Historic Police Dept. Now Ready for Civilian Director

One of the country’s most progressive and historic law enforcement agencies has posted the job of Communications Manager, opening the position to a civilian for the first time. The Berkeley (Calif.) Police Department comm center handles police, fire and EMS dispatching for the city of 102,000 in the San Francisco Bay area. The comm center has four supervisors and 28 dispatchers, who have been managed by a police lieutenant most recently, and in previous times a police sergeant. Since August Vollmer became the department’s first police chief in 1905, Berkeley has been on the forefront of law enforcement procedures, education and technology, with credit for development of the lie detector and use of vehicle police radios starting in 1928. The new Communications Manager position follows a re-organization of the department after the appointment of a new police chief last January. Surf the city’s Human Resources Web page for full job information and a description of the application process, which closes Oct. 18th.