What Skills Does A Police Officer Need?

There are a number of technical skills needed to become a police officer.

Among them are the following:

• Being able to remain calm under pressure
• Good physical fitness
• Strong communication skills
• An ability to take charge of a situation.

What it takes to become a police officer

The role of a police officer is very demanding and challenging. You might be expected to face criminals, dangerous situations and sensitive scenarios on a daily basis.

The skills required to deal with such a difficult job are numerous:

• People skills - Because people are an important part of police work, I'd consider people skills one of the most important requirements. You need to be able to deal with both victims and criminals, and your personality needs to be strong enough to take charge during distressing incidents (like road accidents).

• Physical strength - fitness is another sought-after attribute in policing. To join a police force, you are required to pass a fitness test.

• Literacy - is a very important part of police work. You'll need to be able to fill out reports and deal with paperwork in a professional and efficient manner.

If you're interested in becoming a police officer, I'd recommend visiting the recruitment site of your local police force.

Whilst the above are general skills you'll need, each force may have its own specific requirements.

Here are a couple of sites I'd recommend looking at:

prospects.ac.uk bbc.co.uk kent.ac.uk