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.
Most important skills
- Active Listening
- Social Perceptiveness
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Active Learning
- Reading Comprehension
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Coordination
Key knowledge
- Public Safety and Security
- Law and Government
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Psychology
- Education and Training
- Telecommunications
- Computers and Electronics
What the work involves
- 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 survivors 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.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Enterprising.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (42.2% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- None (62.2%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 3 months, up to and including 6 months (32.6%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 3: Job Zone Three: Medium Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers 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 63% of occupations compared | 77% 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 | 88% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 75% of occupations compared | 68% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | High | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 66% of occupations compared | 48% of surveyed respondents chose “Some freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Higher on time pressure than 52% of occupations compared | 42% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 99% of occupations compared | 69% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 96% of occupations compared | 53% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Consequence of error | High | Higher on consequence of error than 75% of occupations compared | 60% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: 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: 10.76%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 12.55%
- Constant contact with others: 76.69%
n = 40, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 5.38%
- Important: 0.83%
- Very important: 6.24%
- Extremely important: 87.56%
n = 40, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 14.17%
- Very important: 17.37%
- Extremely important: 68.46%
n = 40, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 6.21%
- Limited freedom: 1.81%
- Some freedom: 48.02%
- A lot of freedom: 43.96%
n = 38, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 13%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 15.06%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 41.6%
- Every day: 30.33%
n = 40, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.12%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.12%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 18.82%
- Every day: 68.95%
n = 40, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.12%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 17.61%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 23.32%
- Every day: 52.95%
n = 40, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 31.95%
- Fairly serious: 2.11%
- Serious: 0.74%
- Very serious: 4.74%
- Extremely serious: 60.46%
n = 39, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 33-3051.00 · SOC 33-3051 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8