Police Officer Resume: Real Examples & Free Sample

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ResumeGiants » Examples » Police Office Resume

The search for a competent police officer demands a resume that emphasizes these abilities.

Just as you will be pushed to make rapid judgments as an officer, job recruiters will be compelled to make quick judgments about you based on what you detail in your application.

For this reason, it’s vital that you have a police officer resume that stands out from the rest of the crowd.

In this ResumeGiants guide, we’ll show you how to draft the ideal police officer resume, using templates, examples, and the following tips:

• Drafting a police officer resume that meets the required criteria
• Using the given job description to optimize your document
• Understanding the soft and hard skills you’ll need to demonstrate
• Comparing strong resume section examples to weaker ones

Let’s begin!

Below you’ll find our police officer resume example, made to show you the content, structure, and organization of a strong police officer resume:

Resume Example

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[Jake Raymond]

[Sergeant]

[A-04, Peralta Palm Heights, NJ |   827-673-8369   |   jakeraymond@gmail.com]

Summary

Experienced veteran with over 11 years experience at the Central City Police Department. Worked as a safety-oriented and observant patrol officer and in the drug task force for four years. Reacts swiftly to crises, constantly monitors suspicious activities, and carefully investigates crime scenes.

Experience

Sergeant

Central City Police Department, NJ

2014 – 2022

• Commanded and led a squad of 20 patrol officers on night patrol duty.
• Introduced training programmes for new recruits and upgraded squad competencies.
• Recognized need for disciplined attitude and leadership within lower ranks of the department
• Collaborated with the DEA to combat underground drug business in the Glades.

Police Officer

Star City Police Department, NJ

2010-2014

• Patrolled and guarded Central City’s most dangerous areas.
• Initiated a public outreach program for formerly-incarcerated individuals to minimize juvenile gang involvement.
• Introduced drug prevention schemes and activities in collaboration with city colleges.
• Increased the number of arrests by 32% in the Glades.

Education

B.Sc. Criminal Justice & Police Science

Starling Special Police Academy | Starling City, NJ

2010 – 2013

• Graduated magna cum laude with a 3.8 GPA.
• Excelled in criminal psychology, drug identification, and sociology.
• Head of Karate Club
• Relevant Coursework: Drug Identification Course, Criminology, Cybersecurity, Psychology, Sociology, Forensic Science, Self Defense, Judo

Skills

• Soft skills: Communication, Leadership, Adaptability, Decision Making, Conflict Resolution
• Hard skills: First Aid, Arrest, Drug Identification, Interrogation Skills, Legal Knowledge

Certifications

• CPR/AED Certification (American Red Cross, 2012)
• Crisis Management Courses (Starling City Academy Workshop, 2011)
• Black Belt in Judo (Starling Self Defense Academy, 2010)

It’s hard enough to find free resume templates on the internet as it is. Feel free to use our police officer sample to guide you when making your own resume!

When it comes to writing the best police officer resume, you should start by selecting a resume format that is appropriate for your level of experience and goals.

The format of your resume is just as important as the content. The way the words are laid out on a page can make a big difference to the reader, and separates a good resume from a great one.

Generally speaking, a resume should usually be no more than a page long, unless you have lots of relevant experience that you really cannot miss out.

Take a look at some crucial information you should have on your resume:

• Contact/personal information
• Resume objective or summary
• Work experience
• Qualifications and achievements
• Soft and hard skills
• Other information relevant to the position

A reverse-chronological format is a gold standard for resumes in this industry and it should be the structure you use for your resume. This means the most recent experience is listed first, followed by the next most recent one, and so on.

This method immediately brings attention to your most relevant experience and qualifications.

Tips To Have the Perfect Format for Your Police Office Resume

Here are a few more pointers that you should keep in mind when drafting your police officer resume:

• Stick to a professional font
  • Fonts like Times New Roman, Arial, and Calibri are familiar to most people. They look professional, clean, and most importantly, readable.
  • A legible font is important, but it should never be the star of your resume. The content itself is more important.

• Use single line spacing
  • Single line spacing works best. This ensures that the writing is not cramped, and leaves enough breathing space for the reader’s eyes.
  • If you’re struggling to fill up the resume with content, 1.15 spacing works too.

• Use single margins
  • You don’t want too much white space on your resume; this will make it look empty.
  • A single-inch margin is ideal.

• Keep your headings bold
  • Make sure your headings are bold and in a slightly bigger font compared to the body text. This will help the reader navigate through your resume and makes for easier reading.

• Don’t use pictures or images
  • Using pictures and images on a resume is generally not advised in the USA.
  • You’d be much better off using this space to list your qualifications, experience, and achievements. 

• Send your resume as a PDF
  • PDFs are the universally accepted gold standard when it comes to police officer resumes.
  • A resume saved as a PDF can be more easily scanned by ATS if that software is being used by the recruiter.

Tweaking your resume to get the perfect format and structure can be difficult. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry!

Use our professional resume templates, and you’ll have the best police officer resume around with just a few clicks.

The first thing a job recruiter reads is the resume summary or resume objective. These are the headlines right at the top of your resume.

• A resume summary is a few lines that outlines your work experience, and your skill set. It gives a job recruiter an idea of what’s to come in the rest of the resume.
  
• A resume objective is ideal for less experienced candidates. It usually contains the skill set of a police officer and shows how their skills could be useful to a task force despite their lack of experience.

Police Officer Resume Summary Example

A strong police officer resume summary can give a recruiter a lot of information about you and help you make a good first impression.

Here are two examples of a police officer resume summary:

The first example simply gives a short summary of the individual. However, the second one gives us more information and personality while still being concise.

How to Write an Entry-Level Police Officer Resume Objective

If you’re short on work experience as a police officer, a resume objective is probably the better alternative for you.

This is because resume objectives do not rely just on achievements and work experience to represent your value as a candidate. Instead, they can help you emphasize the specific skill set that you have and show how you can be a valuable asset to any task force.

Pay close attention to what is mentioned in the description of a job listing, since this is what you should tailor your resume around.

For example, if the job description specifies that the force is looking for individuals who have excellent communication skills for when on patrol, you may underline that you have these traits, making you one of the recommended candidates, even if you don’t have work experience.

🌟Featured content: Study job descriptions for keywords. Include these keywords in your resume summary or resume objective. This tells a recruiter that you have the talents that the company is searching for in that specific role.

Entry-Level Police Officer Resume Objective

Take a look at the example below:

As you can see, this example does not give specific information, achievements, or skills that make the candidate look attractive to the recruiter. 

You want to persuade a recruiter by letting them know that you have the exact skills and traits they are looking for in this position, and this is why you are a great fit.

Here’s a better way to do it:

This is the section of your resume where you may emphasize your credentials and achievements over the years.

To portray these talents in a way that will maximize your chances of getting an interview, you should concentrate on the exact qualities that an employer would value.

Your experience section is an excellent place to customize your resume to each job you’re interested in.

Many of the tips and techniques we’ve discussed thus far apply to the experience section. Here are a few ways you can truly highlight your policing experience:

Entry-Level Police Officer Resume: Experience Section

Don’t be concerned if you have little to no experience as a police officer, and you’re looking for a job on the task force.  You’ll be relieved to hear that creating a solid resume for a police officer with no experience is quite achievable.

Use the talents and abilities you’ve acquired along the road, even if they come from prior internships, volunteer programs, etc., to demonstrate your complete skill set.

Here’s an example of an entry-level experience section:

This section lists all of your academic qualifications. Many police departments demand only a high school diploma.

However, according to a study by California State University, Fullerton, over a third of police officers have a bachelor’s degree, 50% have two-year degrees, and over 5% of the police population have master’s degrees.

If you have passed the police academy and are searching for your first job, this would be useful and necessary information to provide, too.

Police Officer Resume Education Section

Take a look at some examples on how you can keep your police officer resume’s education section interesting:

This portion of your resume may seem simple, but it’s actually quite important. Your skill set has the ability to open up a whole new horizon of opportunities for both you and prospective employers.

Here, your soft and hard skills will be covered – soft skills are general skills that may be applied to most different professions, whereas hard skills are field-specific abilities that are developed on the job.

Below are some examples of each type of skill that you might consider using on a resume for policing jobs:

The “Other” sections of your resume can help you differentiate yourself from the other candidates.  Finding ways to distinguish your application can go a long way, whether you’re writing a police sergeant resume or an entry-level cadet resume.

It’s an excellent addition to your resume because it highlights any other talents, accomplishments, and credentials you may have and demonstrates your readiness for the tasks and obligations of a police officer.

Police Officer Resume Sample “Other” Sections

Here are some examples of what an “Other” section would look like on a police officer’s resume:

As a police officer, there’s nothing wrong in adding parts of your own for the “Other” sections, as long as you follow the right format and organization and keep it clean, polished, and easy to read.

If the skills, qualifications, or internships and work placements are relevant to your role and the job description, you can make any experience work on a police officer resume.

In this ResumeGiants guide, we covered:

• When writing a resume to become a police officer, be sure to include either a resume summary or a resume objective, depending on your experience level. Resume summaries are preferable for more experienced officers like captains and sergeants, whereas resume objectives are preferable for entry-level cops.
• Be direct and straightforward when putting forth examples of activities and experiences as a police officer. Be concise, but don’t leave out any crucial information.
• The skills section is very important; it’s imperative that you highlight any soft and hard skills you have that could add value to your resume and any task force.
• Make sure you include any other certifications or qualifications you may have that are relevant to the job description. These set you apart from other candidates and give you an upper hand in the selection process.
• Being a police officer can be a stressful profession, but it also allows you to serve the people, so be responsible and diligent with your resume as well!

We hope this guide helps you craft the perfect police officer resume.

If you need further help, head over to our free resume builder, where you’ll find hundreds of ready-made templates that can help you create a brand-new police officer resume!

It’s easy to use, interactive, and just takes a few minutes to whip up a complete, professional resume.