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How do promotions work in the police force?

I’m thinking of becoming a police officer, but I don’t know how the promotions work. Isn’t it like:

Recruit

Regular

Lieutenant

Chief

What does each person do? What’s the Lieutenant and Chief in charge of? What’s the difference between a regular cop, a Lieutenant, and a Chief?

Every police department does their promotions differently. However, it helps to think about a police department for what it is…a paramilitary organization. In my department you have regular patrol officers, then detectives, then sergeants, Lieutenants, Captains, Assistant Chiefs, and then the Chief. Each different section has a sergeant and then a LT they work for and then a Capt the LT work for..etc..etc..etc. The Chief is so far up there he is more of a political figure than a police officer. But to get promoted here you have to have been on the department for a certain amount of time and in your job for a certain amount of time; then you take a test and have to pass an interview board.

This entry was posted on Monday, August 15th, 2011 at 7:13 am and is filed under promotions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

3 Responses to “How do promotions work in the police force?”

  1. Every police department does their promotions differently. However, it helps to think about a police department for what it is…a paramilitary organization. In my department you have regular patrol officers, then detectives, then sergeants, Lieutenants, Captains, Assistant Chiefs, and then the Chief. Each different section has a sergeant and then a LT they work for and then a Capt the LT work for..etc..etc..etc. The Chief is so far up there he is more of a political figure than a police officer. But to get promoted here you have to have been on the department for a certain amount of time and in your job for a certain amount of time; then you take a test and have to pass an interview board.
    References :
    currently in law enforcement.

  2. Most of the time you have to take exams for civil service grades in the police department or you could go to college and gain degrees that would make you eligible to apply for certain ranks after you are out of the grade positions. That is when you not in the PBA and considered Bass. A Lieutenant is in charge of a department, such as homicide, robbery, narcotics etc. Cheif would be in charge of all the departments. The Cheif would be the Boss of all the Lieutenants.
    References :

  3. I found this video interesting just doing some basic browsing for an answer to your question. Hope it helps.
    References :
    http://www.criminaljusticejobsandsalaries.com/videos/what-is-the-salary-range-for-a-police-detective/

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