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Police patrol officer skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

Logan Somers Ph.D.,

Logan Somers Ph.D.

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical police patrol officer skills. We ranked the top skills for police patrol officers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 39.2% of police patrol officer resumes contained patrol as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a police patrol officer needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 police patrol officer skills for your resume and career

1. Patrol

Here's how police patrol officers use patrol:

Patrol of metropolitan city of roughly 40,000 citizens, conducted warrants investigations, accident details and any other operations needed.
Provided training and guidance to rookie detectives and patrol officers on investigatory techniques for a variety of criminal activity.

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 patrol officers use public safety:

Patrolled high crime areas within the city of Atlanta and responded to dispatched calls to enforce laws and ensure public safety.
Led development of Mobile Public Safety (MPS) train the trainer lesson plan and trainer development phase.

3. Law Enforcement Agencies

Here's how police patrol officers use law enforcement agencies:

Coordinated and performed liaison operations and patrols with local host nation law enforcement agencies.
Planned, developed, and supervised training of multiple law enforcement agencies and officers at the basic and advanced levels.

4. Traffic Control

Traffic control helps in the supervision of the movement of vehicles, goods, and people for safety and efficiency.

Here's how police patrol officers use traffic control:

Investigated traffic accident, maintained traffic control and enforced traffic regulations and safety.
Conduct traffic control, ensuring motorists' observe proper rules and laws while on Department of Navy property.

5. Police Academy

Here's how police patrol officers use police academy:

Completed Washington State Police Academy.
Instructed at Police Academy, providing both initial and yearly in-service training to Memphis City and area police departments

6. Field Training

Here's how police patrol officers use field training:

FIELD TRAINING OFFICER Responsible for the one on one and individual training and development of Probationary officers for the department.
Certified as Field Training Officer, Traffic Homicide Investigator and At-Scene Investigations Officer, as well as Motor Officer.

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7. Emergency Situations

Here's how police patrol officers use emergency situations:

Operate police vehicle in emergency and non-emergency situations under all conditions.
Assist citizens on view under emergency and non-emergency situations.

8. State Laws

Here's how police patrol officers use state laws:

Full participated in community oriented policing activities to include enforcement of Federal, State laws, and City ordinances.
Reprimand, detain, cite and arrested members of the public to enforce local and state laws.

9. Traffic Accidents

Here's how police patrol officers use traffic accidents:

Investigated traffic accidents to determine causes, conducted criminal investigations relative to incidents.
Investigated traffic accidents and other incidents to determine causes/if a crime was committed.

10. Non-Emergency Calls

Non-emergency calls are calls that do not require immediate attention or intervention. They are simply a request for police, fire or rescue service that does not present a life or death situation. In this case, the local non-emergency number should be used if immediate dispatch of the police is not required.

Here's how police patrol officers use non-emergency calls:

Enforced criminal laws Responded to all emergency and non-emergency calls for service.
Responded to critical incidents to include crimes in progress as well as non-emergency calls for service and conducted preliminary criminal investigations.

11. Crime Scenes

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

Here's how police patrol officers use crime scenes:

Executed preliminary investigations of criminal incidents, preserving crime scenes, and arresting suspects.
Rendered counseling to victims in accidents while establishing crime scenes

12. City Ordinances

Here's how police patrol officers use city ordinances:

Enforce all laws and city ordinances.
Served and protected the citizens of Haines City Enforced State of Florida laws and city ordinances

13. Federal Laws

The laws formed and upheld by the federal administrating body of a country are known as federal laws. A federal administrating body or government is formed by a political party after being elected by the general public.

Here's how police patrol officers use federal laws:

Planned and coordinated criminal investigations of state and federal laws that have been violated.
Enforce Military, State, and Federal Laws as appropriate.

14. Traffic Laws

Traffic laws are laws that contain a wide range of legal regulations that govern traffic and regulate vehicles. Laws are passed to keep the roads safe and regulate the flow of traffic in good time. Traffic laws include, but are not limited to, speed limit laws, impaired driving laws, insurance laws, and parking laws.

Here's how police patrol officers use traffic laws:

Enforced traffic laws and issued citations as necessary to enforce and educate the public on traffic laws.
Patrolled city streets, enforced traffic laws, work automobile crashes and direct flow of traffic.

15. 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 patrol officers use community relations:

Formatted and maintained a community relations in the Littlewoods area.
Maintained positive community relationships with citizens/businesses.

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What skills help Police Patrol Officers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on police patrol officer resumes?

Logan Somers Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Georgia Southern University

Skills and experiences that stand out on Law Enforcement Officer resumes are not too dissimilar from desirable qualities in other industries. First, even though the vast majority of police departments do not have an education requirement beyond high school, most recruits entering the academy do have at least some college experience. Therefore, having an associate's or bachelor's degree will make you competitive. Further, policing in today's society requires officers to be elite communicators, critical thinkers, and problem-solvers. Any prior work experience that can be used to demonstrate how you performed those skills under pressure should be highlighted. Lastly, any prior community service and or mentoring should be included. Having these experiences displays your commitment to improving your community and bettering the lives of those around you.

What soft skills should all police patrol officers possess?

Logan Somers Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Georgia Southern University

Officers are tasked with handling a wide range of service-oriented (e.g., providing directions, conducting wellness checks, assisting a citizen whose car has broken down) and order maintenance (e.g., attending to noise complaints, settling domestic disputes, directing traffic) duties that go beyond just crime enforcement. This necessitates that an officer must possess numerous intangible skills. These include the ability to communicate effectively and treat citizens in a respectful and courteous manner. Doing this will go a long way towards keeping situations from escalating and building positive community relationships. Officers also have a great deal of discretion, meaning that in most citizen interactions, they have numerous actions and inactions that they can choose from. For example, officers conducting traffic enforcement typically have the discretion to decide who to stop, where to stop them, and whether to give a citation or a warning. Given this great deal of power, having the ability to think critically and ethically are paramount.

What hard/technical skills are most important for police patrol officers?

Logan Somers Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Georgia Southern University

A significant portion of an officer's day can often be spent filling out paperwork. Every stop, citation, warrant, arrest, or use of force incident typically requires forms that need to be filled out and sent to supervisors for review. This makes the ability to write proficiently and provide a descriptive narrative of events crucial for day-to-day police work.

What police patrol officer 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.

What type of skills will young police patrol officers need?

T.Christopher Bell

Professor, La Sierra University

The skills graduates will need are much improved in VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS skills-the ability to de-escalate and resolve conflict through verbal communication. Students who are majoring in Criminal Justice must be able to understand multiculturalism. The ability to understand different and not perceive it as harmful.

Do you want to know more?

List of police patrol officer skills to add to your resume

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

Patrol
Public Safety
Law Enforcement Agencies
Traffic Control
Police Academy
Field Training
Emergency Situations
State Laws
Traffic Accidents
Non-Emergency Calls
Crime Scenes
City Ordinances
Federal Laws
Traffic Laws
Community Relations
Crime Prevention

Traffic Enforcement
Criminal Law
Court Proceedings
Safety Hazards
DUI
Firearms
Criminal Cases
Arrest Warrants
Incident Reports
Subpoenas
Traffic Flow
Criminal Acts
Police Reports
Local Laws
DWI
Community Services

CPR
Traffic Regulations
Domestic Violence
Criminal Investigations
Defensive Tactics
Conveyance
Traffic Violations
Patrol Division
City Streets
Traffic Stops
NCIC
FTO
Security Checks
Citizen Complaints
Crowd Control
Summonses

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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