Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers

Also Called:

Deputy,

Deputy Sheriff,

Patrol Officer,

Police Officer

What they do: 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.

Public Service & Safety icon

Public Service & Safety

Career Cluster

What do they typically do on the job?

  • 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.

Personality

People interested in this work like activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions.

Self-Confidence

Adaptability

Perseverance

Stress Tolerance

Self-Control

Cautiousness

Interests

Career interests describe the perspectives and interests of people who enjoy the type of work involved in this career.

Discover what your interests are by taking the Interest Profiler Quiz

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Realistic

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Conventional

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Enterprising

Abilities

Whether you have received formal training or not, these types of abilities are helpful in this career.

Verbal

  • Listen and understand what people say

  • Communicate by speaking

Ideas and Logic

  • Notice when problems happen

  • Make general rules or come up with answers from lots of detailed information

Visual Understanding

  • See hidden patterns

  • Quickly know what you are looking at

Physical Strength

  • Use your lower back and stomach

Skills

People who want to pursue this career have skills in these areas.

Basic Skills

  • Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions

  • Talking to others

Social

  • Understanding people's reactions

  • Changing what is done based on other people's actions

Problem Solving

  • Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it

Does this sound like something you'd like to do?

1. Do some research

  • Identify how your interests, values, and strengths match this occupation
  • Talk to someone who works in this field or spend a day job shadowing
  • Use the colleges and training directory to explore programs related to this career

2. Plan your next move

  • Talk to your college and career counselor or school admissions staff
  • Visit Idaho Launch
  • Search for available Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers jobs on Idaho Works

Data for NSI career cards comes from the following: Idaho Department of Labor, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, MyNextMove, and Career OneStop