A Chief Of Police is the title typically given to the top official in the chain of command of a police department. They plan, coordinate, supervise, and evaluate police department operations.

Chief Of Police Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real chief of police resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

  • Lead, train and mentore a team of 11 senior logistics and business consultants.
  • Plan, manage, develop, implement and revise the training FTO program, as needed.
  • Enable senior leadership to accomplish combat objectives.
  • Provide first aid and CPR to victims as necessary.
  • Investigate burglary and theft crimes with extensive attention to details.
  • Investigate state and federal narcotics violations on a DEA lead strike-force team.
  • Create a training curriculum in addition to require annual in-service and firearms training.
  • Maintain the combat readiness of 60 aircraft leading a team of 75 avionics technicians.
  • Serve as a certify patrol officer, school resource officer and mountain bike patrol officer.
  • Investigate burglary, fraud, and other crimes to support law enforcement and judicial evaluations.
  • Collect and analyze logistics information on behalf of unit commanding officer.
  • Provide informational speeches to service organizations and various groups regarding veterans' benefits and programs.
  • Prepare responses to congressional, presidential, and veterans service organization inquiries on behalf of veterans.
  • Develop a patrol base department into an organization with the ability to investigate any crime ranging from traffic violations to homicide.
  • Research contemporary technology to transition the organization to a computerize records management system integrate with mobile laptop computers in patrol units.

Chief Of Police Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 23% of Chiefs Of Police are proficient in Patrol, Public Safety, and Criminal Justice. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Empathy, and Good judgment.

We break down the percentage of Chiefs Of Police that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Patrol, 23%

    Developed a patrol based department into an organization with the ability to investigate any crime ranging from traffic violations to homicide.

  • Public Safety, 13%

    Directed a fifty-five-person workforce spanning four departments; Tribal Police, Security, Museum Security and Public Safety Dispatch Center.

  • Criminal Justice, 9%

    Initiated accreditation process with New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services

  • Law Enforcement Agencies, 8%

    Organized and co-chaired inter-governmental and agency forums for the benefit of local law enforcement agencies and information sharing.

  • Emergency Management, 4%

    Developed and implemented a school/active shooter manual including an emergency management plan for various high risk scenarios.

  • Police Services, 3%

    Directed, planned, organized and provided administrative direction and oversight for police services, security and law enforcement programs.

"patrol," "public safety," and "criminal justice" aren't the only skills we found chiefs of police list on their resumes. In fact, there's a whole list of chief of police responsibilities that we found, including:

  • The most important skills for a chief of police to have in this position are communication skills. In this excerpt that we gathered from a chief of police resume, you'll understand why: "police and detectives must be able to speak with people when gathering facts about a crime and to express details about a given incident in writing." According to resumes we found, communication skills can be used by a chief of police in order to "implement wireless communication and mobile data terminals in police units with the assistance of the oklahoma criminal justice resource center. "
  • Another commonly found skill for being able to perform chief of police duties is the following: empathy. According to a chief of police resume, "police officers need to understand the perspectives of a wide variety of people in their jurisdiction and have a willingness to help the public." Check out this example of how chiefs of police use empathy: "maintain a strong understanding of federal, state and local laws, as well as department policy and procedures. "
  • Another skill that is quite popular among chiefs of police is good judgment. This skill is very critical to fulfilling every day responsibilities as is shown in this example from a chief of police resume: "police and detectives must be able to determine the best way to solve a wide array of problems quickly." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "cultivated good community relations, appearing before civic, fraternal and other community groups. "
  • A thorough review of lots of resumes revealed to us that "leadership skills" is important to completing chief of police responsibilities. This resume example shows just one way chiefs of police use this skill: "police officers must be comfortable with being a highly visible member of their community, as the public looks to them for assistance in emergency situations." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical chief of police tasks: "promoted to chief of police to provide law enforcement leadership for this exclusive 326-resident community located in central michigan. "
  • Another common skill for a chief of police to be able to utilize is "physical strength." Police officers must be strong enough to physically apprehend offenders. A chief of police demonstrated the need for this skill by putting this on their resume: "strengthened department performance by: ensuring department complied with the criminal justice information system. "
  • See the full list of chief of police skills.

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    What Sergeant First Classs Do

    A platoon sergeant is responsible for monitoring the platoon on its daily operations, including their training and activities, evaluating their performance, and enforcing disciplinary actions to maintain the order of the group. Platoon sergeants work closely with a platoon commander, advising high-end strategic procedures to support the troops, including defense training and weapon tactics. They also coordinate with different units, especially on deploying the platoon for assignments and security duties to maintain the peace of the vicinity.

    In this section, we compare the average chief of police annual salary with that of a sergeant first class. Typically, sergeant first classes earn a $22,191 higher salary than chiefs of police earn annually.

    While their salaries may differ, one common ground between chiefs of police and sergeant first classes are a few of the skills required in each craft. In both careers, employees bring forth skills like law enforcement, professional development, and training programs.

    These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A chief of police responsibility is more likely to require skills like "patrol," "public safety," "criminal justice," and "law enforcement agencies." Whereas a sergeant first class requires skills like "us army," "combat," "platoon," and "logistical support." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

    Sergeant first classes tend to reach similar levels of education than chiefs of police. In fact, sergeant first classes are 3.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.6% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.

    What Are The Duties Of a Platoon Sergeant?

    The next role we're going to look at is the platoon sergeant profession. Typically, this position earns a higher pay. In fact, they earn a $18,281 higher salary than chiefs of police per year.

    Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Chiefs of police and platoon sergeants both include similar skills like "law enforcement," "professional development," and "training programs" on their resumes.

    In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences that are worth noting. For example, chief of police responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "patrol," "public safety," "criminal justice," and "law enforcement agencies." Meanwhile, a platoon sergeant might be skilled in areas such as "safety procedures," "combat," "weapons systems," and "nco." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.

    In general, platoon sergeants study at lower levels of education than chiefs of police. They're 6.5% less likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    How a Deputy Commander Compares

    The third profession we take a look at is deputy commander. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than chiefs of police. In fact, they make a $20,002 lower salary per year.

    While looking through the resumes of several chiefs of police and deputy commanders we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "law enforcement," "professional development," and "training programs," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

    There are many key differences between these two careers as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, a chief of police is likely to be skilled in "patrol," "public safety," "criminal justice," and "law enforcement agencies," while a typical deputy commander is skilled in "logistics support," "oversight," "combat support," and "human resources."

    Deputy commanders typically study at higher levels compared with chiefs of police. For example, they're 13.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.5% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

    Description Of a Co-Captain

    Now, we'll look at co-captains, who generally average a lower pay when compared to chiefs of police annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $27,823 per year.

    While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "patrol," "public safety," "criminal justice," and "law enforcement agencies" are skills that have shown up on chiefs of police resumes. Additionally, co-captain uses skills like championship, scholarship, all-conference, and soccer on their resumes.

    Co-captains reach lower levels of education when compared to chiefs of police. The difference is that they're 7.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree less, and 1.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.