What does a police lieutenant do?
A Police Lieutenant plans, oversees, and coordinates the daily activities of a designated operational entity of the Police Department. They manage a specific division of the police department, such as crime prevention, operations, or administration.
Police lieutenant responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real police lieutenant resumes:
- Orchestrate the day to day demands, managing deficiencies/opportunities and prioritization of unit operations throughout specific target areas within NYC.
- Direct members of firefighting crews in the care and maintenance of firefighting apparatus and equipment, assign and review their work.
- Supervise assigned uniform personnel through coordination of roll calls, schedules and daily patrol assignments.
- Supervise shift and departmental operations; monitor and evaluate subordinates work, review reports and direct patrol and investigative operations.
- 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.
Police lieutenant skills and personality traits
We calculated that 31% of Police Lieutenants are proficient in Patrol, Public Safety, and Law Enforcement Agencies.
We break down the percentage of Police Lieutenants that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patrol, 31%
Supervised shift and departmental operations; monitored and evaluated subordinates work, reviewed reports and directed patrol and investigative operations.
- Public Safety, 10%
Instructed critical incident management classes at the Oregon Public Safety Training Academy.
- Law Enforcement Agencies, 8%
Maintain effective relationships with inter-divisional management, department employees, law enforcement agencies, and other public and private representatives.
- Criminal Justice, 5%
Conducted professional standards and internal affairs investigations, including testimony before the Florida Criminal Justice Standards and Training Commission.
- Direct Supervision, 5%
Reviewed and evaluated reports, as well as evaluated the performance of those departmental employees under my direct supervision.
- Emergency Situations, 5%
Conducted high-speed vehicle chases in serious and emergency situations Responded to and investigated security and burglar alarms.
"patrol," "public safety," and "law enforcement agencies" are among the most common skills that police lieutenants use at work. You can find even more police lieutenant responsibilities below, including:
The three companies that hire the most police lieutenants are:
- Methodist Health System3 police lieutenants jobs
- WakeMed1 police lieutenants jobs
- Sinclair Community College
1 police lieutenants jobs
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Police lieutenant vs. Co-captain
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a police lieutenant are more likely to require skills like "patrol," "public safety," "law enforcement agencies," and "criminal justice." On the other hand, a job as a co-captain requires skills like "championship," "scholarship," "all-conference," and "soccer." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
On average, co-captains reach lower levels of education than police lieutenants. Co-captains are 10.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.4% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Police lieutenant vs. Commanding officer
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that police lieutenant responsibilities requires skills like "patrol," "public safety," "criminal justice," and "direct supervision." But a commanding officer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "logistical support," "combat," "direct oversight," and "coast guard."
In general, commanding officers achieve higher levels of education than police lieutenants. They're 5.5% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Police lieutenant vs. Sergeant and team leader
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a police lieutenant is likely to be skilled in "patrol," "public safety," "law enforcement agencies," and "criminal justice," while a typical sergeant and team leader is skilled in "combat," "non," "weapons systems," and "law enforcement."
When it comes to education, sergeant and team leaders tend to earn lower degree levels compared to police lieutenants. In fact, they're 9.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.2% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Police lieutenant vs. Sergeant first class
Types of police lieutenant
Updated January 8, 2025











