Sergeant

This profile has recently been reviewed and updated, including the CVF 2024 and core skills, and the new version can be found on College Learn by entering the Profile title in the search function.

Sergeants are the first level of line management in policing and as such carry an important role in ensuring effective daily supervision, guidance and support of officers and staff. They are responsible for enabling the development of competence within their team whilst ensuring that organisational standards are met and objectives achieved.

This role will co-ordinate, monitor and respond where necessary, to front line policing activity to uphold the law, enable public safety and build public confidence in policing in line with legal frameworks and policy guidelines.

Post holders are also likely to take on an operational specialist role requiring specialist technical knowledge and skills.

• Supervise a team, managing their wellbeing and welfare, development and ensuring high levels of motivation to enable an effective front line policing service.
• Provide specialist advice and guidance to team members to ensure that responses are delivered within appropriate policies and legislation and achieve the best possible outcomes.
• Monitor and manage the performance of the team, devising and implementing effective strategies to identify issues and improve team/individual performance to ensure adherence to professional standards and contribute to the achievement of unit/Force objectives
• Support the assessment of individuals, assessing capabilities and development needs and devising appropriate development plans to enable high performance and potential progression.
• Co-ordinate and control appropriate front line responses and investigations, allocating resources, directing activities, managing risks and reviewing progress to deliver an effective response which supports law enforcement and enables public safety.
• Supervise and monitor the handling of information, intelligence and evidence and record keeping ensuring alignment with legislation, policies and guidance which enables effective law enforcement and the initiation of criminal justice proceedings.
• Contribute to the identification of appropriate internal and external local partners in line with the Force’s planned approach, co-ordinating and monitoring the establishment of effective partnerships to enable progress against community policing objectives.
• Support the review and reporting on team expenditure to ensure the efficient use of available budgets and maximise value for money.
• Identify opportunities for and co-ordinate the exploration of new ways of working and innovation in policing, applying critical thinking to identify solutions to problems in line with evidence based practice within own area of responsibility.
• Support the implementation of problem solving and evidence based policing initiatives by championing and applying relevant methodologies and approaches to area of work.

Prior Education and Experience:

The Policing Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF) for the ranks above Police Constable has still to be confirmed. Should an educational requirement be agreed, the expectation is that it will be set at Level 6 for Sergeants. Information will be made available as soon as possible by the College of Policing. Any new requirements agreed with the Service will require development before implementation. Consequently existing promotion requirements will continue to apply for the foreseeable future.

Skills:

• Strong communication skills with the ability to set out logical arguments clearly, adapting language, form and message to meet the needs of different people/audiences.
• Able to develop and motivate a team and create strong engagement of individuals with their personal and team objectives and with Force values, behaviours and strategic priorities.
• Able to review and assess own, individual and team performance against expected standards, providing objective and effective feedback and ensuring corrective actions are taken where necessary.
• Able to coach and mentor colleagues to enable appropriate career and professional development.
• Able to plan ahead and allocate work appropriately within the team.
• Able to identify key stakeholders and partners, understand potential roles and to take appropriate steps to understand their needs and concerns and develop excellent working relationships.
• Problem solving skills with the ability to identify cause and effect and develop a course of action, drawing on evidence base, designed to target root causes, mitigate risks and manage impacts.
• Able to problem solve, critically question and identify potential opportunities to enhance efficiency and/or effectiveness across own team.
• Able to identify, analyse, and manage risk to inform balanced, proportionate evidenced-based decisions.
• Able to manage the introduction of new processes or ways of working at team level.
• Skilled in using specialised software related to own area of work to extract, analyse, plan and report on data.
• Able to develop and maintain professional resilience and wellbeing in oneself and others in dealing with complex and challenging situations.

• Guidance, best practice and any local policy applicable to the operational police context and leading and managing teams.
• Maintain and update key knowledge, understanding and skills relating to legislation policy and practice across all functional policing areas of operational responsibility.
• Maintain knowledge and understanding of new approaches identified by evidence based policing research and problem solving and team working and synthesise these into working practice.
• Maintain a working knowledge and understanding of new and evolving crime threats and priorities; and current best practice to tackle these in order to enable a pro-active and preventative approach.
• Maintain knowledge and understanding of performance management process and ensure they are implemented effectively when managing teams.
•  Complete all annual and mandatory training

Not applicable.

Specialist Sergeant roles:

• Roads Policing Sergeant
• Response Sergeant
• Detective Sergeant

Please note this list is not exhaustive.