Texas Police Academy Requirements

Joining a police academy is a milestone on the path to becoming a police officer. The Texas police academy requirements are intended to set a high standard for potential officers. Below are all the requirements and disqualifying factors. Be aware that there is a lot of competition for police jobs so going above the minimum requirements is advised. Texas police academy requirements consist of, in part, the following:

Age Requirement

Texas police academy age requirements state that applicants must be at least 20 years of age at time application is filed. Must be at least 21 years of age, and must not have reached one’s 44th birthday on first day of police academy.

Residency and Citizenship Requirement

Applicants must be a resident of Texas and possess a valid Texas driver’s license upon appointment as a State Police Cadet.

Applicant must have resided within Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas or Colorado for the past 5 years. Exceptions can be made for applicants who are/were in the military or full time police employment during that time but lived outside the listed states.

Applicants must be a United States citizen at the time of initial application.

Educational Requirement

Texas Police Academy requirements for education state that the applicants must possess a high school diploma or General Equivalency Degree (GED) time of application. Correspondence or mail-order high school diplomas are not accepted. Additionally, Oklahoma police academy requirements state that applicants must complete12 hours of college with a GPA of 2.0 or higher.

All military veterans must have an HONORABLE DISCHARGE documented by a DD-214.

Automatic Disqualification Factors

Applicants are advised that the Texas State Police will automatically disqualify any applicant who does not meet the general requirements as detailed below.  In addition, the following information is provided regarding our criteria for automatic disqualification:

• Falsification, omission, or misrepresentation of any information during the completion of the Polygraph Screening Booklet, the Polygraph Examination, the Formal Application for Employment, and any other documents/processes associated with the Cadet Selection Procedures.
• Substance abuse/use within a prescribed time frame and/or that is beyond what is considered experimental by the Texas State Police.
• Criminal arrests/behavior which would not reflect well on the Texas State Police.

The core purpose of the Texas State Police is to seek justice, preserve peace, and improve the quality of life for all.  As such, the Department has established the core values of Honor, Service, Integrity, Respect, Trust, Courage, and Duty, and is seeking applicants who possess these traits and conduct themselves accordingly.  Certain issues within a person’s background have been identified which will result in automatic disqualification, including but not limited to:  criminal conduct (actual arrest and/or admission of behavior whether or not arrested) and substance abuse.

A preliminary determination will be made by the Texas State Police based upon information supplied; therefore, applicants must be forthright and honest in documenting their conduct.  Be advised that this preliminary determination is not binding as it is made based upon information provided by the applicant only.  Should an applicant continue in the selection process, the conduct will then be discussed and documented with a Texas State Police Officer.

Applicants are advised that all information provided to the Texas State Police is to contain no misrepresentation, falsification, omissions, or concealment of material fact and that, upon submission of any official document (on-line or otherwise), applicants swear or affirm that all information provided is true, complete, and correct to the best of their knowledge and belief.  Applicants are further advised that all information provided is subject to later investigation.

Physical Agility Test

PART 1: An applicant must complete the following in 4 minutes, 10 seconds:

• Remove a 100 pound dummy from the front seat of a patrol car and deposit in the back seat of a second patrol car.
• Jump a two foot tall wall
• Scale a four foot tall wall
• Scale a six foot tall wall
• Run a zig-zag course
• Crawl through a tunnel
• Walk a balance beam
• Climb stairs to a platform; pick up a 50 pound weight; descend the stairs on the opposite side; climb the same stairs and deposit the 50 point weight on the platform; descend the stairs to the beginning
• Run on-quarter mile

PART 2: An applicant must complete the following in 10 minutes

• After one hour’s rest following the above, an applicant must run one mile in 10 minutes

AN APPLICANT MUST COMPLETE BOTH PORTIONS OF THE PHYSICAL AGILITY TEST IN THE REQUIRED TIME IN ORDER TO PASS
* NOTE:

The eligibility requirements are subject to change at any time.