Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers

What the job really is

Maintain order and protect life and property by enforcing local, tribal, state, or federal laws and ordinances. Perform a combination of the following duties: patrol a specific area; direct traffic; issue traffic summonses; investigate accidents; apprehend and arrest suspects, or serve legal processes of courts. Includes police officers working at educational institutions.

At a glance

• Sector: Protective Service
• O*NET-SOC code: 33-3051
• O*NET job zone: 3 — medium preparation
• Work sample tasks on file: 12
• Tools and technologies listed: 12

What you actually do

Work sample tasks recorded for this occupation:

• Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts.
• Provide for public safety by maintaining order, responding to emergencies, protecting people and property, enforcing motor vehicle and criminal laws, and promoting good community relations.
• Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities.
• Render aid to accident survivors and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries.
• Review facts of incidents to determine if criminal act or statute violations were involved.
• Investigate illegal or suspicious activities.
• Monitor, note, report, and investigate suspicious persons and situations, safety hazards, and unusual or illegal activity in patrol area.
• Testify in court to present evidence or act as witness in traffic and criminal cases.
• Relay complaint and emergency-request information to appropriate agency dispatchers.
• Monitor traffic to ensure motorists observe traffic regulations and exhibit safe driving procedures.
• Drive vehicles or patrol specific areas to detect law violators, issue citations, and make arrests.
• Execute arrest warrants, locating and taking persons into custody.

Tools and technology

Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word, 35 millimeter cameras, All terrain vehicles ATV, Audio recording equipment, Automated external defibrillators AED

What employers expect you to already be comfortable with.

Where this job leads

Related occupations — the usual moves up and sideways:

• Detectives and Criminal Investigators
• First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
• Transit and Railroad Police
• Bailiffs
• Private Detectives and Investigators
• Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists
• Correctional Officers and Jailers
• First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers

Getting in

O*NET assigns this occupation job zone 3 (medium preparation). The related occupations above are the realistic routes in and out.

Find openings

Browse the verified job sources directory, or explore more occupations.

Check this against the source

O*NET OnLine: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers — the authoritative public-domain profile this page is derived from, including the full task list, reported skills and the wage estimates for your region.

Derived and rewritten from the public-domain O*NET database (U.S. Department of Labor / Employment and Training Administration). Figures are observations, not promises — always confirm salary, licensing and visa requirements with the employer and the relevant authority.