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Police lieutenant skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

Jennifer Gibbs Ph.D.,

Dr. Durmus Alper CAMLIBEL Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical police lieutenant skills. We ranked the top skills for police lieutenants based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 31.3% of police lieutenant resumes contained patrol as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a police lieutenant needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 police lieutenant skills for your resume and career

1. Patrol

Here's how police lieutenants use patrol:

Supervised shift and departmental operations; monitored and evaluated subordinates work, reviewed reports and directed patrol and investigative operations.
Progressed through ranks to Executive Officer Headed Prosecution, Training and Patrol Divisions Wrote and administered all agency federal grants

2. 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 lieutenants use public safety:

Instructed critical incident management classes at the Oregon Public Safety Training Academy.
Acted as Department liaison with appropriate law enforcement and public safety organizations at the local, state and federal levels.

3. Law Enforcement Agencies

Here's how police lieutenants use law enforcement agencies:

Maintain effective relationships with inter-divisional management, department employees, law enforcement agencies, and other public and private representatives.
Coordinate investigative efforts with multiple federal law enforcement agencies within the community.

4. Criminal Justice

Here's how police lieutenants use criminal justice:

Conducted professional standards and internal affairs investigations, including testimony before the Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission.
Utilized automated criminal justice systems records.

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 police lieutenants use direct supervision:

Reviewed and evaluated reports, as well as evaluated the performance of those departmental employees under my direct supervision.
Watch Commander / Deputy Commander Special Operations, direct supervision of 45 personnel.

6. Emergency Situations

Here's how police lieutenants use emergency situations:

Conducted high-speed vehicle chases in serious and emergency situations Responded to and investigated security and burglar alarms.
Provide crisis management assistance in emergency situations to deputies on the scene to ensure safety.

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7. Police Academy

Here's how police lieutenants use police academy:

Instruct at the College level for the Macomb Police Academy.
Managed Huntsville Police Academy including curriculum development

8. Training Programs

Here's how police lieutenants use training programs:

Support Services Bureau and Administrative Services Division Commander: * Development and management of departmental budget and training programs.
Performed daily review of police reports and developed and delivered training programs internally and externally.

9. Field Training

Here's how police lieutenants use field training:

Developed and implemented the department's Field Training Manual and Standardized Evaluation Guidelines, formalizing the field training function and documentation.
Supervised and coached approximately 8 new staff members in the field training program over a decade of service.

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 police lieutenants use incident reports:

Reviewed incident reports, required forms, and related documents prepared by subordinates to ensure accuracy and timely completion.
Performed daily evaluation of all incident reports and documents from daily police operations.

11. Emergency Operations

Here's how police lieutenants use emergency operations:

Research, develop, coordinate and update Emergency Operations All- Hazard Plans for unusual incidents potentially affecting the community.
Developed organizational policies and plans for personal safety, security and law enforcement for routine and emergency operations.

12. Community Relations

Community Relations refers to the relationship-building strategies companies use with surrounding communities. These relationships are often mutually-beneficial, where a company will support local organizations and communities and receive a stronger customer basis. This differs from public relations, as the focus of community relations is building relationships and goodwill within a community rather than presenting a company's work to the public.

Here's how police lieutenants use community relations:

Participated with community relations including public, media and press relations.
Conducted community relations forums to enhance quality of life concerns.

13. Firearms

A firearm is a type of weapon or device used by police, uniformed personnel or other related professional for security and protection purposes. This lethal and destructive weapon can often shoot bullet or missiles. A firearm usually consists of a chamber or barrel, frame body, breech bolt, and a magazine.

Here's how police lieutenants use firearms:

Established regimented PPCT / Defensive Tactics and Firearms training program for the Reserve Unit.
Served as Veterans Affairs Officer, and Supervising Firearms Instructor.

14. Crime Prevention

Here's how police lieutenants use crime prevention:

Developed local public relations program to enhance crime prevention awareness.
Attended civic meetings as department spokesperson; led crime prevention talks and discussions of specific incidents.

15. Criminal Investigations

Here's how police lieutenants use criminal investigations:

Manage operations of the Criminal Investigation Bureau, assigning detectives to lead investigations into felonies, serious misdemeanors and other incidents.
Supervised the criminal investigation division consisting of one major crimes detective and the review and assignment of all other criminal investigations.

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What skills help Police Lieutenants find jobs?

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What skills stand out on police lieutenant 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

What police lieutenant skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Durmus Alper CAMLIBEL Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

The economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic apparently has brought uncertainty to the job market, and job opportunities, especially in some of the social sciences, are reduced. There is an old Turkish saying, "bread is in the mouth of the lion" (ekmek aslanın ağzında) that sums it up nicely. It implies that it is a struggle to make a living. Life after college is not easy. There is too much competition in the job market. Suppose graduates need to take a gap year. In that case, they need to continue to learn after graduation—an extra set of skills that can put them ahead of other applicants—learning another language can put the graduates on the top of other candidates since there are plenty of applicants just like them. Becoming fluent in a second language can bring graduates several advantages.

They can also apply for internship programs of local and federal criminal justice agencies during a gap year. The graduates can observe a criminal justice agency's working environment and the culture of a specific community. They can decide if they want to serve in the organization and the community. They should also consider international organizations' internship programs, such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) or Office of Counter-Terrorism internship programs. The UNODC has an office in New York. This internship program provides a framework for students (enrolled in, or have completed, the final academic year of a bachelor's level or equivalent degree programs) to develop their professional skills and gain practical work experience in an international environment. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, applicants may be requested to undertake the internship online.

Do you want to know more?

List of police lieutenant skills to add to your resume

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

Patrol
Public Safety
Law Enforcement Agencies
Criminal Justice
Direct Supervision
Emergency Situations
Police Academy
Training Programs
Field Training
Incident Reports
Emergency Operations
Community Relations
Firearms
Crime Prevention
Criminal Investigations

Police Services
Federal Laws
Police Operations
Critical Incidents
Performance Evaluations
Background Investigations
Police Reports
Disciplinary Actions
Patrol Division
Criminal Cases
Administrative Functions
Citizen Complaints
Homicide
Traffic Enforcement
Emergency Calls

FTO
Local Laws
Patrol Operations
Federal Agencies
Calea
K-9
Domestic Violence
EMS
Crime Trends
Computer Aided Dispatch
Subpoenas
Alertness
Federal Bureau
Drug Enforcement Administration
Property Crimes

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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