Post job

Police captain vs sergeant

The differences between police captains and sergeants can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a police captain has an average salary of $87,076, which is higher than the $48,557 average annual salary of a sergeant.

The top three skills for a police captain include patrol, public safety and law enforcement agencies. The most important skills for a sergeant are safety procedures, patrol, and direct supervision.

Police captain vs sergeant overview

Police CaptainSergeant
Yearly salary$87,076$48,557
Hourly rate$41.86$23.34
Growth rate3%-10%
Number of jobs4,67379,335
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Average age4646
Years of experience--

Police captain vs sergeant salary

Police captains and sergeants have different pay scales, as shown below.

Police CaptainSergeant
Average salary$87,076$48,557
Salary rangeBetween $59,000 And $128,000Between $35,000 And $66,000
Highest paying City-New York, NY
Highest paying state-New York
Best paying company-Columbia University in the City of New York
Best paying industry-Government

Differences between police captain and sergeant education

There are a few differences between a police captain and a sergeant in terms of educational background:

Police CaptainSergeant
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 50%Bachelor's Degree, 44%
Most common majorCriminal JusticeCriminal Justice
Most common collegePennsylvania State UniversityPennsylvania State University

Police captain vs sergeant demographics

Here are the differences between police captains' and sergeants' demographics:

Police CaptainSergeant
Average age4646
Gender ratioMale, 91.6% Female, 8.4%Male, 85.0% Female, 15.0%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.1% Asian, 1.8% White, 66.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%Black or African American, 10.7% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 1.8% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.4%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between police captain and sergeant duties and responsibilities

Police captain example responsibilities.

  • Orchestrate the day to day demands, managing deficiencies/opportunities and prioritization of unit operations throughout specific target areas within NYC.
  • Addressed continuous staffing concerns and adapt to changing demands of the community by implementing innovative patrol techniques.
  • Plan, direct, and supervise daily activities of field-operations division, including patrol, investigations, and correctional-unit activities.
  • Orchestrate the day to day demands, managing deficiencies/opportunities and prioritization of unit operations throughout specific target areas within NYC.
  • Arrange quarterly Compstat, take complaint reports (CRs), handle special attentions and conduct roll call training.

Sergeant example responsibilities.

  • Manage critical incidents including barricade gunmen, VIP visits, homicides, shootings and in-progress crimes.
  • Manage and submit all schedules for maximum security unit, and all non security staff assign to that unit.
  • Monitor and manage enlisted promotion boards and actions; publish promotion orders for soldiers being promote to SGT and SSG.
  • Assist in establishing overall S3 objectives and accomplishing assign missions.
  • Manage training for CBRN response operations including detection and decontamination equipment.
  • Implement USAF, DoD and MAJCOM security policies while balancing operational needs with security requirements for the protection of classify information.
  • Show more

Police captain vs sergeant skills

Common police captain skills
  • Patrol, 27%
  • Public Safety, 9%
  • Law Enforcement Agencies, 8%
  • Criminal Justice, 6%
  • CPR, 5%
  • Policy Development, 5%
Common sergeant skills
  • Safety Procedures, 16%
  • Patrol, 14%
  • Direct Supervision, 9%
  • Emergency Situations, 7%
  • Combat, 6%
  • CPR, 5%

Browse protective service jobs