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First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Directly supervise and coordinate activities of members of police force.

Related: Detectives & Criminal Investigators First-Line Supervisors of Correctional Officers First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting & Prevention Workers First-Line Supervisors of Security Workers Police & Sheriff's Patrol Officers

Industries: Government

Summary
Details

Meet with civic, educational, and community groups to develop community programs and events, and to discuss law enforcement subjects.
Inspect facilities, supplies, vehicles, and equipment to ensure conformance to standards.
Maintain logs, prepare reports, and direct the preparation, handling, and maintenance of departmental records.
Conduct raids and order detention of witnesses and suspects for questioning.
Direct release or transfer of prisoners.
Investigate and resolve personnel problems within organization and charges of misconduct against staff.
Monitor and evaluate the job performance of subordinates, and authorize promotions and transfers.
Explain police operations to subordinates to assist them in performing their job duties.
Maintain logs, prepare reports, and direct the preparation, handling, and maintenance of departmental records.
Cooperate with court personnel and officials from other law enforcement agencies and testify in court, as necessary.
Train staff in proper police work procedures.
Direct collection, preparation, and handling of evidence and personal property of prisoners.
Prepare work schedules and assign duties to subordinates.
Review contents of written orders to ensure adherence to legal requirements.
Inform personnel of changes in regulations and policies, implications of new or amended laws, and new techniques of police work.
Inspect facilities, supplies, vehicles, and equipment to ensure conformance to standards.
Monitor and evaluate the job performance of subordinates, and authorize promotions and transfers.
Prepare budgets and manage expenditures of department funds.
Conduct raids and order detention of witnesses and suspects for questioning.
Discipline staff for violation of department rules and regulations.
Supervise and coordinate the investigation of criminal cases, offering guidance and expertise to investigators, and ensuring that procedures are conducted in accordance with laws and regulations.
Requisition and issue equipment and supplies.
Prepare news releases and respond to police correspondence.
Cooperate with court personnel and officials from other law enforcement agencies and testify in court, as necessary.

Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.

Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.

Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Psychology
- Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.
Communications and Media
- Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Work Experience

Less than 5 years work experience

Training

1 to 12 months on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

134120/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

64.48/hr

Currently Employed

3,010

Yearly Projected Openings

250

Enterprising: People interested in this work like activities that include leading, making decisions, and business. They do well at jobs that need:

Integrity
Self Control
Stress Tolerance
Leadership
Dependability
Attention to Detail

Alcohol analyzers
Binoculars
Biometric identification equipment
Body armour
Bullet proof vests
Desktop computers
Digital camcorders or video cameras
Digital cameras
Fingerprint equipment
Fingerprint latent print kits
Fire extinguishers
Flares
Hand sprayers
Handcuffs
Handguns
Hazardous material protective apparel
Masks or accessories
Measuring wheels for distance
Metal detectors
Military rifles
Mobile medical services automated external defibrillators AED or hard paddles
Mobile medical services first aid kits
Narcotic test kits
Night sticks
Notebook computers
Personal computers
Police or security shotguns
Police vehicles
Radarbased surveillance systems
Radio frequency scanners
Riot batons
Riot shields
Sound measuring apparatus or decibel meter
Special purpose telephones
Still cameras
Surveillance video or audio recorders
Tape measures
Teletype input devices
Traffic signals
Two way radios
Weapon or explosives detectors and supplies

Calendar and scheduling software
Data base user interface and query software
Electronic mail software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Helpdesk or call center software
Internet browser software
Map creation software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Process mapping and design software
Spreadsheet software
Web platform development software
Word processing software

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First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives

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