What do i have to do to be a police officer, and do i pay for police academy?

Question

What do i have to do to be a police officer, and do i pay for police academy?

Answer 1

I've never heard of any police academy asking you to pay.  If you are accepted into an academy you become a city/county/state/muncipality employee and as such YOU are the one that gets paid and gets benefits (Medical, Dental, Pension, etc).

What do you have to do?  Well, that varies so much that it is impossible to give you an exact answer without knowing what department or agency you want to join but I'll try to give a general answer

1) Be at least 18.  Most departments hiring have specific age standards for minimum and maximum.  Usually between 18-21 on the minimum end and 35 to no age restriction on the top end.

2) Be in excellent physical shape.  Again, the level you need to be at varies but if you can jog 3 miles in a resonable time, do 50 pushups, and have good flexibility and general good cardiovascular heath, you should be good to go.

3) Have a clean record.  Most law enforcement jobs disqualify you outright for felonies and various misdemeanors.  Most also list these disqualifiers on their websites.  The most common one I know off the top of my head is "Domestic Violence".  This is a big no-no.

4) College credits, college degree (either a 2 yr or 4 year), or 2+ years of military service.  This is another one that varies from place to place.  Some departments want you to have a 2 year degree, others a 4 year (rarely) and others still will waive the college requirement with 2-4 years of military experience (in any field, they really don't care).  

That's about all I have on the general information tip.  If you have any other questions that are more specific, post 'em and I'll try to answer!

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

Apply. You get an application and com[plete it.

Go down or write to the police department you want to join, or call them up and ask how to apply and to send you an application. They might even have a website. Get the application and fill it out and send or take it in.

No, you do not pay for police accademy, they will be paying you to go there.

Answer 3

You have to have 60 college credits and they dont have to be criminal justice. Also you do have to pay for the 13 week police academy.

Answer 4

Look up the police/sheriff dept you want to work for. For example, www.joinlapd.com or www.lasd.org, for example. Do a search for that department in any search engine, (i.e. yahoo). Once you finish the lengthy hiring process (6-12 months), they will send you to their academy, or an academy they have a contract with. They pay you while you train.

Or, if you live in California (I'm not sure if you can do this in other states), some police academies, such as Fullerton or Rio Hondo, you can sponsor yourself, however, it can be quite expensive, up to a few thousand.

http://www.riohondo.edu/LEO/Police%20Aca...

good luck, I hope that helps.

Answer 5

To be a police officer, you have to apply to the department that you want to work for and be selected. Different police departments have different qualifications and requirements and different hiring processes. Visit their websites or call them. Most large police departments will hire you and then send you to the academy. In this case, you would not pay for the academy, but you would get paid while you were attending. Some departments require that you graduate from an academy before you can even apply for a police officer job. Check out http://www.peaceofficerjobs.com for excellent information about getting a law enforcement officer job.

Answer 6

There are several steps that you need to complete in order to become a police officer, written application, supplemental questionnaire (1 page like 5 questions), written test (usually multiple choice, sometimes essay), physical agility (fitness test), oral board (Q and A with panel of officers), background check (31 pages), psychological exam, and interview by the chief. If you get hired by going through this process the police department covers the cost of police academy for you, the cost is usually about $5,000. The benefit with this method is they pay for you to attend the academy and you get paid while in the academy.

If you want to make yourself more marketable and you have the funds to do so you can put yourself through police academy by enrolling as a non-affiliate (not yet associated with a police department). Most departments will reimburse you the fees that you payed once you are picked up by a police department. The main problem with this method is you need funds to survive on until you can get picked up by a police department, or you need to maintain a job while in police academy which can be rather difficult.

Good luck I hope this helped.