District Attorney Investigator I - Extra-Help
Working as a District Attorney Investigator I
The District Attorney's Office is dedicated to providing the community with a safe place to live, while seeking truth and justice in a professional and ethical manner. As an Extra-Help District Attorney Investigator I, you will investigate sensitive cases pertaining to civil and criminal complaints, consumer fraud, public corruption, and related matters. Additionally you will:
- Perform investigations for pending criminal matters, serve civil papers, and make arrests as necessary
- Investigate, locate, and ensure victims and witnesses are available for interviews and court dates
- Conduct home visits and in-the-field surveillance to obtain information pertinent to the prosecution of cases
- Investigate locations and scenes of alleged crimes for evidence and to evaluate physical, material, and environmental factors relevant to cases
- Photograph and prepare charts and diagrams of crime scenes and events
- Participate in multi-jurisdictional task forces
What You Bring
The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced environment and possesses:
- Experience with Insurance Fraud, especially Workers Compensation and Auto-Insurance Fraud investigations
- Recent experience as a full-time law enforcement officer in California (as defined by Penal Code section 830.1.)
- Bilingual English/Spanish is highly desired
EXTRA-HELP EMPLOYMENT
Extra-help employees relieve or augment permanent staff. Temporary, extra-help employees are not in the classified civil service and do not have property rights to permanently allocated positions. In addition, they do not receive most employee benefits such as: long-term disability insurance coverage; accrual of vacation; participation in the County retirement program; or eligibility to take promotional examinations. Temporary, extra-help employees are limited in their employment to a maximum of one calendar year. These employees must be off of work for three months before they can be re-employed on an extra help basis. Extra-help employees who meet the eligibility requirements may qualify for a County contribution toward medical coverage.
This employment list may also be used to fill future extra-help positions as they occur during the active status of the list.
Minimum Qualifications
Experience and Education: Four years of recent, full time paid law enforcement work with a city, county, state or federal police agency. Experience in criminal or civil investigations, and academic course work or professional training in the behavioral sciences, law enforcement, and the techniques of investigations is highly desirable.
License: Possession of a valid driver's license at the appropriate level including special endorsements, as required by the State of California, may be required depending upon assignment to perform the essential job functions of the position.
Certificate: Possession of Basic Certificate issued by the California Commission on Peace Officer's Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.). Prior to the expiration of the probationary period, incumbents must also acquire a certificate of completion of the training required by POST for District Attorney Investigators.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
Working knowledge of: investigative techniques; interviewing principles and techniques; the principles of identification and the presentation of evidence; civil and criminal law; criminal attitudes and behavioral patterns and the social factors underlying criminal behavior; the penal, evidence, probate, and civil codes, as well as the code of civil procedure; the English language, its usage, syntax and grammatical structure; the legal rights of citizens as they pertain to the judicial process; legal procedures and the rules of evidence.
Some knowledge of: financial record keeping.
Ability to: conduct effective field investigations; analyze and interpret laws relating to investigations; establish and maintain effective working relationships with the general public and staff; obtain information through interview, interrogation and observation; enforce the law firmly, impartially and with tact; prepare basic factual reports in both written and oral formats; care for and use firearms when required.
Selection Procedure & Some Helpful Tips When Applying
- Your application information and your responses to the supplemental questions are evaluated and taken into consideration throughout the entire selection process.
- You should list all employers and positions held within the last ten years in the work history section of your application. Be as thorough as possible when responding to the supplemental questions.
- You may include history beyond ten years if related to the position for which you are applying. If you held multiple positions with one employer, list out each position separately.
- Failure to follow these instructions may impact your competitiveness in this process or may result in disqualification.
Please visit Getting a Job with the County of Sonoma to review more detailed information about the application, examination, and department selection processes.
The selection procedure will consist of the following examination:
An Application and Supplemental Questionnaire Appraisal (pass/not pass) will be conducted to evaluate each applicant's combination of educational coursework, training, experience, knowledge, and abilities which relate to this position to ensure satisfaction of the minimum qualifications for this position. Candidates who possess the minimum qualifications for the position will be placed on an extra-help employment list and referred to the department. The department may contact candidates from the employment list who possess the most appropriate job-related qualifications for further consideration.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
It is the policy of law enforcement departments (Sheriff, District Attorney, and Probation), in the County of Sonoma, that job candidates complete a thorough background investigation process prior to employment. This policy is imperative in order to keep the department's employees and the public safe, and to maintain high standards in the law enforcement community. Candidates referred to departments for a selection interview are typically required to sign authorization and release forms enabling such an investigation. Failure to sign prescribed forms will result in the candidate not being considered further for that vacancy. Reference information will not be made available to applicants.
The background investigation will include a thorough assessment of a candidate's personal, employment, educational, criminal, and credit history. The investigation may include, but is not necessarily limited to: use of prescription and/or other drugs, reports from former employers, friends, family members, educational institutions, law enforcement agencies, credit reports, court reports, public records search, and/or other relevant sources. Candidates must be honest and forthcoming about information that may arise during the background process. Deception during any portion of this process is grounds for disqualification, even after employment.
Depending on the assignment, candidates may be required to take a pre-employment medical examination and may be required to take a polygraph examination. All candidates for law enforcement positions are required to undergo drug testing as part of the selection process. Additionally, candidates may be required to take a pre-employment psychological and physical abilities examination. The results of these examinations and the background investigation shall be confidential and shall not be available to the candidate for review. Failure to pass the background investigation will eliminate a candidate from the employment process. You may also review the Job Classification Screening Schedule to determine the requirements for this position.
Any issues that arise during the investigation process will be assessed and judgment and discretion will be used to determine the employability of the candidate. Where there is evidence of a candidate's past use of controlled substances, many factors shall be used to determine the employability of the individual such as pattern of use, kind of drug used, circumstances of the start of the drug use, treatment, behavior and attitude since discontinuance, etc. Please note that a history of using controlled substances does not result in automatic disqualification from the selection process. Prior to disqualifying any candidate whose profile falls within the provisions of the policy, the candidate shall be given the opportunity to present any and all evidence of mitigating facts which the candidate feels should be considered by the hiring authority.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: As the largest employer in Sonoma County, the Board of Supervisors has adopted a vaccination and testing policy to help mitigate transmission of COVID-19. All County employees will be required to either have documented proof of full COVID-19 vaccination on file or consent to weekly COVID-19 testing.