Charles Hale began his career in the public sector as a police officer with the El Segundo Police Department (California) in 1965, where he served for seven years as a patrol officer, investigator and field supervisor.  While working full-time as a police officer he attended California State University at Long Beach where he attained his bachelor's degree in 1970 and his master's degree in 1972. 

From 1972 to 1974 Charles Hale served as the Assistant Director of the Police Assaults Study conducted by the Oklahoma University Research institute and funded by the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration in 1973.  Charles Hale served on a team of consultants involved in a management and organization study of the police department in Amarillo, Texas.  Since that time Charles Hale has conducted similar studies in over 200 police departments in several states.  Charles D. Hale is the author of Fundamentals of Police administration, Police Community Relations, The Assessment Center Handbook for Police and Fire Personnel and Police Patrol: Operations and Management.

According to the book description of The Assessment Center Handbook for Police and Fire Personnel, “Drawing on current knowledge and his own extensive experience, the author provides a thorough overview of the design and administration of an assessment center for fire and police personnel. He offers invaluable insight concerning the reliability, cost-effectiveness, and objective methods for the selection of candidates for higher appointments. Topics include the advantages of an assessment center, typical assessment center exercises, design and administration, selection and training, candidate evaluation and scoring methods, preparation, and an overall summary. How or why an assessment center should be conducted, and the manner in which candidates are evaluated by the assessors, are among the many important features of this book. Concluding with numerous exercise plans, typical assessment center schedules, candidate evaluation and assessor feedback forms, this volume will serve as an excellent textbook in administrator preparatory programs."

According to the book description of Police Patrol: Operations and Management, “Covers patrol operations, goals and strategies. It combines management theory with case study examples taken from small police departments. New edition adds coverage of community and problem oriented policing. Each chapter focuses on a specific aspect of police patrol operations."