while in the discharge
of duty, shall as soon as practicable, report in writing to the Chief of Police
the circumstances under which such injuries were received, including the time,
place and cause thereof, which report shall be accompanied by a certificate
describing the nature of the injuries made by the attending physician. The
Chief of Police shall forward such report and certificate with such other
information as he may have and recommendations as he may desire to make in
connection therewith to the Board of Police Commissioners and shall forward
a copy to the City Clerk. The Board of Aldermen upon the recommendation of
the Board of Police Commissioners may allow any such injured officer or member
such amount of compensation as will, with any compensation which may be allowed
under the provisions of law, not exceed the full amount of compensation of
such officer or member during such time as he may be actually incapacitated.
The Board of Aldermen may also allow to any member of Grade B or supernumerary
policeman injured while in the discharge of duty, subject to the conditions
of this section, such amount of compensation as will, with any compensation
which may be allowed under the provisions of law, be equitable under the circumstances.
The Chief of Police shall keep a true and accurate record of all leave
of absence taken by all officers and members and shall every three months
forward a copy of the same to the City Clerk for the information of the Board
of Aldermen.
No compensation shall be paid to any officer or member of the Police
Department for time absent from duty in excess of the periods limited herein
without the approval of the Board of Aldermen.
The Chief of Police shall designate such members of the force as he
may deem necessary to attend any fire, and any member of the force designated
to attend any fire shall, without delay, present himself at the scene of fire
and render all aid practicable in securing and protecting persons and property,
in preserving order and in preventing obstruction of members of the Fire Department
in the discharge of their duties. In the absence of any officer of the Police
Department, the senior patrolman present at any fire will assume command of
the police officers and will obey and execute all proper orders issued to
him by the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department or such Assistant Engineer
of the Fire Department as may be in command.
No organization shall be formed within the Police Department by the
officers or members thereof without the consent of the Police Commissioners.
All property lost or stolen, including all property taken from any person
arrested, including also all property coming by any means into the possession
of any member of the Police Department for which there is no proper claimant
or rightful owner, shall be delivered immediately, with all particulars relating
thereto, to the Chief of Police.
Any charge or complaint against any member of the Police Department
may be made to the Police Commissioners and shall be in writing, which shall
include a particular description of the acts or conduct complained of, and
under oath if required by the Commissioners. Any person making any complaint
against any officer or member of the Department shall furnish the Commissioners,
in writing, with the names and addresses of witnesses.
Whenever any officer or member of the Police Department shall resign
or be discharged from the service, he shall deliver all property in his possession
belonging to the Department to the Chief of Police or officer discharging
the duties of the Chief, who shall give a receipt therefor, upon presentation
of which receipt to the City Clerk such retiring or discharged officer or
member may be entitled to any compensation or salary due to him from the city.
No person discharged or dismissed from the Police Department for any
cause shall be eligible to appointment within two years after such dismissal
or discharge and then only as an original applicant.
Whenever any member of the Police Department may be entitled to any
reward under any provision of law, such member shall take any proper action
to secure the same. and when secured, such reward shall be disposed of by
the Police Commissioners as they may think proper.
[Amended 2-17-1994]
In the case of disability of the Chief of Police, the Lieutenant shall
perform the duties of the Chief of Police and shall be subject to the same
duties and exercise the same authority as the Chief of Police.
A. During the performance of said duties as Chief of Police,
the Lieutenant shall, in lieu of the salary established for Lieutenant, receive
the salary established for Chief of Police, provided that the Lieutenant has
held the position of Lieutenant for a period of not less than six months prior
to the commencement of receipt of the salary of the Chief of Police, and the
Lieutenant shall have served a minimum of 60 calendar days in performance
of the duties of Chief of Police prior to the commencement of receipt of the
salary of the Chief of Police.
B. Any vacancy in the office of Chief of Police shall be
permanently filled within 90 days of when said vacancy occurs, pursuant to
Section 48 of the Charter of the City of Derby.
A supernumerary policeman when on duty shall exercise the same authority
and discharge the same duties as required of any patrolman.
The appointment of any person who is unable to read or write as a supernumerary
policeman or any appointment of any supernumerary policeman or member of the
regular force not made in accordance with the provisions of this chapter shall
be void.
Each member of the Police Department shall be responsible for any property
of the city lost by such member.