Occupation Profile

Police and Sheriff Patrol Officers

(SOC Code : 33-3051)

in California

Maintain order, enforce laws and ordinances, and protect life and property in an assigned patrol district. Perform combination of following duties: patrol a specific area on foot or in a vehicle; direct traffic; issue traffic summonses; investigate accidents; apprehend and arrest suspects, or serve legal processes of courts.

Employers usually expect an employee in this occupation to be able to do the job after Long-term on-the-job training (> 12 months) .

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Occupational Wages

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Area	Year	Period	Hourly Mean	Hourly by Percentile
				25th	Median	75th
California	2012	1st Qtr	$38.28	$31.40	$38.40	$44.84

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Occupational Projections of Employment (also called "Outlook" or "Demand")

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Area	Estimated Year-Projected Year	Employment		Employment Change		Annual Avg Openings
		Estimated	Projected	Number	Percent
California	2010 - 2020	73,100	78,300	5,200	7.1	2,670

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Job Openings from JobCentral National Labor Exchange

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Industries Employing This Occupation (click on Industry Title to View Employers List)

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Data for Industries Employing This Occupation (click on Industry Title to View Employers List) not available.

About Staffing Patterns

Training Programs (click on title for more information)

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Program Title

Criminal Justice/Police Science

Criminalistics and Criminal Science

About Training & Apprenticeships

About This Occupation (from O*NET - The Occupation Information Network)

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Top Tasks (Specific duties and responsibilities of this job.)

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.

Monitor, note, report, and investigate suspicious persons and situations, safety hazards, and unusual or illegal activity in patrol area.

Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities.

Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts.

Patrol specific area on foot, horseback, or motorized conveyance, responding promptly to calls for assistance.

Review facts of incidents to determine if criminal act or statute violations were involved.

Investigate traffic accidents and other accidents to determine causes and to determine if a crime has been committed.

Render aid to accident victims and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries.

Testify in court to present evidence or act as witness in traffic and criminal cases.

Photograph or draw diagrams of crime or accident scenes and interview principals and eyewitnesses.

More Tasks for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers , More Tasks for Police Patrol Officers , More Tasks for Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs

Top Skills used in this Job

Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.

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.

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.

Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.

Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.

Time Management - Managing one`s own time and the time of others.

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Top Abilities (Attributes of the person that influence performance in this job.)

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.

Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

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 Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

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Top Work Values (Aspects of this job that create satisfaction.)

Relationships - Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment.

Support - Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees.

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Top Interests (The types of activities someone in this job would like.)

Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

More Interests for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers , More Interests for Police Patrol Officers , More Interests for Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriffs

Alternate Titles

Law Enforcement Officers; City Police Officers; University of California (UC) and California State University (CSU) Campus Police Officers; Deputy Sheriffs; California Highway Patrol (CHP) Officers; and U.S. Border Patrol and Customs Agents.