Patrol Skills.
This chapter covers what a Texas peace officer must know about patrol Skills, along with the statute limits that shape each element, at the level of detail the TCOLE tests.
Chapter 35 study guide.
Patrol is where most of the job happens, and this chapter is a tour of it: why patrol exists, how to stay alert and alive, how to stop pedestrians and vehicles, how to answer in-progress calls, search buildings, handle bomb threats and crowds, and how to serve the public and prevent crime.
With 34 objectives, do not try to memorize paragraphs. Most objectives reduce to a short list or a pair of definitions, such as cover versus concealment or crowd management versus crowd control. Learn the lists, learn the numbers (20 feet, 3 feet, 500 feet, seven persons), and know which statute goes with which crowd offense.
Jump to an objective34
The functions of patrol
The outline lists five objectives of patrol. Preserve the peace, by mere presence and by proper action. Prevent crime by reducing opportunity. Suppress crime by timely response to crimes in progress and by properly investigating offenses. Apprehend suspects. Regulate non-criminal conduct by building and keeping good officer and citizen relationships to protect life and property.
These come from your statutory duties. Every peace officer shall preserve the peace within the officer’s jurisdiction using all lawful means. When a person is about to commit an offense against another’s person or property in your presence or view, it is your duty to prevent it.
Patrol matters for two reasons the outline names: protection, because prevention of crime is the soundest of all criminological theories, and service to the community of which each officer is a part.
- CCP Art. 2A.051 · General Powers and Duties of Peace OfficersEach peace officer shall preserve the peace within the officer’s jurisdiction using all lawful means, and in every case authorized by the code interfere without a warrant to prevent or suppress crime.
- CCP Art. 6.05 · Duty of Peace Officer as to ThreatsAn officer informed that a threat has been made to injure a person or property has a duty to prevent the threatened injury, if within the officer’s power.
- CCP Art. 6.06 · Peace Officer to Prevent InjuryWhen a person is about to commit an offense against the person or property of another, or injure himself, in the officer’s presence or view, it is the officer’s duty to prevent it, using the amount of force necessary and no greater.
- CCP Art. 6.07 · Conduct of Peace OfficerIn preventing offenses about to be committed in their presence or view, officers are regulated by the same rules as the person about to be injured, and may use all force necessary to repel the aggression.
On the exam Know the verbs: preserve, prevent, suppress, apprehend, regulate.
Patrol preserves the peace by mere and by proper action.
Patrol prevents crime by reduction.
The two reasons patrol is important are protection and .
Mental and physical preparation
The single most important factor in officer survival is mental conditioning. Moving from civilian work to police work takes mental and emotional conditioning to adapt to the psychological pressures of the job.
Psychological preparedness draws on attitude development, sociological and psychological maturity, formal and informal education, and your personal value system. Avoid the attitudes that work against you: isolationism and ostracizing others, becoming paranoid and treating everyone as a would-be criminal, and withdrawing from normal community life.
The single most important factor in officer survival is .
Officers must avoid becoming and regarding all people as would-be criminals.
Safety awareness, the color codes, and cover
Police work is inherently dangerous, and the chief enemy is complacency. After enough false alarms, officers start treating calls as “routine,” thinking “it can’t happen to me,” and taking chances.
The color codes describe awareness. White is relaxed and unaware. Yellow is alert to surroundings: noises, movement, smells, the actions of others. Orange means your senses are alerted to something happening, so you recognize the threat, form a plan and prepare to act. Red is taking action. Black is panic, a freeze that may come from a lack of training or a lack of faith in training. The more time you spend in white, the greater your chance of becoming a statistic. Condition yellow is a lifetime commitment.
Build readiness with mental rehearsal: picture a situation and think your way through what you would do. Know the difference between cover and concealment. And follow the safety guidelines: never approach a potentially dangerous situation without first notifying someone, never enter a building where crime is suspected without backup, and stay constantly aware of your sidearm.
- Cover
- Any material that can reasonably be expected to stop a bullet from small arms, such as a brick wall or an automobile engine. Typically hardened, thick, bulky material.
- Concealment
- Hides you from view but gives no protection. A thick bush, closed window blinds or a shower curtain.
On the exam Cover stops bullets. Concealment only hides you. Expect an example and a request to classify it.
The color code for being alert to your surroundings, a lifetime commitment for peace officers, is condition .
The color code for panic, where the officer may freeze, is .
Something that hides you from view but offers no protection is .
Questions on what you just read.
- Question 1 · LO 35.3
Shots are fired during a disturbance. One officer crouches behind a thick hedge. Another moves behind the engine block of a patrol car. Which statement is correct?
- Question 2 · LO 35.3
An officer on the fourth alarm call of the night hears glass break inside the business. He recognizes a threat, forms a plan and prepares to act. Which color code describes him?
- Question 3 · LO 35.1
Which answer lists objectives of patrol as the outline states them?
The rest of Chapter 35.
- LO 35.4Hazards on patrol2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.5Problem area patrols2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.6The six patrol modes2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.7One-officer and two-officer patrol2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.8The pedestrian stop3 statutes and cases · 2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.9Field interview positions2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.10The field inquiry2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.11What a vehicle stop is2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.12The phases of a traffic stop2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.13Low, unknown and high risk stops2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.14Four positions for the patrol unit2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.15Contact methods for a vehicle stop2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.16Seven tactics for contacting the violator2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.17The twelve ambush zones2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.18Case law for traffic stops6 statutes and cases · 3 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.19Five things that can happen if you are fired upon2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.20Crimes in progress calls2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.21Building searches2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.22Explosive device incidents2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.23Crowd management terms2 key terms · 2 statutes and cases · 2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.24First officer at a crowd scene2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.25Types of crowds2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.26Offenses relevant to crowd control17 statutes and cases · 3 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.27Response factors in crowd control2 statutes and cases · 2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.28Goals of public service2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.29Consequences of public service2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.30Ways to enhance public service2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.31Community resources in emergencies2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.32The crime prevention role2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.33Opportunity reduction and assessing a crime problem2 fill-in-the-blank
- LO 35.34Elements of a crime prevention program2 fill-in-the-blank
A subscription opens the other 31 objectives in this chapter, with 64 more fill-in-the-blank items and 7 more practice questions, along with the study guide for every other BPOC chapter.
Unlock the full guideLast checked against the Texas statutes in September 2026. This guide is a study aid for the TCOLE licensing exam. It is not legal advice, and your academy’s instruction and your department’s policy come first.
The law that drives the questions.
What recruits ask about this chapter.
What does the TCOLE curriculum list about patrol functions?
List the patrol functions. Includes: to preserve the peace by mere presence and by proper action. (CCP 2A.051); to prevent crime by opportunity reduction; duty to prevent. (CCP 6.06, 6.07); to suppress crime by timely response to crimes in progress and by properly investigating offenses. (CCP 6.05, 6.06); to apprehend suspects;
How does a Texas peace officer identify methods of mental and physical preparation?
Identify the methods of mental and physical preparation. Includes: the single most important factor in officer survival is mental conditioning; the transition from civilian work to employment as a police officer necessitates some mental and emotional conditioning to adapt to the psychological pressures of police work;
How does a Texas peace officer identify basic safety awareness tactics?
Identify basic safety awareness tactics. Includes: the work of law enforcement officers is inherently dangerous; officers must be aware of the dangers they might face in their work; the rate of felonious assaults against law enforcement officers has risen in recent years, but some officers still think, “It can’t happen to me.”;
What does the TCOLE curriculum say about determine the various kinds of hazards encountered while on patrol?
Determine the various kinds of hazards encountered while on patrol. Includes: placing yourself, others, or your patrol unit in a position as to provide the suspect(s) with a definite identifiable target; provides suspect(s) with knowledge of how many officers are present, fire power, and approach; allows suspect(s) to plan course of action;
Related study guides in Patrol Operation.
Drill this chapter with practice questions written from the BPOC curriculum.
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