Corrections Officer

Doylestown, PA
Bucks County Department of Corrections

Salary: $62,000-$92,000 annually.

Position Summary:

  • General duty corrections work maintaining security and discipline in the Bucks County Correctional System on an assigned shift.
  • Work includes responsibility for supervising offenders at a work location, in housing units, transporting them to and from outside appointments and between institutions, and performing general tasks as required.
  • Work is performed under the supervision of higher-level corrections personnel.
  • Work involves regular exposure to unpredictable conditions and occasionally requires the expenditure of physical effort in restraining and subduing offenders.

Essential Functions:

  • Patrols an assigned area of any of the four correctional institutions; supervises offenders in housing units; and observes offenders to detect or prevent disturbances.
  • Escorts offenders throughout the institution; assists in maintaining order in recreation areas; enforces institution rules; and oversees the work of offenders in routine cleaning and laboring operations.
  • Stands watch to prevent escapes and to regulate the admission of visitors to the institution.
  • Operates security control centers, regulates the movement of individuals between areas of the prison/community corrections; maintains telephone, public address, and electronic communications; and maintains current records of offender population and their whereabouts.
  • May operate automotive equipment in transporting offenders and patrolling prison perimeter.
  • Ability to react to change productively and to handle other tasks as assigned.
  • Daily contact with incarcerated individuals and employees; meet and deal professionally with visitors and volunteers.
  • May be required to perform additional work that follows prescribed or well-established procedures that can be learned within a reasonable time by training on the job. More detailed instructions, as to the nature of the duties, will be given to employees at the beginning of work.
  • Occasionally requires physically restraining and subduing offenders.
  • Ability to adapt to changing technological innovations.
  • Ability to work forced overtime with little or no notice.
  • Ability to learn the attitudes and group habits of offenders in custody.
  • Ability to learn and enforce, with firmness and impartiality, a wide variety of correctional institution rules, regulations, and disciplinary measures.
  • Ability and willingness to carry out detailed orders.
  • Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with offenders and associates.
  • Ability to act quickly and calmly in an emergency.
  • Ability to read orders and instructions.
  • Ability to write understandable and readable reports.
  • This position carries a one-year probation period.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Requirements:

  • High school graduate or equivalent.
  • Keyboard skill of 20 WPM.
  • Basic skills for computer and mouse.
  • Requires a valid proper class motor vehicle operator’s license before appointment and during tenure as a Corrections Officer.
  • Ability to perform duties while “locked” inside a correctional facility in direct contact with incarcerated offenders.
  • Must complete the Department of Corrections Basic Training class.