Although these are not official requirements, a police officer needs certain qualities, including multi-tasking, communication and leadership skills, good judgment, an empathetic personality, perceptiveness, strength and stamina, according to the BLS. Police officers talk to a wide variety of people and must be able to find facts effectively while empathizing with the situation. Reading into the words and actions of citizens gives you clues about what really happened, enabling you to make the correct judgment.