The purpose of the current study was to explore the potential of emotional and social competencies to predict job burnout in a sample of 50 municipal police officers from the Northeastern United States. Participants were administered 3 self-report questionnaires. Emotional intelligence (EI) was measured with the BarOn Emotional Quotient Inventory (EQ-i), which is based on a 1-5-15 structural model that defines El as a group of related social and emotional competencies involved in the ability to effectively cope with environmental demands (Bar-On, 1997). The Generalized Expectancies for Negative Mood Regulation (NMR) Scale, was employed to assess beliefs about one's ability to alleviate negative moods (Catanzaro & Mearns, 1990). Burnout was measured with the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS), which yields scores for 3 separate components of burnout: emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and sense of personal accomplishment (PA) (Maslach & Jackson, 1996). Regression analyses supported the main hypothesis, which predicted an inverse relationship between El and burnout. Also, as expected, NMR was inversely related to burnout. EQ-i and NMR Scale total scores, combined, accounted for approximately 25% of the variance in EE (p = .001) and 40% of the variance in PA (p = .000). Finally, results supported the prediction of a positive relationship between El and NMR ( r = .40, p = .01). Implications for selection, training, and the development of an emotionally intelligent organizational climate are discussed.