CONSTABLE JOB DIMENSIONS

1. Adherence to Authority

• Comply with Police Regulations, policies, orders, and lawful instructions from any
senior member.
Most frequently constables comply with instructions issued by their sergeants but they
also comply with a variety of written orders, procedures and guidelines as well as
instructions from commissioned officers and more senior constables.

2. Attention to Detail

• Thorough and conscientiously careful in the performance of a tasks.

Many tasks require that constables are thorough and conscientious, performing tasks
in a cursory or casual manner is not good enough. Examining the scenes of deaths,
fires and offences; conducting searches of buildings, vehicles and persons; preparing
evidence for court; handling firearms; dealing with found or stolen property and
taking descriptions of persons or property; all require attention to detail.

3. Controlled Demeanour

• Maintain composure and effective performance when verbally or physically provoked.

On occasions constables may find themselves faced with a person who is abusive or
otherwise provocative towards them. However constables must maintain self-control
and continue to perform their duties in a proper manner.

4. Endurance

• Continue to effectively perform the same tasks for an extended period of time; or
continue to effectively perform tasks when physically or mentally fatigued.
Some aspects of police work, such as vehicle or foot patrol can become tedious,
particularly during the night if there is little activity. Shift work can create tiredness.
Regardless of these factors, constables must remain alert and carry out their duties
effectively.

5. Initiative

• Originate actions rather than just respond to events or attempt to influence events
rather than passive acceptance; self-starting.
While constables for the most part carry out duties as instructed, it is desirable that
they exercise initiative; that they do not only what is basically required of them but
go beyond without being asked. Constables demonstrate initiative by making an effort
to increase their knowledge of local offenders, suspects and trouble spots; or by
studying statutes, regulations and orders to familiarise themselves with law and police
procedures.

6. Integrity

• Adhere to the values of honesty and trust; resist temptations of an unethical or

unlawful nature.
As with police officers at all levels, society demands that constables exhibit the
highest possible standard of honesty. Constables are frequently trusted to work alone
and unsupervised and also deal with files and information which must be treated
confidentially. Constables must apply the law equally to all.
7. Interpersonal Sensitivity

• React sensitively, be empathetic, compassionate, sincere and communicate tactfully.

The nature of some aspects of police work requires that constables possess humane
qualities. The frequent tasks of advising a person that a partner, child or near relative
has been charged with an offence; giving advice at a domestic dispute; interviewing
the partner or near relative of a deceased person; or interviewing a victim of a
trauma-causing offence; all require that constables have considerations for the
feelings of others.

8. Job Knowledge

• Become familiar with and further understand the effective use of, the laws,
regulations, policies, methods, procedures and techniques that relate to the position
of constable.
This dimension is quite global in that it covers virtually all the job-related knowledge
that constables must possess and the practical application of that knowledge, other
than skills or knowledge relating to equipment which comes under the dimension of
"technical proficiency".
Constables make arrests, prefer charges, use powers and adhere to obligations
imposed upon them under a variety of statutes; complete court briefs and a wide
range of reports and forms; issue various receipts; execute warrants; serve
summonses; take statements and records of interview; give basic crime prevention
advice; determine whether complaints are civil or police matters; deal with matters
relating to firearms licences; perform traffic control duty; attend traffic crashes; and
on occasions administer first aid and cardio-pulmonary resuscitation.

9. Observation

• Effectively notice, using any of the five senses.

Constables spend a considerable amount of time performing foot and vehicle patrols.
They should be alert and actively use their senses of sight and hearing in particular if
they are to be effective in preventing and detecting offences. Constables also exercise
their observation skills when checking the scene of an offence for evidence which may
assist to identify the offender; watching a potentially violent person for signs that
they may act in a violent way; or searching for missing or wanted persons, or
vehicles.

10. Oral Communication

• Clearly express oneself in individual, group or court situations.

Communication between constables, their supervisors and members of the community
is mainly oral. Interactions may be in person, by telephone or radio. The types of
communications are varied, they may be giving information or advice, discussing an
offence with a motorist, giving evidence in court or addressing a group of people at a
disturbance. This dimension also involves the process of listening, such as listening to
matters requiring attention while on duty; listening to a witness, suspect or
complainant; or listening to what the parties to a domestic dispute have to say.

11. Oral Fact-Finding

• Gather information through questioning.

This involves a special part of oral communication, the emphasis being on the process
of asking questions to gather information. For example, constables interview suspects
and witnesses; question people to obtain descriptions of property or offenders; make
inquiries into offence reports, question complainants to obtain full relevant details;
question a person to establish their true identity; question persons to gather
information about criminal activities or wanted persons; or question persons to
determine their suitability to be issued with a firearm licence.
12. Perseverance

• Stay with a position or plan of action until the desired objective is achieved or no
longer reasonably attainable.
It is not always sufficient that constables make one attempt and then give up; a
certain tenacity is required. Constables frequently have to locate a person to serve a
summons or execute a warrant and they must make all possible inquiries to discover
the person's whereabouts, not just "write it off" after the bare minimum of inquiry.
Perseverance is also required when making inquiries into an offence in an effort to
identify the offender and following up all possible lines of inquiry to prove or disprove
a case against a suspect.

13. Person Relations

• Relate to people in a manner that is helpful and encourages a positive attitude.

Constables deal with members of the community on a daily basis and they are
required to provide a service to all on an equitable basis regardless of their sex,
marital status, race, age, religious or political conviction, family status or impairment.
Their manner of speech and behaviour should engender a favourable image.
Apart from the fact that the community have a right to expect courteous customer
service from a government service, it is recognised that the effectiveness of the
service is often dependent upon the assistance and co-operation of the public. To
promote favourable person relations constables should attend to customers as soon as
possible; in spite of work pressure exhibit a friendly and helpful attitude towards
members of the community; listen to grievances or problems and offer advice even
though it may not be a police matter; and ensure they inform complainants of the
results of their inquiries.

14. Personal Impact

• Create a good first impression, command attention and respect, display maturity and
show an air of confidence.
While the dimension of "person relations" has similarities to "personal impact", the
emphasis here is on constables creating good impressions of themselves as individual
police officers, not only in the minds of the public but also with their peers and
supervisors. Encounters with many people may be brief and often insufficient for them
to appreciate the deeper qualities a constable may possess. Therefore, first
impressions are important and lasting.
Factors which contribute to personal impact are speaking clearly, calmly and politely
without the use of slang or rough language; personal cleanliness and grooming; neat
and clean uniform and shoes; not being excessively overweight; keeping a reasonable
standard of fitness; and always being punctual. When speaking to a member of the
community, commissioned officer or giving evidence in court, constables should sit or
stand erect and never lean or slouch.

15. Physical Efficiency

• Effectively perform activities that require muscular strength, agility and/or stamina;
and effectively defend oneself or another against attack.
Although not an everyday occurrence, the job of constable inevitably involves some
form of effort, which requires good physical condition. They can be called upon, at a
moment's notice, to sprint or run, or struggle with an arrested person, or defend
themselves or another officer against a violent person. Self-defence has been included
in this dimension because it involves, apart from knowledge of techniques, strength
and agility. Other than physical confrontations of exceptionally short duration,
stamina or sustained energy is also required. Other activities reflective of this
dimension include lifting an arrested person into a security van; separating two
persons who are fighting; and handcuffing a struggling offender.
16. Practical Intelligence

• Analyse the key elements of a situation or problem, identify and evaluate possible
courses of action, reach logical conclusions and take appropriate action.
Having knowledge of the responsibilities, powers, and procedures inherent in the
position of constable is not in itself sufficient. This dimension reflects the necessity for
constables to put intelligently into practice the knowledge they possess. It involves a
degree of reasoning ability, judgement, decisiveness and common sense. It is not
always possible to seek the advice of another officer.
A frequent situation for constables is when answering a telephone call - they must
assess the need for police to attend, settle the matter over the telephone, request the
caller to attend the police station or re-direct the caller to another authority.
If constables have several jobs requiring attention, they must decide the priority
which should be given to each task; they decide if they have enough evidence to
prefer a charge; they assess whether a witness is telling the truth; decide on the most
appropriate charge to prefer and whether to arrest, summons or issue an infringement
notice, etc; On attending a crime scene, they assess the need for Forensic Division to
attend; on attending a brawl or disturbance, they assess the situation before taking
action and request assistance if considered necessary.