The organization regulated herein shall be known as the "Port
Jervis Police Department."
The police force of the City of Port Jervis shall consist of
a Chief of Police and such police officers as the Common Council may
deem necessary. Police officers shall qualify and enter upon the performance
of their duties within fifteen (15) days after their appointment.
To be eligible for appointment as a police officer, a candidate
must fulfill the requirements of Section 58 of the Civil Service Law
of the State of New York. No police officer shall at the time of his
appointment or at any time thereafter be engaged or interested in
as owner or otherwise the sale of alcoholic beverages.
All members of the police force shall retire or may retire as
provided by the Civil Service Law, the Retirement and Social Security
Law or any other applicable law or regulation.
The Common Council shall, when a vacancy occurs in the police
force, appoint a successor from the civil service list prepared by
the Civil Service Commission of the City of Port Jervis.
The Chief of Police, under the direction of the Mayor, shall
be responsible for the supervision and operation of the Police Department
of the city. Among his duties he shall be responsible for the maintenance
and control of all vehicles, equipment and other property of the Department.
He shall keep an official "police blotter" in which shall be made
daily entries of all the proceedings of the Department and of all
the services rendered by him and the several members of the police
force. The Chief shall submit an annual report on the activities of
the Police Department and such other reports as the Common Council
may require.
If any member of the Police Department is charged with incompetency,
neglect of duty, insubordination, misconduct in office or conduct
unbecoming a police officer, the charge must be put in writing and
a copy thereof served on the accused officer and filed with the City
Clerk-Treasurer; it shall then be the duty of the Common Council to
hear, try and determine the charges according to the procedures prescribed
in the Civil Service Law of the State of New York. The accused officer
shall have the right to be present at his or her trial and to be heard
in person and by counsel and to give and furnish evidence in his or
her defense. The Mayor may issue subpoenas under his hand for witnesses
to sustain or refute the charge, and any such witness duly served
with a subpoena shall be bound to attend in obedience to the command
thereof, and the Mayor shall have the same authority to enforce obedience
to the subpoena and to punish for disobedience thereof as is possessed
by the City Court Judge in like cases. If the Common Council by a
majority vote shall find the accused officer guilty of the charge
made against him or her, it may order his or her suspension from his
or her pay as a police officer, for some definite time, or impose
upon him or her a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars ($250.),
or reduce his or her grade, or dismiss him or her from the police
force, or discipline him or her in any manner prescribed in the rules
of the Police Department which is not inconsistent with the laws of
the state or of the United States.
No member of the Police Department is liable to jury duty, nor
shall be or she hold any other office or be employed in any other
department of the city, county, state or federal government.
No member of the police force shall engage in any political
activity prohibited by law.
The members of the police force of said city shall possess in
every part of the State of New York all the common-law and statutory
powers of police officers, except for the service of civil process,
and any warrant for search or arrest issued by any magistrate of the
State of New York may be executed in said city by any member of the
police force of said city without any endorsement of said warrant
according to the terms thereof; they shall also have the same power
and authority which a marshal possesses in civil cases and special
proceedings, so far as serving and executing all process and papers
in any action or proceeding in behalf of the City of Port Jervis or
any officer of such city suing as such. In all cases in which they
are authorized to act, they shall possess the same powers, perform
the same duties and be subject to the same liabilities as marshals.
They shall execute the orders and commitments of the City Court Judge.
They shall convey all persons sentenced by said Judge to confinement
in any jail or place of confinement, and they shall serve and execute
all civil process or proceedings issued or directed by any officer
or court in said city in favor of said city, or in which said city
shall be a party. They shall enforce all local laws, ordinances and
resolutions of the City of Port Jervis and the laws of the State of
New York.
All criminal process for any offense committed within said city,
issued out of any court within said city, and all process, subpoenas.
warrants or otherwise, issued by the District Attorney of the County
of Orange or the Corporation Counsel of the City of Port Jervis relating
to any offense committed within said city, may be served by a member
of said police force.
The necessary expenses incurred in the execution of criminal
process shall be a charge against the city. No fees or compensation
whatever shall be charged or received by any officer or member of
the said police force for the arrest, confinement or discharge of
any person or for mileage and travel, or for serving any warrant,
subpoena or process, or for discharging any other duty required by
this Charter; nor shall any such fee or compensation be charged or
received by any officer or citizen for the arrest of any person charged
with crime, or for the service of any warrant, subpoena or other process
in any criminal case, other than as herein provided.
No member of the police force shall accept any present or award
for services rendered, unless with the consent of the Common Council,
such consent to be given in writing and filed with the City Clerk-Treasurer;
and any violation of these provisions shall be cause for a forfeiture
of his or her office or position. It shall be the duty of the Common
Council to declare such office or position vacant, and enter for the
record the cause of such forfeiture.
The Common Council may make such bylaws, rules and regulations
as may be necessary for the government of the police force, for regulating
the powers and duties of the officers, for uniforming them and for
the maintenance of good law and order in the city.
