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Police commanding officer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

Quoted expert

Jennifer Gibbs Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical police commanding officer skills. We ranked the top skills for police commanding officers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 40.4% of police commanding officer resumes contained patrol as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a police commanding officer needs to be successful in the workplace.

8 police commanding officer skills for your resume and career

1. Patrol

Here's how police commanding officers use patrol:

Managed up to 64 police personnel and directed all activities of officers of various ranks in the Patrol Division.
Monitored and corrected the level and quality of service provided by officers assigned to the Patrol Division.

2. Internal Investigations

Investigations that are conducted to inquire about any organization's internal matters and operations are termed an internal investigation. Internal investigations are commonly held due to the allegations of embezzlement, corruption, harassment, or other charges. Some companies also conduct internal investigations to keep themselves diligent and safeguard themselves from any unwanted charges.

Here's how police commanding officers use internal investigations:

Supervised Integrity Control officer(s) responsible for internal investigations, audits and inspections.
Assigned as the department s Internal Affairs Supervisor and responsible for properly investigating and documenting all internal investigations and complaints.

3. Emergency Response

Here's how police commanding officers use emergency response:

Reviewed and drafted procedures, including emergency response and evacuation plans for multiple departments and facilities.
Authored Department's Emergency Response Plan for Union Station.

4. Disciplinary Actions

Disciplinary actions refer to a corrective measure taken against an employee for unsatisfactory behavior. Many work environments have a tiered system for disciplinary action, where the first warning is verbal and the second is written. Disciplinary action may be given after a weak performance review, a violation of company rules and policies, or a poor customer review.

Here's how police commanding officers use disciplinary actions:

Conducted internal investigations and administered disciplinary actions.
Coordinated and supervised personnel disciplinary actions/hearings.

5. Police Reports

Police reports, also known as "incident reports," are recorded by members of the police department and detail a (potentially) illegal incident or confrontation. The following information is usually found on a police report: the date and time of the incident, which officers were involved, the address of the incident, what kind of incident (theft, assault, etc.), and how the officers were alerted to the incident.

Here's how police commanding officers use police reports:

Issued violation notices to violators for appearance at appropriate court and prepared police reports.
Review police reports document errors and send back for corrections.

6. 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 police commanding officers use public safety:

Charged with upholding the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (mainly motor vehicle enforcement) and ensuring public safety.
Served as agency liaison with local schooldistrict, emergency management and other public safety agencies.

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7. Crime Scenes

Crime scenes refer to places or locations of an offence where forensic evidence may get gathered.

Here's how police commanding officers use crime scenes:

Processed and investigated crime scenes.
Field supervisor in a high crime environment with regular responsibility for tactical decisions and supervision of major crime scenes.

8. Emergency Situations

Here's how police commanding officers use emergency situations:

Negotiate and resolve emergency situations including conflicts with barricaded emotionally disturbed persons and perpetrators as well as perpetrators holding hostages.
Provided specialized pedestrian and traffic control services in connections with ceremonies, emergency situations, and similar events.

What skills help Police Commanding Officers find jobs?

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What skills stand out on police commanding officer resumes?

Jennifer Gibbs Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg

Police officers need many skills to be successful on the job. The most important are written and oral communication skills and the ability to make ethical decisions with limited information quickly. Written communications skills are crucial. If a police report is poorly worded or incomplete, it can derail a criminal case. Police officers also need to talk to people of all ages from all walks of life in any circumstance. Often, police meet people on what may be the worst day of their lives when emotions are running high. Police need to be able to help calm a person while gathering information. Police need to be able to use their words and body language to empathize with someone who has been victimized, and they need to project authority, so people making poor decisions obey their commands.
This may be common sense, but research has demonstrated that communication and ethical decision-making skills are important for police officers. (See the research article published in 2017 in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education, entitled "An assessment of the relative importance of criminal justice learning objectives," by Baker and colleagues.) Baker and colleagues asked students, professionals, and college professors to rate the skills of hypothetical job applicants. These participants rated the following as the most important characteristics for criminal justice applicants (including law enforcement officers):

Ethics
Oral communication
Critical thinking
Sensitivity to diversity
Written communication skills

Do you want to know more?

List of police commanding officer skills to add to your resume

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

Patrol
Internal Investigations
Emergency Response

Disciplinary Actions
Police Reports
Public Safety

Crime Scenes
Emergency Situations

Updated January 8, 2025

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.

Updated January 8, 2025

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