署員

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 署員 is read as しょいん; 署 denotes an official station or office and 員 a member, together meaning a station staff member or officer.
• Basic usage: Specify affiliation with 警察署の署員, and use 署員が来訪者を案内する when the staff member is the actor.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Narrower affiliation than 職員
  • 職員 broadly means an institutional employee, while 署員 identifies a member of an office or station whose name uses 署, such as a police or fire station.
• Contrast with 警察官
  • 警察官 foregrounds the profession of police officer; 警察署の署員 foregrounds membership in a particular police station.