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Patrolman 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 patrolman skills. We ranked the top skills for patrolmen based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 29.2% of patrolman resumes contained patrol as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a patrolman needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 patrolman skills for your resume and career

1. Patrol

Here's how patrolmen use patrol:
  • Protected community through regular patrol procedures, followed standards and protocol to ensure public safety and control hostile situations.
  • Investigated suspicious situations, safety hazards, and unusual or illegal activity in patrol area promoted good community relations.

2. Law Enforcement

Law enforcement is the task of certain members of the community who work together to uphold the law by identifying, preventing, rehabilitating, or prosecuting others who break society's laws and norms. The phrase refers to the police, the judiciary, and the correctional system.

Here's how patrolmen use law enforcement:
  • Enforce proprietary and concurrent jurisdictions on and off installations fostering professional relations with local, state and military Law Enforcement Officers.
  • Prepared articulate reports, supplementary case documents, and administrative spreadsheets using Microsoft Office Suite and law enforcement data entry/query programs.

3. 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 patrolmen use public safety:
  • Provided public safety by maintaining order, enforcing military/state traffic laws and issued citations for violations.
  • Ensured public safety and security for diverse Pennsylvania borough with a population exceeding 29,000 residents.

4. 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 patrolmen use non-emergency calls:
  • Answered all emergency/non-emergency calls for service as dispatched by 911 operators when police services requested.
  • Respond promptly to emergency and non-emergency calls from local residents and businesses.

5. Crime Scenes

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

Here's how patrolmen use crime scenes:
  • Conduct preliminary investigations including securing crime scenes, preserving evidence, interviewing victims and witnesses and completing investigative reports.
  • Complete preliminary investigations as required, and protect integrity of crime scenes until relieved by Detective Bureau.

6. Traffic Control

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

Here's how patrolmen use traffic control:
  • Provided security for special events, performed traffic control, and conducted misdemeanor and felony criminal investigations.
  • Conduct traffic control operations when necessary.

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7. 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 patrolmen use traffic laws:
  • Implemented anti-robbery/duress procedures, enforced traffic laws, conducts interviews and testified in court.
  • Provided emergency response & enforced traffic laws within 58-sq-mile jurisdiction supporting 24K personnel.
Select Skills To Add To Your Resume

8. Criminal Law

Here's how patrolmen use criminal law:
  • Handled all types of situations, answered calls, studied SOP's, computer software, and criminal laws and procedure.
  • Enforced traffic and criminal laws and regularly met with residents in order to promote positive relationships between the department and community.

9. Traffic Accidents

Here's how patrolmen use traffic accidents:
  • Conducted preliminary investigations involving criminal incidents and traffic accidents
  • Responded to criminal incidents and traffic accidents, initiated on scene investigations, apprehended and processed suspects and interviewed witnesses.

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 patrolmen use incident reports:
  • Developed, gathered, and analyzed detailed incident reports that were vital to convictions in cases resulting in non-judicial/criminal reprimand.
  • Complied/prepared incident reports/accident reports and unusual occurrences by telephone or radio to include information for court cases.

11. 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 patrolmen use federal laws:
  • Identified, pursued, and arrested suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts while incorporating local, state, and federal laws.
  • Enforced command instruction, State and Federal laws, UCMJ, U S Navy regulations and assists Fish and Game authorities.

12. State Laws

Here's how patrolmen use state laws:
  • Enforce city and ND State laws* Patrol and investigate criminal and traffic activities* Fire reports of all violations to the court system
  • Preformed installation patrol; enforced military/state laws, issued citations for violations, and protected 26k personnel.

13. Safety Hazards

Safety hazards are defined as any potential source of danger or harm to a person's health and safety. The term commonly refers to the risks associated with the kind of occupation or work. The five common types of occupational safety hazards are; biological (health risks from viruses, bacteria, insect,s, etc.), chemical (dangerous substances used in manufacturing plants), physical (risk of injury associated with labor), Ergonomic (worker's efficiency during work), and Psychosocial (mental health risks involved with certain occupations).

Here's how patrolmen use safety hazards:
  • Conducted periodic inspections to identify potential safety hazards.
  • Identify potential security and safety hazards.

14. Criminal Cases

A criminal case is a court proceeding in which a person is charged with committing a crime against the state or the community. Such individuals are brought for trials, to decide they are guilty or not. There are two kinds of criminal cases misdemeanors and felonies. A misdemeanor is a crime on a lower level like traffic offenses or minor assaults. While felonies are offenses on a higher level.

Here's how patrolmen use criminal cases:
  • Submitted comprehensive written reports and evidence related to criminal cases for prosecution.
  • Conducted interrogations in criminal cases to determine probable cause.

15. Traffic Enforcement

Here's how patrolmen use traffic enforcement:
  • Provided traffic enforcement operations including direction and control, accident management and motor service.
  • Conducted traffic enforcement, investigated collisions, and patrolled for possible criminal activity.
top-skills

What skills help Patrolmen find jobs?

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

What skills stand out on Patrolman resumes?

L

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 Patrolmen possess?

L

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 Patrolmen?

L

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 Patrolman skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

D

Dr. Durmus Alper CAMLIBEL Ph.D.Dr. Durmus Alper CAMLIBEL Ph.D. LinkedIn Profile

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 Patrolmen need?

T

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.

List of patrolman skills to add to your resume

Patrolman Skills

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

  • Patrol
  • Law Enforcement
  • Public Safety
  • Non-Emergency Calls
  • Crime Scenes
  • Traffic Control
  • Traffic Laws
  • Criminal Law
  • Traffic Accidents
  • Incident Reports
  • Federal Laws
  • State Laws
  • Safety Hazards
  • Criminal Cases
  • Traffic Enforcement
  • Local Laws
  • Motor Vehicle Accidents
  • CPR
  • Issue Citations
  • Emergency Situations
  • Arrest Warrants
  • Routine Patrol
  • Traffic Stops
  • Criminal Acts
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Medical Emergencies
  • Security Checks
  • Subpoenas
  • City Ordinances
  • Domestic Violence
  • Police Academy
  • Traffic Flow
  • Pedestrian Traffic
  • DUI
  • Traffic Violations
  • Physical Security
  • EMS
  • Crowd Control
  • Crime Prevention
  • City Limits
  • Alarm Activations
  • Domestic Disputes
  • Foot Patrol
  • Conveyance
  • Police Services
  • Patrol Division
  • Court Appearances
  • DOD
  • Court Proceedings
  • Resuscitation

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
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.

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