Career Advice on How to Become A Police Patrol Officer.

Police Officer Careers, General Information.

At first, many might be confused as to what the difference is between a police officer careers and a police patrol officer career. But in reality, the distinction is fairly straightforward.  A police patrol officer’s work, as the name indicates, is to patrol.  This is commonly done in police cars where police officers will patrol a given area or region. A common example is state police officers patrolling the roadways in rural areas and between cities. 

Police patrol officer careers are just like those of police officers in most other ways. They have the legal authority to arrest individuals and write tickets and citations.

Police Patrol Officer Jobs, Career Facts:

Police work can be stressful, and working in a police patrol officer career can most definitely be stressful.  Often police patrol officer jobs require the officer to be out on the road alone, and backup could be a couple of minutes away or perhaps much longer.  This fact adds a degree of tension to the job that many other jobs simply do not have.  Police patrol officer careers will involve investigating suspicious activity, whether it is on the side of the road or inside a vehicle.  Likewise, police patrol officers will look for those who are breaking the speed limit and other driving infractions.

Police Patrol Officers, Career Opportunities and Job Outlook- Average:

Police Officer Jobs, A Day in The Life:

Statistically, a career as a police officer or a police patrol officer career ranks among some of the highest in terms of injury.  This is clearly due to the potentially violent nature of the job.  As officers are often required to intervene for public safety, this means they may be put in harms way.  Armed conflicts with criminals are usually rare, but do occur.  Most days, in fact, will not result in any conflict of any kind and most officers only have to use force very sporadically. 

Police patrol officers will have additional duties such as filling out necessary paperwork relating to cases.  It is also possible that police patrol officer careers, may involve the need to testify in court.

Police Officer Careers, Average Salary:

$51k

Police Careers, Training and Qualifications:

A minimum of a high-school degree is required to be a police patrol officer and college degrees are common.  There is considerable on the job training as well.

Additional qualifications include that a prospective police patrol officer is a citizen of the United States and is over twenty-one.  Those who are considering a police patrol officer career should realize that this career expects candidates to be in good physical condition and physical exams are required.