Police Officer
Cover Letter Example

Policing is a tough job, and doing it well requires exceptional patience, social skills and level-headedness. While there will always be a need for quality police officers, getting hired for a full time position is not necessarily easy.

Police departments are looking for officers who have the skills and experience needed to do their job safely and effectively. An outstanding cover letter can be the difference between landing the top job or being left waiting for a response.

Below are three tips for writing a strong police officer cover letter:

Highlight relevant skills

A day in the life of a police officer might involve responding to domestic disputes, traffic accidents, violence, theft, or any number of issues.

Because the action needed in these situations can vary as wildly as the behavior of the civilians involved, the skills required of a successful police officer are complex.

To show police departments that you have the expertise needed for the job, highlight some of these key police officer skills on your cover letter:

• Community outreach
• Youth education
• Active listening
• Interpersonal skills
• Self-defense and martial arts skills
• Specialized weapons training
• Military experience
• Officer training
• De-escalation techniques
• Squad leadership skills and supervision
• Proficiency in more than one language
• Academic background in law or criminal justice
• Fitness certifications
• Crisis leadership
• Data security and processing

The ideal candidate for any policing position ultimately depends on the unique challenges facing the city or town hiring for that job. With that in mind, include skills in your cover letter that address the needs of the department you want to work for. This helps employers know that you have what it takes to excel in the role.

Show your passion for police work

Police work isn’t a casual day job. Officers are responsible for a community’s well-being, and are regularly put in potentially dangerous situations. So police departments need to know they’re hiring someone who’s seriously passionate about the work they do.

Use your cover letter to show employers that you’re personally invested in providing excellent police work, and that they can rely on you to exceed the minimum of what’s expected of you.

If you have life experiences that made you want to become a police officer, highlight those experiences in your cover letter to show that you’re dedicated to doing excellent work. Let departments know your personal values inspire your dedication to law enforcement.

Make sure your cover letter isn’t too long (or too short)

Police departments in bigger cities have to sort through stacks of cover letters whenever they hire new officers.

To make sure that your application doesn’t go overlooked, your cover letter needs to communicate all your strengths while being short enough to keep the hiring manager’s attention.

The most effective cover letter length for police officers is between 200 and 400 words, which should all fit on one page with standard size text.