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33-3051.00 · Task explorer

Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers: reported tasks and exploration worksheet

Maintain order and protect life and property by enforcing local, tribal, state, or federal laws and ordinances. Perform a combination of the following duties: patrol a specific area; direct traffic; issue traffic summonses; investigate accidents; apprehend and arrest suspects, or serve legal processes of courts. Includes police officers working at educational institutions.

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Read the task inventory

This source lists 30 tasks, including 25 marked Core and 5 marked Supplemental. Labels and dates are retained below. Employers can combine or divide these responsibilities differently; explore the task itself before assuming it belongs in every version of the role.

Task source dates: 08/2026.

30 tasks shown

Core · Task 23052 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

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.

Core · Task 23051 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Identify, pursue, and arrest suspects and perpetrators of criminal acts.

Core · Task 23062 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Verify that the proper legal charges have been made against law offenders.

Core · Task 23054 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Render aid to accident survivors and other persons requiring first aid for physical injuries.

Core · Task 23053 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Record facts to prepare reports that document incidents and activities.

Core · Task 23056 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Review facts of incidents to determine if criminal act or statute violations were involved.

Core · Task 23055 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Investigate illegal or suspicious activities.

Core · Task 23059 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Drive vehicles or patrol specific areas to detect law violators, issue citations, and make arrests.

Core · Task 23057 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Monitor, note, report, and investigate suspicious persons and situations, safety hazards, and unusual or illegal activity in patrol area.

Core · Task 23067 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Investigate traffic accidents and other accidents to determine causes and to determine if a crime has been committed.

Core · Task 23065 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Execute arrest warrants, locating and taking persons into custody.

Core · Task 23061 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Relay complaint and emergency-request information to appropriate agency dispatchers.

Core · Task 23066 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Patrol specific area on foot, horseback, or motorized conveyance, responding promptly to calls for assistance.

Core · Task 23060 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Monitor traffic to ensure motorists observe traffic regulations and exhibit safe driving procedures.

Core · Task 23058 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Testify in court to present evidence or act as witness in traffic and criminal cases.

Core · Task 23064 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Evaluate complaint and emergency-request information to determine response requirements.

Core · Task 23079 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Place people in protective custody.

Core · Task 23072 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Patrol and guard courthouses, grand jury rooms, or assigned areas to provide security, enforce laws, maintain order, and arrest violators.

Core · Task 23073 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Transport or escort prisoners and defendants en route to courtrooms, prisons or jails, attorneys' offices, or medical facilities.

Core · Task 23063 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Photograph or draw diagrams of crime or accident scenes and interview principals and eyewitnesses.

Core · Task 23069 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Notify patrol units to take violators into custody or to provide needed assistance or medical aid.

Core · Task 23068 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Direct traffic flow and reroute traffic in case of emergencies.

Core · Task 23071 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Question individuals entering secured areas to determine their business, directing and rerouting individuals as necessary.

Core · Task 23074 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Inform citizens of community services and recommend options to facilitate longer-term problem resolution.

Core · Task 23076 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Provide road information to assist motorists.

Supplemental · Task 23078 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Supervise law enforcement staff, such as jail staff, officers, and deputy sheriffs.

Supplemental · Task 23077 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Process prisoners, and prepare and maintain records of prisoner bookings and prisoner status during booking and pre-trial process.

Supplemental · Task 23075 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Locate and confiscate real or personal property, as directed by court order.

Supplemental · Task 23080 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Conduct community programs for all ages concerning topics such as drugs and violence.

Supplemental · Task 23070 · 08/2026 · Incumbent

Serve statements of claims, subpoenas, summonses, jury summonses, orders to pay alimony, and other court orders.

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Source and practice material

Occupational context uses the O*NET® 31.0 Database from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, under CC BY 4.0. View the occupation.

Skill Workbench selected and adapted the occupational information and added its own fictional cases, calculations, guidance and worksheets. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed or tested these additions. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.