What's the percentage of the time that you work alone vs working as a team as a police officer?

Hi Erasmo-

That is a great question. It really depends on a variety of factors:

1) Size of department- many departments are quite small and either can't afford to have multiple officers ride or work together, or don't have specialized assignments. Conversely, many larger department have two officer squad cars in patrol, particularly in high crime areas, or later in the day/evening.

2) Area of assignment- When I was in the gang unit, drug unit, and detectives, we always worked together. It was very rare that I worked alone. Also we worked with hundreds of other departments, agencies, etc. so we were never really alone. That was probably the most fun I had during my career.

3) Team work- You may be alone in the squad car, but you are not alone in police work. You always have your brothers and sisters in LE there for you. So the team is always there. It is a unique culture that generally supports each other.

Hope that helps-
Lt Jeff Adam 199
Elgin Police Department

Lt. Adam hit the nail on the head with #3 answer above. It's all about teamwork. They will break all sort of traffic laws to get there and be with you as fast as they can, even if all you did was call out that you were stopping somebody, and there is no real emergency. Don't be afraid of being alone with a bad guy. You will develop a survivor mentality. You will learn to make "small talk" with people while waiting for your back-up to arrive, rather than trying to subdue them by yourself.

I worked in a unique environment - at an airport. Only 20% of our assignments were vehicle patrol, the rest were foot patrol. On those, we were alone, but back-up was nearby. And, there were always people around if you wanted to talk to someone. You could talk to store clerks, ticket agents, travelers, etc. So it was never a lonely job.

Even if you are patrolling alone, and you are told that you are each supposed to stay in your assigned areas, cops NEVER do what they are told. You will meet up and sit in parking lots talking, or go out for meals together, or things like that.

hope this helps!