Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officer

Also called: Accident Prevention Squad Police Officer, Alcohol Law Enforcement Agent (ALE Agent), Animal Cop, Border Guard, Border Patrol Agent

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officer

Varies

estimated salary

Police and sheriff's patrol officers maintain order and protect life and property by enforcing local, tribal, state, or federal laws and ordinances. Perform a combination of the following duties: patrol a specific area; direct traffic; issue traffic summonses; investigate accidents; apprehend and arrest suspects, or serve legal processes of courts. Includes police officers working at educational institutions.

  • Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts.
  • Provide for public safety by maintaining order, responding to emergencies, protecting people and property, enforcing motor vehicle and criminal laws, and promoting good community relations.
  • Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities.
  • Render aid to accident victims and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries.
  • Investigate illegal or suspicious activities.
  • Review facts of incidents to determine if criminal act or statute violations were involved.
  • Monitor, note, report, and investigate suspicious persons and situations, safety hazards, and unusual or illegal activity in patrol area.
  • Testify in court to present evidence or act as witness in traffic and criminal cases.
  • Drive vehicles or patrol specific areas to detect law violators, issue citations, and make arrests.
  • Monitor traffic to ensure motorists observe traffic regulations and exhibit safe driving procedures.
  • Relay complaint and emergency-request information to appropriate agency dispatchers.
  • Verify that the proper legal charges have been made against law offenders.
  • Photograph or draw diagrams of crime or accident scenes and interview principals and eyewitnesses.
  • Evaluate complaint and emergency-request information to determine response requirements.
  • Execute arrest warrants, locating and taking persons into custody.
  • Patrol specific area on foot, horseback, or motorized conveyance, responding promptly to calls for assistance.
  • Investigate traffic accidents and other accidents to determine causes and to determine if a crime has been committed.
  • Direct traffic flow and reroute traffic in case of emergencies.
  • Notify patrol units to take violators into custody or to provide needed assistance or medical aid.
  • Serve statements of claims, subpoenas, summonses, jury summonses, orders to pay alimony, and other court orders.
  • Question individuals entering secured areas to determine their business, directing and rerouting individuals as necessary.
  • Patrol and guard courthouses, grand jury rooms, or assigned areas to provide security, enforce laws, maintain order, and arrest violators.
  • Transport or escort prisoners and defendants en route to courtrooms, prisons or jails, attorneys' offices, or medical facilities.
  • Inform citizens of community services and recommend options to facilitate longer-term problem resolution.
  • Locate and confiscate real or personal property, as directed by court order.
  • Provide road information to assist motorists.
  • Process prisoners, and prepare and maintain records of prisoner bookings and prisoner status during booking and pre-trial process.
  • Supervise law enforcement staff, such as jail staff, officers, and deputy sheriffs.
  • Place people in protective custody.
  • Conduct community programs for all ages concerning topics such as drugs and violence.
Work Context
  • Deal With External Customers
  • Contact With Others
  • Frequency of Decision Making
  • Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People
  • Telephone
  • Face-to-Face Discussions
  • In an Enclosed Vehicle or Equipment
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Work Activities
  • Performing for or Working Directly with the Public — Performing for people or dealing directly with the public. This includes serving customers in restaurants and stores, and receiving clients or guests.
  • Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Resolving Conflicts and Negotiating with Others — Handling complaints, settling disputes, and resolving grievances and conflicts, or otherwise negotiating with others.
  • Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or Equipment — Running, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or water craft.
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Detailed Work Activities
  • Apprehend criminal suspects.
  • Maintain public order or security.
  • Respond to emergencies to provide assistance.
  • Prepare investigation or incident reports.
  • Administer first aid.
  • Investigate illegal or suspicious activities.
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Knowledge

Public Safety and Security
  • Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Law and Government
  • Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
English Language
  • Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
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Skills

Active Listening
  • Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking
  • Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking
  • Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Social Perceptiveness
  • Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
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Abilities

Problem Sensitivity
  • The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Oral Expression
  • The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Oral Comprehension
  • The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Inductive Reasoning
  • The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
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Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include ideas, thinking, and figuring things out.
They do well at jobs that need:
  • Achievement/Effort
  • Persistence
  • Initiative
  • Leadership
  • Cooperation
  • Concern for Others
  • Social Orientation
  • Self Control
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Technology

You might use software like this on the job:

Office suite software
  • Microsoft Office Hot Technology
  • Corel WordPerfect Office Suite
Presentation software
  • Microsoft PowerPoint Hot Technology
Spreadsheet software
  • Microsoft Excel Hot Technology
  • IBM Lotus 1-2-3
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