Preparing to Take the Police Exam for the Top Law Enforcement Jobs

When you have undergone courses in criminal justice or gone through other pre employment police training, you are now ready to take the police exam. However, before you go take that test you need to know where to go and what will be expected of you. This will help you better prepare for the police test or sheriffs exam.

Top Points to Remember in the Police Exam

Preparation is key
Study and absorbing education presented to you is important
Conduct is as important as study in preparation

There are many things to keep in mind before you go to take the police test. You will need to make sure that you prepare completely for what you are about to take on, especially in the academy. While in academy you will need to study and absorb all material given to you for sheriffs exam. You will also need to make sure that you conduct yourself in a way becoming of a police officer, keeping your record clean.

Top Police Tests Around the Country

New Jersey

These five states are the top paying states in the country, and therefore the best places to take the police exam or sheriffs exam. You should consider taking the exam in one of these states if at all possible. They have more strenuous testing to go along with the higher pay, but if you can pass the police test in these states then you are certain to get a job in any state.

New Jersey

In New Jersey you must take a police test in order to gain admittance to the police academy. There are alternative academies that you can get into without taking this test, but you are not guaranteed a job if you go this route. The police test includes questions that will test your basic skills, common sense, and judgment. Sheriffs exam at NJ is held at par with police test.


In order to become a police officer in California you have to go through an approved police academy. You may also be required to have an associates or bachelors degree in law enforcement or criminal justice. This education will prepare you to take the police exam that will be presented to you at the end of academy. In order to graduate you must pass this test, which will cover procedure and judgment, as well as common sense and basic skills. A huge number of candidates appear for sheriffs exam in California.


In Illinois you have to have an associates degree before you can apply for the police academy and take the police test. You also have to be over twenty one and meet certain guidelines, such as not having any felonies and being a US citizen.


In order to be accepted into the police academy in Washington, you have to pass several police exam tests. You will have to pass a basic math skills test, which may also test your basic common sense and judgment. You will also have to take psychological and polygraph tests. Based on the same guidelines, sheriffs exam is the top draw among all tests for civil jobs taken in Washington.


Of the top five paying states, Nevada has the fewest requirements for the police academy. You must pass a background check and be twenty one in order to be accepted into the academy. Once you go through the academy you will have to pass the police test in order to make sure that you have absorbed all of the education presented to you before you can become a police officer.

What Is The Training Like To Become A Police Officer?

Becoming a police officer is a highly rewarding and challenging job. It is not only a trial of your physical abilities but also of your emotional and psychological strength as well. Every individual wishing to get enrolled in the police force has to undergo a rigorous training and development program in order to be a part of it. There is a structured recruitment procedure which has to be covered step-by-step to ensure that you will potentially fit into the role of a responsible police officer. The selection procedure takes into account physical, emotional and psychological fitness of the candidate. Once selected through a formal and legal procedure that includes application process, interview, physical assessment, academic profile and background. Thus, he has to undergo a stringent training program at a police academy.

Majority of us tend to assume that the rank of a police cadet receives multiple benefits and a handsome salary during the course of training as well. Not many know that you have to undergo training at one of the 626 state and local law enforcement academies operating in the United States depending on the area of your recruitment. The training time period is around 26 weeks but might vary according to different states.

The training at the academy can be divided into two areas. The first area is mostly classroom based where basic knowledge about different topics related to the job is imparted to all the cadet trainees. The second area revolves around training in the field where each cadet gets to taste the actual life of a police officer. The first span of basic recruit training is for around 18 weeks in which every cadet is made familiar with diverse topics such as firearm skills, emergency vehicle operation, self defense, basic first aid, investigation, different types of state and country laws, patrol procedures, collecting evidence, criminal liability, health and fitness, ethics, problem solving and mitigation techniques, basic foreign language, stress management etc.

The second part of the training in the police field spans over a time period of around 6-8 weeks. During this time period, every cadet is paired with a training officer, who is accompanied by the trainee at each and every step of his day. This helps in accustoming the recruit with the practical daily life routine of a police officer.

Every recruit has to undergo a strenuous physical activity routine during the course of his training. This prepares the recruits for the active duty of a police officer that requires alertness at all hours of the day whether off-duty or on-duty.

Police Training Courses – Building a Strong Foundation

Basic Law Enforcement (BLE) police training courses are quite literally the foundation for all police careers. Considering the fact that all states demand certification of police officers, all jurisdictions likewise make use of the BLE curriculum as the foundation for those certification classes.

Even though the precise content of the BLE curriculum might differ from one state to another, the fact remains that all police academies make use of basic BLE curriculums as a basis for their training.

Police academies in large metropolitan areas tend to be more commonly associated directly with that police jurisdiction. However, smaller agencies are more likely to coordinate with a community college. Police academies vary with regard to their admission processes. The standards put into practice by individual jurisdictions account for the variations in admission policies.

Police academy students are accepted in one of three ways, either as a police recruit, as a sponsored applicant to a specific agency, or as a self sponsored attendee. Regardless of the actual admission status, the BLE curriculum will remain the same for all students.

BLE police training courses are a mixture of classroom and field studies. Field studies commonly consist of firearms training, self defense, defensive driving, and physical agility drills, to name a few. It is the classroom curriculum, however, that almost always characterizes the initial instruction.

The police officer must have an in depth comprehension of the laws. Furthermore, the officer has to be fully educated concerning the application of those laws and their relation to the Constitution. The significance of constitutional law cannot be understated, as it forms the basis for all laws in the United States. For this reason, BLE police training courses typically begin with an in depth introduction to constitutional law.

Following constitutional law studies, BLE curriculum usually turns to the study of criminal law. Most of the time, the first segment begins with an introduction to the substance of the criminal laws. Substance includes identification of the laws, the classification of crimes, and the penalties in place for those found guilty.

The application of criminal procedures follows. Procedures focus on the operation of the criminal courts, how the courts enforce laws, how it tries the accused, and how penalties are enforced. Procedural issues additionally concentrate on the rights of the accused.

BLE police training courses commit significant amounts of time to the traffic laws. As with criminal laws, traffic laws are broken into an assortment of categories. Depending on the particular jurisdiction, traffic laws may very well be classified from non-moving violations (such as parking) to moving violations (such as careless driving), to more dangerous violations (such as speeding). Some traffic laws are classified as crimes. Some examples might be vehicular homicide, leaving the scene with injuries, DUI, or reckless driving. It is imperative that a police officer must have a total knowledge of the traffic laws and the enforcement procedures for those laws and infractions.

Traffic stops can place the police officer in a predicament of elevated risk. For this reason every bit as much emphasis is placed on safety criteria for traffic stops as on the actual laws themselves.

Because police officers invest such a considerable percentage of their time writing reports, agencies will stress the importance of good writing skills in their screening procedures. And yet writing skills are but a single element of the police report process. A police report is the end product of a scene investigation and an accounting of the facts. This requires the police officer to interview witnesses and victims and to collect evidence, in many cases under intense circumstances. In the final analysis, the officer must prepare the report, must distinguish the event as either an incident or a crime, and must then establish if the elements of a crime have been established.

BLE police training courses truly are the framework for all police careers. While nearly all officers will move on to more advanced courses as their careers progress, the value of the BLE curriculum should never be undervalued.

How Long Does It Take To Become A Police Officer?

Being a part of the police force is one of the most coveted positions in the United States as well as across the globe. A person who becomes a police officer is bound to face a lot of challenges and responsibilities during his course of his/her job. However, there is an intrinsic motivation and pleasure at being able to help the society at large with your services as a police officer.

A Police officer has to undergo an extensive selection process in which he is tested both physically and mentally. Once he is found to be fit in every aspect, he has to undergo a rigorous training procedure at a police academy. A letter of employment then comes with many strings attached rather than a uniform, badge and keys to your police car, as suspected by many of us wanting to become police officers.

Every state in the United States has a different training procedure for police officers. Each state also has a number of training academies which offer law enforcement training to individuals who are selected for the police force. There are around 274 academies on county, regional or state basis, 249 academies on college, university and technical school level and 103 academies at city or municipal level, making a total of 626 law enforcement academies in the United States.

Some states require candidates to get relevant law enforcement training at the local college and then apply for the police force. Whereas there are some states that require individuals to go through the hiring process and then go through the police academy’s in-house training program. There are some other states, which may require completing the internal training apart from having an external academy certificate. However, in each of these scenarios every selected candidate has to undergo a mix of classroom training, along with strenuous physical training.

The average duration of basic training is around 18 weeks in all these academies. However, they might range from four to six weeks considering the differences in each academy. This includes covering topics like firearms skills, first aid, self defense, criminal law, ethics, health and fitness, patrol procedures, problem solving, mediation skills, stress prevention, human relations etc. On the other hand, this excludes the field training component. On average, a trainee has to spend 180 hours or about eight weeks in the field while he is tagged along a training officer on routine patrol as well as various other duties. Some states also require continuous education after you have got your training certificate for further promotion and advancement at your job.

Where Do Police Officers Train?

In the United States, there are different types of law enforcement agencies, each of which have different training requirements. There are federal, state, city and county police forces, and within the federal law enforcement agencies there are different divisions. Therefore, there is no single training academy for cops in the United States. Police academies exist in almost every state and each state has an agency that certifies police training academies and their programs. There is a minimum physical and academic requirement in most states which aspiring cops have to meet before they are allowed to be admitted in the police training academies. Some states allow open enrollment in training academies while others require candidates to be hired by a law enforcement agency before they are sent for training. Some states and departments require candidates to pass background checks, psychological evaluation, polygraph tests, drug screening, and demonstrate driving skills.

People who enroll in the basic cops training are selected to become patrol officers as well. Police training academies in the US offer more or less some basic training, and those who are able to clear the training are given badges and side arms to indicate their expert skills. Police training involves physical as well as educational training. Candidates are taught how to protect themselves and the people in their vicinity along with overpowering and arresting criminals. They are also taught traffic and criminal law, safety techniques, defensive tactics, report writing, emergency vehicle operation, first responder training and weapon, and firearms usage training. The general duration of police training varies from thirteen to fifteen weeks.

There is a police training officer program that is funded by the department of justice and recruits in the US where cops are sent for training after having completed their basic training. This is an educational based training, and is a 16-week training program. It is designed to replace the field officer program. The training is broken into four phases and the duration of each phase is four weeks. The trainings imparted to recruits are: non-emergency, emergency, patrol and criminal investigation. Each phase of the process is accompanied by hands on training exercises. It also teaches recruits how to interact with community residents to deal with crime and neighborhood problems effectively.

This new system of cop training was rolled out and tested in 2000 and has been adapted by police training academies across the United States. The program has been reviewed and revised since its launch. This training’s approach is a problem solving approach and has been adapted by several states.