General Patrols is the bread and butter of every cop. Its where they learn the ropes, practice arrest techniques, hone investigation skills and lay down their initial mountains of paperwork.

When we talk of general patrols, we're talking about the activities an "every day" police officer undertakes- you know, the guys and gals you see out and about in patrol cars and walking the beat. They're almost always in uniform, but some police departments can undertake plain clothes (sometimes called undercover) operations if the need presents itself.

General Patrols is one of the most varied positions a police officer can hold. Patrol officers will find themselves pulling over vehicles to issue speeding fines one day, and attending the scene of natural disasters the next- and then theres everything in between.

General patrol responsibilities:
Proactive activities:

• Radar
• Bail Checks
• Executing warrants
• Gathering intelligence on persons of interest
• Traffic incidents (speeding vehicles, vehicles unfit to be on the road, etc)

Response activities:

• Domestic violence calls
• Assaults
• Robberies
• Break and enters
• Shootings
• Stabbings
• Demonstrations
• Sexual Assaults
• Rapes
• Indecent exposure cases (flashers)
• Lost children
• Lost adults
• Traffic complaints (cars burnt outs, mini bikes, etc)
• Drug offences
• Thefts (from individuals or companies)
• Work place accidents
• Any and all kinds of neighborhood disputes
• Noise complaints
• Suicides
• Some alarm response, such as hold up alarms
• Recovery of unwanted firearms or dangerous items
• ... and many more.

Some of these items are preliminary response only, meaning that patrol officers assess the state of the incident before more specialized units take over. Take for example rape cases- its common for general police to attend to make initial conversation with the victim to determine the extent or truthfulness of the claims being made (there are people with mental conditions for example who think they've been raped, or people with other disorders which make them need constant attention). Or for robberies, on a bank for example, general patrols will be first on scene to obtain descriptions of offenders and other details of importance, while detectives will generally take over the investigation of the incident. This usually involves taking statements, follow up investigation with likely suspects, and compilation of the case against an offender. This relationship between patrols and detective units varies between country and between police departments. Furthermore, country police are generally expected to handle much great range of incidents due to lack of specialized support.

General patrol officers must be good communicators and good listeners in order to both gather information quickly, and relay it to dispatchers or other police supporting the incident. General patrols must also deal with violent disputes or offenders with physical force or through the aforementioned communication skills. All police must, as we must all know, be prepared to take the life of another to protect themselves, their parterner, or members of the public in danger. U.K. police however to my knowledge still do not carry firearms on general patrols (citizens of the U.K. do not have the same rights to bear arms like US citizens do).

Communication skills also extend to the written word, as you will find yourself engaging in continuous report writing and case building- ie. paperwork. If you aren't a touch typist, I recommend you not only meet the department's typing speed requirements, but double it. You'll save a LOT of time. Your skill with the written word and your investigation skills will commonly decide the fate of cases in court- and even better, may dissuade defence lawyers from even engaging you in court in the first place (they just enter a guilty plea and you stay on patrols, instead of on a court bench all day).

Obviously communication can not be employed, so a good patrol officer must also be able to exert physical force when the need arises. That means staying fit, both strength wise and aerobically. If you can't run down an offender in a foot chase and then have energy to struggle with them you're putting yourself at risk of injury or death. Martial arts programs generally will focus your fitness in the right direction, and strength work in the gym can help strong arm offenders when you get into a grappling situation.

Patrol work can be mind numbingly boring, and heart stopping in its excitement. Information from police who have worked with the t.v. show, "Cops", is that it takes reporters 2 weeks of riding in police cars 8 hours a day or more, to get 30 minutes of footage. This is a generally accurate portrayal of the amount of excitement time vs boredom time. While you may get a string of lesser cases that are still interesting, the stuff you see on cops is the "cream" that you might not see for weeks on end.... then again, sometimes you can pull a string of incidents in a week, or in a single shift- such is the nature of police work.

Want to know anything more about patrol work? Let me know.