What are the police core competencies?
There are numerous tests a candidate will undertake before becoming a Police Constable. Some of the tests include numerical reasoning, verbal logical reasoning, two written exercise, four interactive exercises and the actual interview. Also, there are required skills that a candidate should possess to be able to perform the role effectively. Some of these skills are already laid out on the application form and some are to be done and assessed at the assessment center. In this career, there are 7 police core competencies and these are the following:
A Police Constable should be committed.
This career requires you to provide high quality service especially that you are safeguarding the people against crime and offenses. And you must be able to establish and maintain contact with them, and to respect and understand the community you are serving at to effectively carry out your duties. Thus, an effective “community and customer-focused” police Constable knows to:
- Project the right image to the public as well as other organizations
- Respond to customer needs regardless of the circumstance at hand
- Quickly present solutions to problems
- Humble himself when he has made mistakes
- Provide quality service to the people
- Inform the customer about the progress
A Police Constable effectively communicates information and ideas both in writing and orally.
You must be able to talk with your customer clearly- in an understandable and appropriate manner. If you feel your customer is not following you anymore, make sure you shift your style of talking or the language you are using to connect to them. It is also important that you can write well- meaning you should know correct grammar, spelling and punctuations- so as not to make your reports confusing and vague. An effective police constable communicator knows to:
- Handle problems directly and clearly
- Give out information and instructions clearly
- Talk with people confidently
- Adjust his communication style conducive to the understanding of his customer
- Summarize key points or information
- Make well-written reports
A Police Constable is personally responsible.
Meaning, you are able to initiate things to happen and come up with results. You must be motivated to solve problems; determined to finish what must be done and must work with integrity. A responsible Police Constable knows to:
- Take responsibility and accountability in his actions
- Initiate on taking tasks
- Value his integrity and credibility
- Be diligent in completing tasks even if it Is routinary
- Consider ethics
- Acknowledge his shortcomings
- Be open-minded and welcomes improvements
A Police Constable knows to solve problems at his own discretion.
Meaning, you must be able to gather information from reliable sources, analyze them and arrive with logical conclusions and possible solutions. This competency is important as you are exposed to a lot of issues that needs solutions. Thus, you must know to:
- Where to get reliable sources and obtain as much data regarding the issue at hand
- Identify relevant information from the irrelevant and important information from the insignificant
- Gather information accurately and analyze them logically
- Analyze the cause and effect
- Be neutral and avoid making hasty generalizations
- Carefully deliberate all factors before making decisions
A Police Constable must be capable of recovering himself from all circumstances, including the hard ones.
You must be confident in making your decisions and be able to finish what needs to be finish, even in difficult situations. A resilient police constable knows to:
- Compose his self in times of crisis and think clearly
- Calmly solve issues despite of the situation
- Deal emotional concerns and then move forward
- Handle pressure
- Cope with the emotional crisis and situation
- Defend and stand firmly by a side if it is correct
A Police Constable is sensitive and must be open-minded.
Meaning, you should be tactful and diplomatic in communicating with people; and you must be able to consider their opinions, feelings and situations without being prejudiced in their race, religion, social status, etc.. You must, therefore, know to:
- Consider opinions or viewpoints of others in analyzing an issue
- Treat people with chivalry regardless of whether or not they are member of the force
- Be sensitive in solving conflicts. Meaning, you consider both sides of the coin
- Talk with appropriate language. Meaning, a language that is not offensive
- Value confidentiality. Assure your “clients” that you won’t spill the details you know
- Sensitively announce a sensitive issue
- Deal with people fairly
A Police Constable should value teamwork.
Meaning, you must be able to work with a team to achieve successfully a certain objective. This is therefore a manifestation of the previous competency since this skill requires you to consider and listen to the decisions and/or suggestions of you teammate. This allows you to build relationship with others and this can hone yourself to easily relate, connect, and communicate when you are out in the field. There, you must know to:
- Where to put yourself in the team and know what is your role
- Practice fairness within the group
- Give your support and cooperation for the team to achieve your target
- Socialize and know your teammates
- Learn to trust others
- Appreciate the relationship of the team.
Those mentioned above were the 7 competencies required to effectively and consistently perform the role of a Police Constable.
