Community Service Officer

BENEFITS OF WORKING FOR BERKELEY

Berkeley California is a small city with a big reputation. At just ten square miles of land and seven square miles of water Berkeley is famous around the globe as a center for academic achievement scientific exploration free speech and the arts and home to over 50 parks a top-ranked university and the largest public marina in the San Francisco Bay.

As an employer the City of Berkeley offers all the benefits of a career in the public sector while fostering diversity creativity and innovation. Join a team of high-caliber experienced staff with a shared mission of serving the Berkeley community and promoting an accessible safe healthy environmentally-sound and culturally-rich city.

Join us as a Community Service Officer (CSO) in the Berkeley Police Department! In this role you will have the opportunity to perform a wide range of duties both in office support and in the field to support various police functions. Assignments may include field services jail facilities property control community services crime scene or traffic control.

Community Service Officers are essential non-sworn members of BPD. By maintaining positive working relationships with City staff and the public CSOs help build trust in our community. With their ability to work with people of all backgrounds and stay calm under pressure CSOs provide invaluable contributions to the Department in their everyday work.

See the full job description here: Community Services Officer Job Classification

A typical way of gaining the knowledge skills and abilities for this position is:

Equivalent to graduation from high school and two years of progressively responsible work experience involving public contact and utilizing in-person telephone and/or written communication skills. Previous volunteer or paid experience in law enforcement emergency medical services military service probation counseling or similar work requiring extensive public contact is desirable.

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

Must successfully complete a psychiatric evaluation and a Police Department background investigation and medical evaluation. Must possess a valid California drivers license and have a satisfactory driving record. Must be willing to work evening graveyard weekend and holiday shifts for the 24 hour/day operational schedule. Must be able to obtain required Police Officer Standards and Training (POST) certification such as the Community Service Officer Academy Jail Correction Course which are conducted or recognized by the Berkeley Police Department and accept and apply the principles learned in training. Must be physically able to perform the work including lifting heavy objects and controlling violent individuals and possess the knowledge skills and abilities for the successful completion of duties assigned to the position.

1. Application review for minimum qualifications and required documents (qualifying experience will be calculated based on the administrative review date)
2. Competitive review of Supplemental question screening
3. Written Exam (multiple Choice and Writing Exercise) & Performance (Physical Agility Test) Exam held on same daySaturday December 13 2025

PRE-EMPLOYMENT PROCESS

Candidates under final consideration for employment with the City will undergo an employment background/reference check that may include but is not limited to: employment history confirmation of educational credentials and degrees licenses including drivers license registrations certificates other credentials credit check criminal history check and Live Scan fingerprinting.

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO) EMPLOYER

The City of Berkeley is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer. All employment actions shall be administered regardless of race color national origin ancestry religion age physical or mental disability or medical condition sex gender gender identity gender expression sexual orientation genetic information marital status pregnancy political affiliation veterans status or any other status protected under federal state or local law.

DISASTER SERVICE WORKER

All City employees are required to provide services as Disaster Service Workers in the event of an emergency/disaster.