First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
Directly supervise and coordinate activities of members of police force.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Social Perceptiveness
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Active Learning
Key knowledge
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Customer and Personal Service
- Administration and Management
- English Language
- Psychology
- Sociology and Anthropology
- Therapy and Counseling
What the work involves
- Explain police operations to subordinates to assist them in performing their job duties.
- Inform personnel of changes in regulations and policies, implications of new or amended laws, and new techniques of police work.
- Supervise and coordinate the investigation of criminal cases, offering guidance and expertise to investigators, and ensuring that procedures are conducted in accordance with laws and regulations.
- Investigate and resolve personnel problems within organization and charges of misconduct against staff.
- Train staff in proper police work procedures.
- Maintain logs, prepare reports, and direct the preparation, handling, and maintenance of departmental records.
- Monitor and evaluate the job performance of subordinates, and authorize promotions and transfers.
- Direct collection, preparation, and handling of evidence and personal property of prisoners.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (56.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (71.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 6 months, up to and including 1 year (44.5%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | High | Higher on contact with others than 77% of occupations compared | 78% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 97% of occupations compared | 89% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Higher on teamwork than 56% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Very important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 76% of occupations compared | 61% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 76% of occupations compared | 34% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 98% of occupations compared | 51% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 98% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 85% of occupations compared | 59% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 7.21%
- Contact with others most of the time: 15.23%
- Constant contact with others: 77.56%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0.96%
- Important: 8.06%
- Very important: 2.01%
- Extremely important: 88.97%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2024
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0.85%
- Important: 8.13%
- Very important: 46.67%
- Extremely important: 44.35%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2024
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 1.16%
- Limited freedom: 16.25%
- Some freedom: 21.21%
- A lot of freedom: 61.38%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2024
Time pressure
- Never: 0.91%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 16.8%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 33.98%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 27.8%
- Every day: 20.51%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2024
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 5.46%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 17.28%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 26.14%
- Every day: 51.11%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2024
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 10.07%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 43.06%
- Every day: 46.88%
n = 30, Incumbent 08/2024
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 20.93%
- Fairly serious: 1.83%
- Serious: 7.77%
- Very serious: 10.63%
- Extremely serious: 58.83%
n = 29, Incumbent 08/2024
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O*NET-SOC 33-1012.00 · SOC 33-1012 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8