Description

The City of Prairie Village is seeking a strategic, high-integrity leader to serve as Police Commander. This command-staff position is responsible for the comprehensive management of a major department division—Patrol, Investigations, or Staff Services—ensuring the safety of the community and the professional development of our personnel.

The Role

As a Commander, you will report directly to the Chief of Police, overseeing the daily operations and long-term strategic direction of your assigned division. You will serve as a bridge between executive leadership and field operations, ensuring that departmental goals are met through effective resource allocation and personnel supervision.

Key Responsibilities

Operational Leadership: Direct either the Patrol Division (including Traffic and K9) or the Investigations Division (including Detectives and School Resource Officers), or the Staff Services Division (including Dispatch, Records, Training and Hiring).
Personnel Management: Mentor and evaluate commissioned officers and professional staff; oversee training, scheduling, and disciplinary processes.
Strategic Planning: Develop division goals, propose budget items, and implement policies that anticipate future community needs.
Quality Control: Ensure strict compliance with department rules; review use-of-force and pursuit reports; and investigate internal complaints.
Community Engagement: Maintain strong public relations with citizens, the media, and partner government agencies.

Qualifications & Skills

Expertise: Extensive knowledge of modern law enforcement principles, applicable laws, and emergency response procedures.
Leadership: Proven ability to supervise diverse teams, solve complex problems, and make decisive judgments in high-pressure situations.
Communication: Exceptional written and oral skills for report writing, public presentations, and internal briefings.
Technical Proficiency: Skilled in the use of police equipment, firearms, and modern law enforcement software/technology.
 

Working Conditions

Schedule: Standard business hours with on-call availability after hours for emergencies and guidance.
Environment: A mix of office-based administrative work and field-based operational monitoring.
Physical: Must remain in good physical condition to perform law enforcement duties and handle occasional exposure to adverse weather and high-noise environments.

Minimum Qualifications:

Completion of a bachelor’s degree in police science, law enforcement, criminal justice, public administration or related field from four-year college or university; eight years experience as a police officer; two years experience at the rank of Captain or higher.  Completion of basic law enforcement training academy.

You will be redirected to our ADP Career Center for your application process, which will also provide a FULL JOB DESCRIPTION and a list of PROVIDED BENEFITS.

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Requirements

Nature of Work:

The Commander shall be responsible for the command of a Police Department division.  The Commander shall be responsible for the continuous enforcement of laws and ordinances, protection of life and property and the preservation of peace within the City of Prairie Village.  Performs administrative, management and operational duties in the supervision of commissioned police officers, civilians, and professional staff in their performance of Department functions and activities.  The Commander shall be directly responsible for the inspection and control of the assigned division and compliance of that division with all Department rules, regulations, policies and procedures.  Is responsible for the overall direction, coordination and evaluation of the division.  Carries out supervisory responsibilities in accordance with the organization’s policies and applicable laws.  Responsibilities include training employees; planning, assigning and directing work; appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints; and resolving problems.

Responsibilities and Primary Duties/Functions:

• Oversees and directs the supervision of either the Patrol Division, Investigations, or Staff Services Division.
• Develops goals, programs and suggestions that improve services, by anticipating future needs and events.  Works with the Chief of Police to propose and implement the suggestions in the form of proposed budget items, consolidation or expansion of services, and revision of procedures.
• Prepares long- and short-range goals and objectives for units.
• Oversees the Division scheduling.
• Monitors training needs within the Division, reporting needs to Professional Standards Sergeant.
• Conducts Divisional staff meetings with appropriate supervisors and other members of the division.
• Counsels assigned personnel, giving both positive and negative feedback on job performance on regular basis.
• Assists assigned personnel in setting and achieving job goals.
• Performs duties as assigned by the Chief of Police.
• Is responsible for preparing supervisory evaluations and reviewing evaluations completed by supervisors of their employees.
• Assists in the planning, coordination, supervision and evaluation of Police Department and division operations and in the development of policies and procedures.
• Coordinates the information gathered and work accomplished by various employees; assigns employees to special projects as the needs arise for their specific skills.
• Assigns and schedules employees to work units and hours which provide optimum effectiveness in terms of current situations and circumstances governing deployment.
• Directs the development and maintenance of systems, records and legal documents that provide for the proper evaluation, control and documentation of Police Department operations in assigned area.
• Receives, investigates and reviews complaints against members of the division; administers and recommends discipline, where appropriate, to the Chief of Police; prepares formal reports concerning disciplinary issues and related investigations.
• Conducts training and provides coaching and guidance for subordinate personnel.
• Prepares and submits periodic reports to the Chief of Police regarding the Department’s and division’s activities.
• Reviews and monitors budget expenditures and ensures that budget control measures are adhered to; prepares budget information related to the needs of the division.
• Provides effective performance evaluations for subordinate members of the division and forwards them to the Chief of Police in a timely manner.
• Provides briefings to the Chief of Police regarding activity of the division and problems related to deficiencies, misconduct or substandard performance.
• Periodically works with Division employees to ensure a thorough knowledge of the community and problems and to monitor the environment faced by employees; enforces the laws and ordinances personally and through direction of others.
• Conducts research, monitors professional literature and attends conferences to keep abreast of current trends in the field.
• Analyzes and recommends improvements to equipment and facilities as needed.
• Under direction of the Chief of Police, provides control and coordination of the entire Prairie Village Police Department in the Chief’s limited absence.
• Establishes and maintains a good public relations image for the Department and the division, which includes cooperating with all other city and governmental agencies, news media, and individual citizens in areas of mutual awareness.
• Designates equipment for use by the division to ensure: proper maintenance of such equipment, periodic replacement of such equipment, proper use, and to make recommendations for acquisition of special, new or necessary equipment.
• As a member of the Department Command Staff is responsible for the planning and development of Department-wide policies and objectives, along with implementation of same as they pertain to his/her division.
• Coordinates with supervisors and other members of the division the identification of training needs and in cooperation with the professional standards sergeant provides appropriate in-service and formal training programs to accommodate such needs.
• Assures that appropriate response is made to requests for service and emergency situation in compliance with department procedures.
• Conduct those studies, including statistical tabulations, necessary to identifying the efficiency or defects of the department policies and procedures.
• The employee is occasionally exposed to outside weather conditions.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate in the office and field, with occasional exposure to loud noises, i.e., discharge of firearms and use of sirens.
• On call after normal duty hours to provide guidance or response as necessary.
• Performs other related duties as required.

 Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Thorough knowledge of modern law enforcement principles, procedures, techniques and equipment; considerable knowledge of applicable laws, ordinances and Department directives.
• Skill in the use of tools and equipment as follows:  police car, portable and mobile radios, radar device, handgun and other weapons as required, handcuffs, cellular phone, first aid equipment, telephone and personal computer, including various application software.
• Ability to train and supervise subordinate personnel; ability to perform work requiring good physical condition; ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing; ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships, with judgment in evaluating situations and in making decisions; ability to give verbal and written instructions.
• Prompt and regular attendance on the job is expected of each employee and each is expected to timely complete all job assignments.
• Ability to read, analyze and interpret general business periodicals, professional journals, technical procedures or government regulations.
• Ability to write reports, business correspondence and procedure manuals.
• Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers and the general public.
• Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions and percentages.
• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram or schedule form.

 A Captain will be assigned to one of the following three divisions:

 Investigations Division

• Oversees and directs the supervision of the Investigations Unit (detectives), the Special Investigations Unit, D.A.R.E. Unit, School Resource Officers, Crime Prevention Unit, and the Crime Analyst.
• All members of the Investigations Division report directly to the Investigations Commander.

Patrol Division

• Supervises the activities of the Patrol Unit, Mission Hills Units, Traffic Unit, Patrol Operations, Directed Patrol, Canine Unit, and Community Services Officers.
• Reviews all vehicle pursuits and use-of-force reports within the Division.
• The Patrol Supervisors, Traffic Sergeant, and Patrol Operations Sergeant report directly to the Patrol Commander.

 Staff Services Division

• Supervises the activities of the Professional Standards Sergeant (training and hiring), Communications Unit (dispatch), Records Unit, Property Room, and Accreditation Sergeant.
• The Professional Standards Sergeant, Communications Supervisor, and the Accreditations Sergeant report directly to the Staff Services Commander.

A Captain will be assigned by the Chief of Police to act as the TRT (Tactical Response Team) Commander and oversee and direct the TRT team leaders for optimal team performance.

Minimum Qualifications:

Completion of a bachelor’s degree in police science, law enforcement, criminal justice, public administration or related field from four-year college or university; eight years experience as a police officer; two which have been at the rank of sergeant at Prairie Village or two years experience at the rank of Captain or higher if hired from outside the Prairie Village Police Department.  Completion of basic law enforcement training academy.