How to Become a Police Officer

Wondering what it takes to get into this demanding job? Here's a guide to the education and training you'll need.

By Camilla Andersson, Monster Contributor

Do you want a fulfilling job where you’ll make a difference each and every day? Then a career as a police officer might be right for you. As a member of the police department, you’ll protect the public by preventing, stopping, and solving crimes. This job comes with a high degree of responsibility and places demands on your physical and mental health, so you’ll need to meet stringent requirements to join the force.

Ready to protect and serve your community? Read on to learn how to become a police officer.

What Is a Police Officer?

Becoming a police officer is a common first step for those who want to start a career in the police department or in law enforcement. Police officers are part of the law enforcement job category and are also called peace officers.

Police officers can specialize in specific types of crime or in a geographical area. These are some common types of police officers:

  • Uniformed patrol officers: As a uniformed officer, you’ll have a beat (a territory) that you’re assigned to.
  • Plainclothes police officers: As a plainclothes officer, you’ll wear regular clothes to blend in with the public.
  • Transit and railroad officers: As a transit or railroad officer, you’ll work to keep the public safe when using public transportation.
  • State police and highway patrol officers: As a state or highway patrol officer, you’ll work to keep highways safe.

What Do Police Officers Do?

Police officers work to prevent, stop, and solve crimes. These are some typical job responsibilities for police officers:

  • patrolling an area to deter or discover crime
  • explaining and enforcing laws
  • educating the public on how to prevent, detect or respond to crime, such as how to deter burglars or when to call 911
  • responding to both emergency and non-emergency calls
  • detaining and arresting criminals
  • writing reports
  • collecting evidence
  • interviewing crime suspects and witnesses
  • testifying in court cases

Typical police officers hours are 40 hours per week and paid overtime as needed. Those 40 hours usually involve rotating 8-, 10-, or 12-hour shifts where you’ll work some evenings, nights, and weekends. At some departments senior officers have some say in what shifts to work; at other department everyone gets assigned shifts.

Check out Monster’s police officer job description for more info about what police officers do.

How to Become a Police Officer

What do you need to become a police officer? Police officers need to be in good mental and physical health, have good judgement, communication skills, and attention to detail. You’ll also need to have a dependable character with high integrity and a commitment to justice and the truth.

The department will use several tests to evaluate your character during the hiring process, such as a background check and a polygraph test.

Beyond having the right personality to be a police officer, you’ll also need to meet police officer requirements for education and training. Let’s take a look at the steps to become a police officer.

How to Become a Police Officer: The 6 Steps to Earning Your Badge

These are the typical steps to become a police officer:

  1. Meet initial requirements, such as a high school diploma, U.S. citizenship, and age requirements.
  2. Apply to a police officer job and complete police academy training.
  3. Pass other police officer requirements, such as tests and clearances.
  4. Complete on-the-job training: This consists of both office training at the station and field training under a senior officer.
  5. Work during a probation period: Complete a temporary employment period where you’re subject to frequent performance evaluations.
  6. Get a permanent job as a police officer.

How to Become a Police Officer: Education

Police officer education requirements typically include a high school diploma and sometimes an associate degree, a bachelor’s degree, or a specific number of college units. A specific major is often not required but a criminal justice major can give you an edge on the job market.

How Old Do You Have to Be to Become a Police Officer?

The minimum age requirement to become a police officer varies between 18 to 21, depending on the state. Some departments set a maximum age limit for new applicants. The maximum age to join the U.S. Capitol Police, for example, is 39 years old.

What Training Is Required to Be a Police Officer?

Police department hiring procedures for new staff vary. The most common route to becoming a police officer is to attend training through the police academy affiliated with the department where you want to work.

Some departments will require you to go through police academy training before applying to a job. In other departments you’ll apply for a job and then go through academy training. In most cases you’ll get paid a trainee salary.

You may also have the option of paying for the academy yourself before applying for a job. In some states you also have the option of completing a college program to become a peace officer.

After being accepted into the police academy, you’ll typically participate in a training program to learn about law enforcement, law, ethics, cultural diversity, firearm use, emergency procedures, and more. How long does the police academy take? It typically takes 4 to 6 months to complete police training.

You’ll also need to complete several tests before becoming a police officer. These tests may take place during or after the training, depending on the department. They typically include:

  • a written test
  • a physical fitness test
  • a polygraph test
  • a panel interview
  • a DMV history
  • a clearance for firearms
  • a medical evaluation
  • a psychological evaluation
  • a fingerprinting procedure
  • a background check, which could include both a check for criminal history and interviews with your family, friends, and co-workers

How Long Does It Take to Become a Police Officer?

It takes about 8 to 12 months to become a police officer and go through academy and field training. It takes approximately 1 to 2 years of probation before you get a permanent position and can work without supervision.

What Is a Typical Police Officer Career Path?

Police job titles are divided into different rankings based on hierarchy. These titles vary slightly from department to department. Each title might be divided further into more rankings based on seniority and pay; for example common police officer rankings are I, II, and III.

After a few years as a police officer, you can advance to a senior position such as a:

  • Police detective: Police detectives investigate a specific type of crime.
  • Police sergeant: Police sergeants are middle managers who supervise and train subordinates and act as a liaison between subordinates and higher management positions.
  • Police lieutenant: Police lieutenants are middle managers who are responsible for a geographical area or police unit.
  • Police captain: A police captain manages a division within a police department.
  • Deputy chief: This is the second-highest rank in the police department.
  • Chief of police: A chief of police oversees a police department.

How Much Do Police Officers Make?

The median police officer salary is $43,550. You can look up the average salary for police officers in your location by using the Monster Salary Guide.

How to Become a Police Officer: Finding Jobs

Ready to earn your badge? Make sure your police officer resume and police officer cover letter have the evidence you’ll need to prove you should be hired.

Then, check out all the open positions for police officer jobs on Monster.

As for where the jobs are, according to the BLS, these are the top five states with the most job openings. Click through to find job opportunities in these states on Monster:

These are the top five cities for finding police officer jobs:

Find Undercover Information on the Job Market

Now that you’ve learned how to become a police officer, it’s time to stay up to date on job information. Need some help? Join Monster for free today. Recruiters search Monster every day looking to fill top jobs with qualified candidates, just like you. Plus we’ll send you job alerts to cut down on the time you spend looking through ads. Let Monster deliver great opportunities to you today.