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Jail officer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Below we've compiled a list of the most critical jail officer skills. We ranked the top skills for jail officers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 19.2% of jail officer resumes contained booking as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a jail officer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 jail officer skills for your resume and career

1. Booking

Here's how jail officers use booking:
  • Maintain safety and security of jail facility* Complete booking process for new inmates using computer* Supervise inmates and prepare inmates for transport
  • Use of computerized booking, inmate account management, inmate logs, word processing, and Excel reports.

2. Security Checks

A security check is the processing of manually or automatically checking if a person is armed before entering a building. It's also the checking of a perimeter to see if it's secure. It goes further into the investigation on the background of an individual before the person is employed in an organization to check if there's any criminal record of the person in the past.

Here's how jail officers use security checks:
  • Performed security checks and supervised inmates in a direct supervisory environment.
  • Initiated required preliminary security checks.

3. Security Procedures

A security procedure is a verification protocol used to check if an electronic signature, record, or performance belongs to that specific person. It is a set of necessary procedures that need to be performed to maintain security. These procedures are step-by-step guidelines on how to implement, enable, or enforce security.

Here's how jail officers use security procedures:
  • Adhere to and enforce departmental policies, security procedures, and oral and written orders.
  • Produced written reports on all activities with oral reports and emergency notifications delivered as directed by established security procedures.

4. Emergency Situations

Here's how jail officers use emergency situations:
  • Responded to emergency situations, including incidents involving inmate violence and personnel altercations.
  • Treated inmates calmly and effectively in normal and emergency situations.

5. Direct Supervision

Direct supervision is a term used to indicate that a person is supervising a certain task or a certain person while being physically present or in close proximity. It refers to the presence of a person and the availability of their supervision in something if it is needed.

Here's how jail officers use direct supervision:
  • Provide direct supervision to offenders classified from minimal security level to maximum security level
  • Managed the safety, security, welfare and supervision of adult offenders with direct supervision of 70-plus offenders.

6. Master Control

Here's how jail officers use master control:
  • Operate the Master Control panels and computers.
  • Maintained security and key control for the GEO operated state prison Master Control and Officer in Charge - Picket responsibilities.

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7. County Jail

Here's how jail officers use county jail:
  • Patrol facility and make rounds counting and recording prisoners coming into or out of the County Jail.
  • Maintained security in county jail.

8. Public Safety

Public safety can be defined as the well-being or protection of a community, citizen, or nation as a whole. There are 4 basic elements that come under public safety namely: national security, border policy, countering crime, and emergency management.

Here's how jail officers use public safety:
  • control movement of inmates, monitor cameras, maintain inmate, staff, and public safety
  • Job responsibilities-Protect public safety, I supervise approximately 144 inmates, maintain prison security and inspect the integrity of prison walls.

9. CPR

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR is a medical procedure that involves chest compression to help a patient breathe. This artificial ventilation helps in keeping the brain function in place and regulates blood throughout the body. CPR is a lifesaving procedure that is used in emergencies.

Here's how jail officers use cpr:
  • Certified in CPR, First Aid and use of Automated Electronic Defibrillators (AEDs).
  • Maintained First Responder and CPR certification.

10. Incident Reports

An Incident Report, in a medical facility such as hospitals and nursing homes, is a type of paperwork filled out immediately after and in the case of an incident of some sort, with the goal of describing the incident and its consequences, as well as the measurements taken after or during the incident, as well as any other information relevant to said incident. Such an incident might be a patient acting out or a patient being injured.

Here's how jail officers use incident reports:
  • Prepare Incident Reports concerning disciplinary action taken with inmates.
  • Prepared daily logs, incident reports, medical reports, and other legally binding paperwork.

11. Law Enforcement Agencies

Here's how jail officers use law enforcement agencies:
  • Communicated with District Attorney's office, Clerk of Court, Probation and Parole, and other law enforcement agencies.
  • Submitted prisoner information reports and records to judge and other law enforcement agencies, when requested.

12. POD

Here's how jail officers use pod:
  • Assisted in the training of new officers in daily operations as a pod officer.
  • Monitor the issuing and exchange of laundry and clothing within the Pod.

13. Cell Searches

Here's how jail officers use cell searches:
  • Patrol the jail, feed inmates also track daily activities, cell searches.
  • Performed pat downs, transported inmates, cell searches, monitored visitations.

14. Control Room

A control room, also known as an operations center, is a room that serves as central control and monitoring station for security, building, and other types of systems of a large facility or physical area. Control rooms act as the central nervous system of a facility and require a reliable and efficient communication system to effectively handle emergencies, as well as critical incidents and decisions.

Here's how jail officers use control room:
  • Managed control room that controlled every door in the jail house to allow access to certain individuals.
  • Open doors and sally port through a system we had in the control room.

15. Transport Inmates

Here's how jail officers use transport inmates:
  • Run the control board, help with the security of the jail, transport inmates, work with the inmate workforce.
  • Secure and transport inmates between jail facilities, hospitals, medical offices, and court facilities utilizing proper restraint equipment.
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List of jail officer skills to add to your resume

Jail officer skills

The most important skills for a jail officer resume and required skills for a jail officer to have include:

  • Booking
  • Security Checks
  • Security Procedures
  • Emergency Situations
  • Direct Supervision
  • Master Control
  • County Jail
  • Public Safety
  • CPR
  • Incident Reports
  • Law Enforcement Agencies
  • POD
  • Cell Searches
  • Control Room
  • Transport Inmates
  • Head Counts
  • Jail Facility
  • Security Rounds
  • NCIC
  • Correctional Facilities
  • Inmate Movement
  • Defensive Tactics
  • Emergency Calls
  • Court Appearances
  • Institutional Rules
  • Security Devices
  • Medical Appointments
  • Telephone Calls
  • Log Book
  • Release Inmates
  • Court Hearings
  • Screen Visitors
  • Appropriate Safety
  • Strip Searches
  • CCTV
  • Disciplinary Measures
  • Vcin
  • Jail Management
  • Medical Facilities
  • Pepper Spray
  • Cell Blocks

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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