Also called: Chief of Police, Police Commissioner
The top leader of a police department, responsible for crime strategy, budgets, and public trust.
Police chiefs spend more time in meetings than in squad cars: with the mayor, community groups, union leaders, and reporters. They set policy on things like use of force and body cameras and answer publicly when something goes wrong. In big cities they lead thousands of officers.
Small-town chiefs earn far less than big-city commissioners.
Approximate: anchored on Bureau of Labor Statistics data for a broader job group.
Bachelor's degree (4-year), about 20 years after high school. Usually a bachelor's or master's plus 15-25 years rising through the ranks; FBI National Academy common.
Ways in: 4-year college, Graduate school, On-the-job training. Training cost: $15k – $60k.
Majors to look at: Criminal Justice, Public Administration, Criminology, Political Science.
Growing about average (about 3% over 10 years). BLS police and detectives 2024-34.
Low risk for 10 years. AI dashboards forecast crime and draft budgets; community trust, policy calls and answering to the public stay human.
Classes: Government / Civics, Speech and Debate, Statistics, Spanish.
Official data: O*NET occupation 11-9199.
Career Universe is an early version. Pay, training and AI-risk figures are estimates to start your own research, not verified facts. The research was written with AI research assistants, checked by validation scripts and spot-checked by hand. Check anything important with schools, employers and official sources. How the numbers work.