You Think You Got Odd Duties?

[SecTrainer]

Boys and girls, forgive me because I've posted this before, but I get such a giggle out of reading this every time the job gets posted that I can't help myself.

If you think you have "nonsecurity" jobs to perform, you probably wouldn't want to be a county park ranger in Washington. (On a more serious note, though, you'll be able to see why a county park is probably the best place in the world to commit a crime).

Seems like we regularly have openings for this job...I can't imagine why:
_______________________

Essential Job Duties:
▪ Performs law enforcement duties [HAH-HAH!] such as issuing citations for park violations, investigations of illegal dumping on park properties, checking on report of timber theft and patrolling assigned park areas for public safety and compliance of day-use parking and camping fees. Also follows up on failure to pay notices and issues citations as warranted by code.

▪ Cleans, sanitizes restrooms, replenishes towels, toilet tissue, soap and other supplies; empties waste baskets; collects and disposes of garbage and litter; cleans picnic shelters; clears trails and sweeps, rakes and picks up trash from grounds; cleans fire rings and fireplaces. [Note that "garbage and litter" in most parks is comprised of used condoms, drug paraphernalia, crap-filled Huggies, partially-filled propane cannisters, broken bottles, dog piles and other sundry pleasantries left behind by week-end revelers.]

▪ Mows, edges, trims, irrigates and fertilizes lawns; weeds planting beds; irrigates and fertilizes and maintains a variety of flowers, plants, shrubs and trees.

▪ Inspects park grounds, play equipment, ball fields and facilities; corrects or reports unsafe or unsanitary conditions.

▪ Makes minor repairs to picnic tables, benches, garbage receptacles, play structures and other structures.

▪ Operates trucks, tractors, power mowers, chain saws, line trimmers, and other small power equipment; may provide minor equipment repair.

▪ Answers questions and provides information on the county park system to park users; opens and closes park gates.

▪ Renders First Aid, CPR, or other emergency assistance as necessary. ["If you'll pardon the brown stuff under my fingernails, ma'am, I'm just going to apply this bandage....]

▪ Maintains required records and prepares routine reports.

▪ Installs and maintains signs.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The work is performed primarily outdoors in all types of weather. Employees will work evenings, weekends and holidays as required. ["...as required"?? Think about it - we're talking about parks here, people...]

____________

I have a couple of relevant degrees, two state police academies, countless certifications and years of relevant experience for the (obviously incidental) LE aspects of the job, but I probably wouldn't qualify for this job. You see (I blush to confess) I've always had a heck of a time replacing the line in my Weed-Whacker. I just get it threaded onto the spool, and SPROING! It's all over the garage.

I see it now: "Ranger Cadet, you have FAILED the Weed-Whacker lock-and-load test. We cannot trust you with this dangerous weapon. You also didn't do too good with Sweeping. Kindly turn in your rake, your hoe, and depart from our midst forever. Oh - and leave the broom too, please." <Titters and cat-calls of "LOSER!" burst forth from the assembled ranger cadets as I shuffle off in shame, denied forever the joy of scrubbing human waste and other bodily emissions from the walls and ceilings of park restrooms.>

I know! I'll go home, crap in some Huggies, throw 'em out on the lawn with some half-eaten hot dogs and a few used condoms (if I can remember how those things work), and pretend that I'm a ranger, picking them up! I can be a ranger in my own private little park! YEAH! Gimme my Smokey hat. What's that? No, not the Weed-Whacker.

Oh, and you also have to go through LE academy before you can be issued your toilet brush...so where do you think people go after they've done that and have a year or so of weeding, mowing and toilet scrubbing under their belts? Uh....police departments, maybe? Could this be a teensy clue to the turnover? Hmmmm?

Does anyone happen to know if a duty belt baton ring will fit a toilet brush? I like to keep mine ready for action at all times.

[Guest]

SecTrainer

All those non-LE duties are why we enlist the services of convicts down here in Texas. Who woulda thunk? Let the criminals clean up the mess and let the cops be cops...

[Michael Ledgerwood]

Actually the Snohomish County park rangers which you are refering to is a really sought after job. The pay is very good and so are the benefits. I have talked to some of them and you rarely perform maintenace tasks - thats what the parks department is for. They put that in there because you might have to perform some maintenance in the outlying parks in bewtween maintenance staff visits. They are the only "maintenance staff" i have seen driving around with blue lights and sirens.

Don't knock a job based on its description - you might find yourself seriously misled.

[SecTrainer]

Actually the Snohomish County park rangers which you are refering to is a really sought after job. The pay is very good and so are the benefits. I have talked to some of them and you rarely perform maintenace tasks - thats what the parks department is for. They put that in there because you might have to perform some maintenance in the outlying parks in bewtween maintenance staff visits. They are the only "maintenance staff" i have seen driving around with blue lights and sirens.

Don't knock a job based on its description - you might find yourself seriously misled.

Thanks, Mike. I've talked to them too, in fact had some in seminars, and got a very different story. They actually do quite a bit of scutt work. The pay is only average for this area (about same as court bailiff) and considerably less than most starting LE jobs (almost $1000 per month less than starting pay for Snohomish County deputies, for instance). And the "blue lights and siren" have nothing to do with anything unless you're impressed by such things, which I'm not.

You can't be "misled" by a job description, Mike. If it's in there, it's in there and you can be required to do it at any time. I advise everyone, when you're applying for any job, to ask for a copy of the job description, because that's what "job description" means...the duties your employer will expect you to perform, whatever the "mix" might be.

Nice to have your perspective, though! There's always two sides to every story.

[Michael Ledgerwood]

Thanks, Mike. I've talked to them too, in fact had some in seminars, and got a very different story. They actually do quite a bit of scutt work. The pay is only average for this area (about same as court bailiff) and considerably less than most starting LE jobs (almost $1000 per month less than starting pay for Snohomish County deputies, for instance). And the "blue lights and siren" have nothing to do with anything unless you're impressed by such things, which I'm not.

You can't be "misled" by a job description, Mike. If it's in there, it's in there and you can be required to do it at any time. I advise everyone, when you're applying for any job, to ask for a copy of the job description, because that's what "job description" means...the duties your employer will expect you to perform, whatever the "mix" might be.

Nice to have your perspective, though! There's always two sides to every story.

Don't get me wrong, I am sure they do their share of the scutt work. Personally the only thing I would have a problem with is cleaning the bathrooms. I would enjoy the maintenance side of it. I'm happy anytime I get to use power tools - I guess I have a little Tim Taylor in me . I did my scutt work when I was a CSO for a PD, I cleaned my share of bathrooms. Didn't mean it was a bad job, in fact it is to this day the best job I have had.

I agree with you, when applying for a job one should read the requirements carefully, but it doesn't mean its a bad job. I wouldn't leave my current job for this but I wouldn't discourage someone from persuing it either ( personally I would rather be an Everett Park Ranger ). By the way - are you fellow Washingtonian?

[craig333]

Doesn't sound too bad to me. Job descriptions are funny things. Even the ones that sound great usually include that one little line that gets you "and other duties as required".

[SecTrainer]

Don't get me wrong, I am sure they do their share of the scutt work. Personally the only thing I would have a problem with is cleaning the bathrooms. I would enjoy the maintenance side of it. I'm happy anytime I get to use power tools - I guess I have a little Tim Taylor in me . I did my scutt work when I was a CSO for a PD, I cleaned my share of bathrooms. Didn't mean it was a bad job, in fact it is to this day the best job I have had.

I agree with you, when applying for a job one should read the requirements carefully, but it doesn't mean its a bad job. I wouldn't leave my current job for this but I wouldn't discourage someone from persuing it either ( personally I would rather be an Everett Park Ranger ). By the way - are you fellow Washingtonian?

Yeah, I guess it's probably a fine job for someone, but it's an still odd assortment of job duties even for a park ranger and I was just having a little fun with it. To be honest, I wouldn't be interested even in a "normal" park ranger job.

"Yes ma'am, that tall thing with the leaves is a tree. That thing over there? That's a rock, ma'am. Pardon? The animal by your tent? You mean the big black one that's chewing on your husband's leg? That is a bear, ma'am. Glad to be of service, ma'am. Oh, and please ask your husband not to feed the bears in the future. They might develop a taste for human legs, and we have signs all over the place - oops! (Heh-heh...I probably should put that sign back up. It's one of my job duties!)"

Gak!

Couldn't find any info about Everett park rangers, incidentally.

[HotelSecurity]

They are not the only profession that is sometimes called to do extra duties. Up until a few years ago the then 29 cities on the island of Montreal had there own fire departments. Some were very very quiet. Some of those cities began to have 1 or 2 teams of firemen patrol the city, acting as eyes & ears for the police & public works. Some had them handing out parking tickets at the same time. Mine, had them shovel snow from around the fire hydrants.

Then we were forced to become part of Montreal. The big union in the fire department stopped all these rxtra duties. Now the hrdrants stay unshovled. The boroughs have had to hire by-law enforcement officers to give out the tickets & act as the eyes & ears for the police & public worksé (Of course taxes had to go up to pay for the extra employees). In the mantime the firemen that work 14 hour overnight shifts are allowed to sleep 8 of those hours.

Something good about the park ranger position however is that they warn the people before hiring them. Not like what has happened in hotels where it seems every year someones comes up with something else for us to do to make us look busy. (The problem in our work is that you can never prove what you have prevented).

[Black Caesar]

No different than what Texas Parks and Wildlife Rangers do. We don't have County level park rangers.

Park Ranger/Park Police Officer is a stepping stone to Game Warden.

---

Park Specialist I-II (Lead Ranger/Park Police Officer)

Applicants for this position are required to consent to a criminal background check. An applicant who has been convicted of a criminal offense relevant to the position may be disqualified from employment.

Additional vacancies that occur during this posting will be filled with the pool of applicants within this posting period.

* NOTE: REPOSTED POSITION. PREVIOUS APPLICANTS WILL BE CONSIDERED. PLEASE DO NOT REAPPLY. CHANGES TO MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS.
* Position Title: Park Specialist I-II (Lead Ranger/Park Police Officer)
* Posting Number: 08-04-047
* Posted: January 16, 2008
* Closes: 5 p.m. February 14, 2008
* Class/Salary Group: 2687-2688/B6-B8
* Salary: $2,711.54-$3,112.89/Mo. *Salary may be higher depending upon applicant's qualifications.
* Division: State Parks
* Position Location: Franklin Mountains State Park, 1331 McKelligon Canyon Rd., El Paso, TX 79930
* Hiring Contact: Butch Farabee
* Phone: 915/566-6441
* Fax: 915/566-1849
* E-Mail: [email protected]
* General Position Description: Under the direction of the Park Superintendent, this position is responsible for park security, administrative, interpretive, maintenance, and repair duties at Franklin Mountains State Park. Responsibilities include conducting patrols, performing enforcement actions in the park, and public relations as dictated by visitation patterns, developing and implementing interpretive programs, and assisting with all aspects of the daily operations of an overnight recreational park. Provides customer service, develops and maintains productive partnerships with park partners and the local community, collects revenue, registers guests and provides on and off site public interpretive programs. Performs maintenance to park facilities such as cleaning restrooms, camp sites, and other park grounds, performs grounds maintenance and routine equipment maintenance and repairs. Provides public safety coverage as a commissioned park police officer. Enforces laws in relation to the agency and those of the State of Texas and insures compliance with Department and park policies. Performs additional duties as assigned. Career Ladder from Park Specialist I to Park Specialist II is available one year after TPWD commissioning and meeting required eligibility.

* Minimum Qualifications:
o Education: Graduation from an accredited four year college or university with a bachelor's degree. Acceptable Substitutions: TPWD employees hired prior to January 1, 1998 may substitute one year of TPWD experience in Park Management, Supervision or Operations for thirty semester hours of the required education with a maximum substitution of sixty semester hours. Preferred Education: Graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor's degree in one of the following: Park Administration, Recreation and Parks, Wildlife/Fisheries Science, Natural or Cultural Resource Management, Forestry, Biology, Anthropology, Archeology, or History.
o Experience: Park Specialist I: (1) No experience required; Park Specialist II: (2) One year as a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department Commissioned State Park Police Officer. Acceptable Substitution: Thirty semester hours from an accredited college or university may substitute for each year of the required experience, with a maximum substitution of two years. Preferred Experience: (1) Customer service experience; (2) Park operations experience; (3) Experience in interpretation or conducting educational programs.
o License/Certifications: Must have a current license from Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education (TCLEOSE) or be able to obtain within one year; (2) Must possess or be able to obtain, within 30 days of employment, a valid Texas class "C" driver's license; (3) Must be able to legally operate a state vehicle; (4) Must be a citizen of the United States. Federal law requires that new employees present original documents that establish identity and US employment eligibility; (5) Must meet minimum qualifications for Park Police Officer commissioning by Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD); (6) Must not have had a commission license denied by final order or revoked, or have a voluntary surrender of a license currently in effect; (7) Must be of good moral character and not have any of the following incidents in their criminal history: (a) a conviction for any Felony, or Class A Misdemeanor offense at any time; (b) conviction for any Class B Misdemeanor offense within 10 years prior to the date of application, which includes convictions for DWI (driving while intoxicated), DUID (driving under the influence of drugs) and BWI (boating while intoxicated); (c) conviction for any family violence offense; (d) currently on court-ordered community supervision, probation or parole for any criminal offense above the grade of Class C Misdemeanor; (8) Must not have been discharged from any military service under less than honorable conditions; (9) Twenty-one years of age or older; (10) Must successfully pass a comprehensive background check; (11) Must be examined by a department approved licensed psychologist and be declared to be in satisfactory psychological and emotional health for law enforcement duty; (12) Must be examined by a department approved licensed physician and be declared to be physically able to perform the duties of a state park police officer; (13) Recommended candidates not currently employed with TPWD will be required to successfully pass a physical agility test: (a) Before being allowed to take the physical agility test, the applicant will be required to provide a description of the test to a physician and obtain a written medical clearance; (b) A detailed list of requirements can be obtained by contacting TPWD Human Resources Department. Note: Retention of this position is contingent upon obtaining and maintaining the required licenses.
----------------------

The last Ranger I spoke to (At Cedar Hill State Park) told me he only does the off the wall stuff during emergencies, most of the time he's just Park Police. When I asked him about the job description (I was thinking of applying, this was about 7 years ago) he said "that stuff is in there so they can do something to you if you refuse an order when the other park departments are understaffed, if they fire a cleaner or two someone has to do it".

But hey, at least they tell you that stuff up front. When I got the job as a jail guard at the county jail I thought I'd be guarding inmates, I ended up driving a bus and a delivery truck. When I asked why I was doing that, they simply pointed out the "other duties as assigned" part of the job description. I left there and went somewhere were the employer didn't do that....

[Mr. Security]

...... Some of those cities began to have 1 or 2 teams of firemen patrol the city, acting as eyes & ears for the police........

Not a good idea because it could result in firemen being targeted for violence. As it is, firemen have been sniped at or mistaken as police because of the similarity in uniform.

[Justice_Hound]

Park Ranger

Boys and girls, forgive me because I've posted this before, but I get such a giggle out of reading this every time the job gets posted that I can't help myself.

If you think you have "nonsecurity" jobs to perform, you probably wouldn't want to be a county park ranger in Washington. (On a more serious note, though, you'll be able to see why a county park is probably the best place in the world to commit a crime).

Seems like we regularly have openings for this job...I can't imagine why:
_______________________

Essential Job Duties:
▪ Performs law enforcement duties [HAH-HAH!] such as issuing citations for park violations, investigations of illegal dumping on park properties, checking on report of timber theft and patrolling assigned park areas for public safety and compliance of day-use parking and camping fees. Also follows up on failure to pay notices and issues citations as warranted by code.

▪ Cleans, sanitizes restrooms, replenishes towels, toilet tissue, soap and other supplies; empties waste baskets; collects and disposes of garbage and litter; cleans picnic shelters; clears trails and sweeps, rakes and picks up trash from grounds; cleans fire rings and fireplaces. [Note that "garbage and litter" in most parks is comprised of used condoms, drug paraphernalia, crap-filled Huggies, partially-filled propane cannisters, broken bottles, dog piles and other sundry pleasantries left behind by week-end revelers.]

▪ Mows, edges, trims, irrigates and fertilizes lawns; weeds planting beds; irrigates and fertilizes and maintains a variety of flowers, plants, shrubs and trees.

▪ Inspects park grounds, play equipment, ball fields and facilities; corrects or reports unsafe or unsanitary conditions.

▪ Makes minor repairs to picnic tables, benches, garbage receptacles, play structures and other structures.

▪ Operates trucks, tractors, power mowers, chain saws, line trimmers, and other small power equipment; may provide minor equipment repair.

▪ Answers questions and provides information on the county park system to park users; opens and closes park gates.

▪ Renders First Aid, CPR, or other emergency assistance as necessary. ["If you'll pardon the brown stuff under my fingernails, ma'am, I'm just going to apply this bandage....]

▪ Maintains required records and prepares routine reports.

▪ Installs and maintains signs.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The work is performed primarily outdoors in all types of weather. Employees will work evenings, weekends and holidays as required. ["...as required"?? Think about it - we're talking about parks here, people...]

____________

I have a couple of relevant degrees, two state police academies, countless certifications and years of relevant experience for the (obviously incidental) LE aspects of the job, but I probably wouldn't qualify for this job. You see (I blush to confess) I've always had a heck of a time replacing the line in my Weed-Whacker. I just get it threaded onto the spool, and SPROING! It's all over the garage.

I see it now: "Ranger Cadet, you have FAILED the Weed-Whacker lock-and-load test. We cannot trust you with this dangerous weapon. You also didn't do too good with Sweeping. Kindly turn in your rake, your hoe, and depart from our midst forever. Oh - and leave the broom too, please." <Titters and cat-calls of "LOSER!" burst forth from the assembled ranger cadets as I shuffle off in shame, denied forever the joy of scrubbing human waste and other bodily emissions from the walls and ceilings of park restrooms.>

I know! I'll go home, crap in some Huggies, throw 'em out on the lawn with some half-eaten hot dogs and a few used condoms (if I can remember how those things work), and pretend that I'm a ranger, picking them up! I can be a ranger in my own private little park! YEAH! Gimme my Smokey hat. What's that? No, not the Weed-Whacker.

Oh, and you also have to go through LE academy before you can be issued your toilet brush...so where do you think people go after they've done that and have a year or so of weeding, mowing and toilet scrubbing under their belts? Uh....police departments, maybe? Could this be a teensy clue to the turnover? Hmmmm?

Does anyone happen to know if a duty belt baton ring will fit a toilet brush? I like to keep mine ready for action at all times.

I am PROUD to have served as a park ranger and PROTECTED its vistiors and resources. I am PROUD to have started to clean restrooms and CATCHED rapists in the act. I am PROUD to have weed wacked for 15 hours a week and MITIGATED potential thousand acre wildfires. I am PROUD to have fixed the broken park bench and PREVENTED an injury to an innocent park patron.

I was PROUD to have a SHOVEL in the bed of my truck and a MOSSBERG 500 in the CAB.

Taking pride in the enviroment that you work in, putting it into action day after day, heat and rain, confused tourist and drunk drivers alike, is called CRIME PREVENTION. How many more crimes happen in the slums of your community? The same thing applies to our parks.

Today I am proud to be a security professional, I was proud to be a LE Officer, but I was the PROUDEST to be "just" a PARK RANGER.

[HotelSecurity]

Not a good idea because it could result in firemen being targeted for violence. As it is, firemen have been sniped at or mistaken as police because of the similarity in uniform.

I have never heard of a police officer being snipped at in Montreal so I giuess it never occurred to us that it could happen to a fireman. I doubt they would be mistaken for police anyway since their vehicles were red (with the exception of 1 city that was yekllow) where police cars were white & blue.

[NRM_Oz]

Our parks rangers are all just State based and apart from cleaning the dunnies, shower blocks and checking on camping grounds for fees (many people scamper before 0700 to avoid payment), bush fires are a major issue here so they work with reporting on smoke and checking for camping fires. Pay is about average entry police here and rotational shifts but we all have botanic guards which have their own trusts and ranger / LE (infringement notices only) but these are scattered and mainly parking cost collection and information work. Normally you need to be interested in botanical stuff as well and grow a beard to look like a cave man - some women included. 1 camping ground, the ranger was good as I always had the billy boiling (pot) for a hot cup of tea (when he came around) as part from cleaning the BBQ hotplates, checking on water supplies, and the fees, he did not have alot to do besides ordering more sawmill offcuts for the wood piles.

[SecTrainer]

Normally you need to be interested in botanical stuff as well and grow a beard to look like a cave man - some women included.

ROTFLMAO.

[EMTGuard]

They are not the only profession that is sometimes called to do extra duties. Up until a few years ago the then 29 cities on the island of Montreal had there own fire departments. Some were very very quiet. Some of those cities began to have 1 or 2 teams of firemen patrol the city, acting as eyes & ears for the police & public works. Some had them handing out parking tickets at the same time. Mine, had them shovel snow from around the fire hydrants.

Then we were forced to become part of Montreal. The big union in the fire department stopped all these rxtra duties. Now the hrdrants stay unshovled. The boroughs have had to hire by-law enforcement officers to give out the tickets & act as the eyes & ears for the police & public worksé (Of course taxes had to go up to pay for the extra employees). In the mantime the firemen that work 14 hour overnight shifts are allowed to sleep 8 of those hours.

When I worked for the local City Fire Department about 3 years ago I had plenty of chorse similar to what you mentioned. We worked 12 hour shifts and the Mayor didn't like the idea of paying us to just sit around.
So the day crew often took a fire truck out with a weed eater and ant poison. They would spend most of the day weedeating around fire hydrents and spreading ant pioson on any ant nests near the hydrants.
At night we would "patrol" the city streets making note of any streetlights out and marking the poles with yellow Fire Line tape so the Maintance crews could replace the light later. We would also note any other problems or violations we came across and turned in the report each morning to the Chief who would pass it on to the different city departments each week.
I once spent about 8 hours on day with the Water and Sewer department driving around in a Fire Department Tanker truck using it's 2,000gallon water supply to flush sewer lines.
Another time I went out in the Department Brushfire truck which was a 4 wheel drive pickup truck with a 300 gallon water tank and pump system in back. I drove and the Chief sat in back and we wet down dusty gravel roads so the citizens wouldn't complain about the heavy amount of dust everytime a car drove down the road.
The City Maintiance department recently bought an old used fire engine for tasks such as watering the citys flower beds and the parks. Until then the Paid Fire fighters were taking out a truck and spraying down the flowers and grass.