How To Become A Police Captain: What It Is and Career Path

What is a police captain and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted Expert

Dr. Durmus Alper CAMLIBEL Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a police captain. For example, did you know that they make an average of $41.86 an hour? That's $87,076 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 3% and produce 20,600 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a Police Captain?

Dr. Durmus Alper CAMLIBEL Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, University of Wisconsin - Oshkosh

They need to avoid being overzealous officers. They should not put their career at the center of their life. They need to spend quality time with their family. In law enforcement, good relations with the public and colleagues are essential. They need to develop good relationships with the people and their colleagues and expand their professional network. They always try to be a "problem solver officer" rather than a "problem creator officer." If someone asks for help from them, they should treat this person with dignity and respect. They should avoid being arrogant in their interaction with the public. Because arrogance is the worst plague, and Humility is the greatest virtue.

ScorePolice CaptainUS Average

Salary

6.8

Avg. Salary $87,076

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

10.0

Growth Rate 3%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 1.37%

Asian 1.77%

Black or African American 11.49%

Hispanic or Latino 15.05%

Unknown 3.92%

White 66.39%

Gender

female 8.42%

male 91.58%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress Level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

7.3

Complexity Level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.6

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a police captain

Explore police captain education requirements

Most common police captain degrees

Bachelor's

49.8 %

Master's

22.7 %

Associate

20.8 %

Start to develop specific police captain skills

Skills	Percentages
Patrol	26.90%
Public Safety	8.85%
Law Enforcement Agencies	7.93%
Criminal Justice	6.05%
CPR	4.55%

Complete relevant police captain training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New police captains learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a police captain based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real police captain resumes.

Research police captain duties and responsibilities

Orchestrate the day to day demands, managing deficiencies/opportunities and prioritization of unit operations throughout specific target areas within NYC.
Addressed continuous staffing concerns and adapt to changing demands of the community by implementing innovative patrol techniques.
Plan, direct, and supervise daily activities of field-operations division, including patrol, investigations, and correctional-unit activities.
Orchestrate the day to day demands, managing deficiencies/opportunities and prioritization of unit operations throughout specific target areas within NYC.

Get police captain experience

Prepare your police captain resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your police captain resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a police captain resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Police Captain Resume templates

Build a professional Police Captain resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Police Captain resume.

Apply for police captain jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a police captain job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do police captains rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Police Captain reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2020

Pros

I enjoy the freedom I’m allowed.

Cons

How political the job has become. There isn’t a correct way to do your job. Almost everyone wants to get you fired. It’s annoying.