Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
Also called: Accident Prevention Squad Police Officer, Border Patrol Officer, Campus Police Officer, Certified Police Officer, Chief Deputy Sheriff, City Constable, Civil Division Deputy Sheriff, Community Service Officer (CSO)
Maintain order and protect life and property by enforcing local, tribal, state, or federal laws and ordinances.
What police and sheriff's patrol officers do
Typical tasks
- Provide for public safety by maintaining order, responding to emergencies, protecting people and property, enforcing motor vehicle and criminal laws, and promoting good community relations.
- Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts.
- Verify that the proper legal charges have been made against law offenders.
- Render aid to accident survivors and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries.
- Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities.
- Review facts of incidents to determine if criminal act or statute violations were involved.
- Investigate illegal or suspicious activities.
- Drive vehicles or patrol specific areas to detect law violators, issue citations, and make arrests.
- Monitor, note, report, and investigate suspicious persons and situations, safety hazards, and unusual or illegal activity in patrol area.
- Investigate traffic accidents and other accidents to determine causes and to determine if a crime has been committed.
- Execute arrest warrants, locating and taking persons into custody.
- Relay complaint and emergency-request information to appropriate agency dispatchers.
Typical path into the job (BLS)
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers salary
The median annual wage for police and sheriff's patrol officers is $76,210 (BLS OEWS May 2025; BLS Employment Projections 2025–35, national). The lowest 10 percent earn less than $47,510 and the highest 10 percent earn more than $115,120. The mean annual wage is $79,200.
The mean hourly wage of $38.00 is 5.2× the federal minimum wage of $7.25. State minimums are higher in most large states. Minimum wage by state →
How does your pay compare with people your age?
Your numbers are not sent or stored. The comparison uses this occupation's BLS wage percentiles, adjusted for age with BLS median weekly earnings by age group (Q3 2026).
Pay by percentile
Annual wage percentiles from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Percentiles are a good proxy for pay by experience.
Projected pay for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers (3, 5 and 10 years)est.
Today $76,210 → in 3 years $83,800 → in 5 years $89,200 → in 10 years $104,400 (10-year range $89,800–$121,200). The model assumes pay growth of +3.2% per year.
What drives the annual growth rate
Projected pay = current pay × (1 + annual growth)^years. The annual growth rate starts from a base wage-growth rate and adds or subtracts labor demand (BLS projected employment growth), wage momentum and AI replacement risk for each occupation. Projections are not guarantees. How it is calculated →
Outlook score for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
Each component is a percentile rank among all occupations in the same country (0–100). Weights: labor demand 25, wage momentum / openings 15, pay level 15, AI resistance 25, aging workforce 10 (Japan only), entry barrier 10.
Will AI replace Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers? AI replacement risk
How AI is changing this job
A written analysis for this occupation is being prepared.
AI replacement risk compares the parts of a job that are easy to hand to AI or software (processing information, documentation, repetitive computer work) with the parts that are hard to automate (physical work, working closely with people, judgment in unpredictable settings), using O*NET work activities, work context, skills and knowledge. The result is a relative position among all occupations in the country, scaled to 0–100%. Methodology →
Labor demand for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
Employment projections are from the BLS Employment Projections program (2025–35). Annual openings include both new jobs and replacement of workers who leave the occupation.
The same job in Japan
| Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers United States | 警察官（都道府県警察） Japan | |
|---|---|---|
| Median / average pay | $76,210 | — ≈ — |
| Pay in 10 years (est.) | $104,400 | — |
| Outlook score | 58 | 65 |
| AI replacement risk | 20% Very low | 24% Low |
| Workers | 671K | — |
Matched by occupation (SOC code). Yen converted at 157.25 JPY/USD for reference; Japanese figures are averages, U.S. figures are medians, and the surveys define occupations differently.
Skills, education and requirements for Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
Key skills
O*NET skill level ratings (0–7).
Key knowledge areas
What the work involves
Important abilities
Training before entry
Related work experience
Job Zone 3 — medium preparation needed (O*NET)
Difficulty of entry: ★★☆☆☆ Fairly easy (from education, training, experience and Job Zone)
How to become police and sheriff's patrol officers
A step-by-step guide for this occupation is being prepared. The education, training and experience data above show the typical path.
Career path and how to earn more as police and sheriff's patrol officers
Career-path guidance is being prepared. Pay by percentile is shown in the Pay section.