How To Become A Patrol Police Sergeant: What It Is and Career Path

What is a patrol police sergeant and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Jill Myers

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a patrol police sergeant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $31.23 an hour? That's $64,968 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 20,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a patrol police sergeant?

Jill Myers

Director of the School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration

The more skill sets you have the better prepared you will be for future advancement and salary increases. Having a solid education, a bachelor of science degree in criminal justice and a masters degree will sometimes result in increased wages. Having federal certifications and competencies will enhance your opportunities and create potential marketability for your career. It is always a great skill set to have people skills, communication in both written and oral formats. It will enhance your ability to explain yourself in court, in the warrants one prepares, and with dealing with the public in all circumstances from victims and witnesses and suspects, to legislators, the funding sources like mayors and city council and the public at large.

ScorePatrol Police SergeantUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $64,968

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.37%

Asian 1.79%

Black or African American 10.61%

Hispanic or Latino 15.77%

Unknown 3.93%

White 66.53%

Gender

female 18.18%

male 81.82%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.3

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a patrol police sergeant

Explore patrol police sergeant education requirements

Most common patrol police sergeant degrees

Bachelor's

52.1 %

Associate

23.9 %

High School Diploma

9.9 %

Start to develop specific patrol police sergeant skills

Skills	Percentages
Patrol	64.34%
Law Enforcement	7.69%
Field Training	6.93%
Public Safety	5.90%
Emergency Situations	3.61%

Complete relevant patrol police sergeant training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New patrol police sergeants learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a patrol police sergeant based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real patrol police sergeant resumes.

Research patrol police sergeant duties and responsibilities

Orchestrate the day to day demands, managing deficiencies/opportunities and prioritization of unit operations throughout specific target areas within NYC.
Patrol assign area making person to person contact within community and businesses.
Monitor and investigate suspicious persons and situations, safety hazards and unusual or illegal activity in patrol area.
Orchestrate the day to day demands, managing deficiencies/opportunities and prioritization of unit operations throughout specific target areas within NYC.

Prepare your patrol police sergeant resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your patrol police sergeant resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a patrol police sergeant resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable patrol police sergeant resume templates

Build a professional patrol police sergeant resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your patrol police sergeant resume.

Apply for patrol police sergeant jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a patrol police sergeant job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do patrol police sergeants rate their job?

5/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Patrol police sergeant reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2023

Pros

Nobody listens to me because we are friends, now they are putting me a the position to charge them

Cons

It’s hard

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2020

Cons

How political the job has become. There isn’t a correct way to do your job. Almost everyone wants to get you fired. It’s annoying.

5.0

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020

Pros

I truly enjoyed my time on the regional swat team. Although I was not an operator, I was assigned to the team as a certified FBI Negotiator. This further enhanced my people skills which will make me an asset to any company.

Cons

If I had to pick one thing, it would be working holidays and weekends which took me away from my children.

What is a patrol police sergeant and how to become one

What general advice would you give to a patrol police sergeant?

Patrol police sergeant career paths

Key steps to become a patrol police sergeant

Explore patrol police sergeant education requirements

Most common patrol police sergeant degrees

Start to develop specific patrol police sergeant skills

Complete relevant patrol police sergeant training and internships

Research patrol police sergeant duties and responsibilities

Prepare your patrol police sergeant resume

Choose from 10+ customizable patrol police sergeant resume templates

Apply for patrol police sergeant jobs

How did you land your first patrol police sergeant job

Average patrol police sergeant salary

How do patrol police sergeants rate their job?

Patrol police sergeant reviews