Top 10 Qulities of a Police Officer

1. Communication

When you get a call to investigate an incident, the victims, witnesses, and perpetrators often will be upset and inarticulate. Good communication skills will help combat these situations.

2. Integrity

A police officer faces constant temptation both inside and outside the department. Only integrity will allow an officer to do the job.

3. Courage

The job of the police officer can involve matters of life and death. When an officer ends up in the line of fire, panic is not an option.

4. Decisions

These skills include identifying problems, seeking alternative solutions, applying knowledge, evaluating alternatives, and selecting a course of action.

5. Empathy

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Empathy is key as police officers are often presented with both sides of a potential situation.

6. Discretion

The quality of behaving or speaking in such a way as to avoid causing offense or revealing private information.

7. Honesty

In a one-on-one confrontation, an officer’s word is still accepted as truth unless clearly refuted by other sufficient, credible evidence. Their word is the proverbial bond.

8. Humility

The quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance, rank, etc.

9. Restraint

An officer must be firm but fair. Even when a suspect insults or abuses you, losing your cool or holding a grudge interferes with your ability to enforce the law and clouds your judgment.

10. Leadership

Being a leader is not often something you can choose to be or not be. In law enforcement, each officer becomes a leader under the premise of helping people to solve problems and working through difficult situations.