Police officers are tasked with maintaining order and saving lives and property within a community. Because of the high responsibility of being a police officer, it is important to have a clear, concise, and confident resume objective. This will show prospective employers that you have the skills and knowledge applicable to a police officer position.
Because of the intensity that may come with a police officer position, it is important for your objective to show prospective employers that you can handle extreme situations such as car crashes, robberies, homicides, search and rescue, and other police activities. In order to show this, you should focus on past experiences that gave you skills, abilities, and knowledge that will help you perform your duties. These may include, but are not limited to, knowledge of law and public safety, communication skills, social perceptiveness, reasoning abilities, knowledge of human behavior, and critical thinking skills. By focusing on these abilities and others like them, you will encourage prospective employers to continue reading the rest of your resume.
Now that you are ready to craft your own resume objectives, here are a few final tips. Remember to focus on your strongest attributes. Mention the company or district you want to work for specifically in the objective. Finally, show how hiring you will help the department. Here are a few sample police officer resume objectives:
The resume objective is your chance to introduce yourself to your future employers. Let them know you have what it takes to serve and protect by putting your most important skills front and center. To determine which skills make the grade, search the police officer job description for important keywords and qualifications. Then consider your personal strengths and choose the ones that most closely fit the job description.
It’s important to include both hard and soft skills, such as time management, leadership, and empathy. If you are aware of specific problems within the community where you are applying, you can write a few words about how your soft skills address those needs. Consider the following top police officer skills for your resume objective:
- Grow your network. …
- Improve your performance reviews. …
- Create a team-oriented work environment. …
- Shadow a member of law enforcement. …
- Mentor a new officer. …
- Achieve career advancement. …
- Teach the community about law enforcement.
Law Enforcement | Journey to Career
What are police officer career goals?
Police officer career goals are the objectives that members of law enforcement can set to grow their skills, advance in their career and create a safer community. You may create goals that affect your career as a police officer, or you can set goals that impact the community. Setting goals may help you focus on the values and principles that are important to you in law enforcement. For example, if community outreach is important to you, then you may set goals that allow you to communicate and work closely with members of the community.
11 police officer career goals
Here are 11 career goals to consider setting as a police officer:
1. Grow your network
As a law enforcement professional, it may be useful to set a goal that involves growing your network. By having numerous law enforcement connections, you may discover new job opportunities or ways that you may strengthen your skills. You may also increase your chances of earning career advancement, like moving to a senior officer or police chief position.
Consider reviewing the amount of connections that you have in your network currently, then set a goal to expand that number by a certain percentage. For example, you may have 25 people in your network, and your goal may be to expand your network by 20%, which gives you a goal of adding five more professionals to your network.
2. Improve your performance reviews
Most police departments perform performance reviews regularly. They may perform a weekly, monthly or yearly review where leadership observes a police officers overall performance to consider how they serve and protect the community. You may set a goal to improve your performance review to help you strengthen your skills and show leadership that youre a valuable addition to the team.
3. Create a team-oriented work environment
An important part of a police officers role involves collaborating with other officers to protect a community. To ensure the safety of police officers, its essential that they trust each other while performing law enforcement procedures. You can set a goal to create a team-oriented work environment, which may help your team members rely on one another and contribute effective help to the team. To achieve this goal, consider conducting team-building exercises that may help your team members build healthy relationships, which may also help foster trust and communication.
4. Shadow a member of law enforcement
You may set a goal that allows you to shadow a member of law enforcement that is in a different department than you. For example, you may shadow a professional in the forensics department or investigative unit at your police department. While shadowing them, you may observe the standard tasks and duties that they complete throughout the day.
You may have the chance to ask them questions and discuss the parts of the position that they like and dislike. This may provide you with insight into the different parts of law enforcement, and you may discover a department that is a good match for you. Consider reaching out to leadership at your police department to see if they have a shadowing program.
5. Mentor a new officer
Often, leadership within a police department assigns entry-level police officers to work with experienced officers. You may mentor new officers to help them build their skills and grow their confidence, and you might provide them with valuable insight into the positions requirements and leaderships expectations.
You can also help familiarize them with standard law enforcement procedures and protocols, which may help them feel more comfortable when working on their own. By mentoring a new officer, you may grow your leadership skills and prepare to advance into a higher position. Be sure to encourage your mentee to ask questions and seek guidance from you.
6. Achieve career advancement
Achieving career advancement may allow you to earn a higher wage and handle more responsibilities. In law enforcement, career advancement may involve becoming a police chief, senior officer, detective or sheriff patrol officer. You may set a goal to advance into a higher position with a specific period of time, like earning a senior officer position by the end of next year. Consider communicating with leadership at your police department, like your supervisor or the police chief, to see the requirements that you need to complete to earn advancement.
7. Teach the community about law enforcement
Consider setting a goal that involves teaching the community about law enforcement. You may share about the importance of law enforcement, standard police procedures or police equipment. Its useful for the community to have an awareness of law enforcement since they may encounter police officers throughout their daily lives. You may attend local schools to provide informational presentations, or you can host events at your police department where the community may learn more about your position.
8. Educate the community on crime prevention
Crime prevention is the practice of teaching individuals about potential crime strategies and the measures that they may take to lower the chance of a crime happening to them. As a police officer, you may have a goal that educates members of your community about crime prevention, which may help individuals feel safe and lower the amount of crimes that take place. By doing so, you may help create a community that has a low crime rate, which may help individuals feel secure.
9. Earn a masters degree
Earning a masters degree in criminal justice or law enforcement may expand your knowledge of policing protocols and help you achieve career advancement. Most police departments require detectives and special agents to have a masters degree. You may also have the opportunity to teach law enforcement at an educational facility, like a police academy or university, after earning a masters degree.
10. Improve police department resources
You can expand your police departments resources so that your team may serve the community more effectively. First, review the resources that your department has currently. Then you may identify your departments needs. You can apply for grants to expand your departments budget, which may allow you to purchase new equipment, like vehicles or safety gear. You may also use the grant to hire more officers, which may expand your police force and allow for safer communities. Consider working with city officials to discuss getting access to updated equipment and training.
11. Join a professional law enforcement association
Joining a professional law enforcement association may help you grow your network and meet other professionals with similar career goals and interests. Try asking your team members or leadership at your workplace to see if theyre a part of a police association or law enforcement society. For example, you may join the National Association of Police Organizations, where you may meet other police professionals from across the country. By joining a law enforcement association, you may also stay up to date on recent law enforcement developments and updated protocols.
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FAQ
What are the goals of a police officer?
- Deploy law enforcement resources in the most efficient and effective manner.
- Continue development and utilization of the Problem Oriented Policing Strategies.
- Prevent and solve crime and prosecute offenders.
- Recover and return stolen property to the owner.
What are the two primary goals and objectives of police departments?
