Author: Andrew Dale (Police Officer / Former Police Academy Drill Instructor) 

We often receive the question, "How do I get into the Police Academy?", "Where do I apply?"....

Well in an effort to give the best answer possible, I would say that it depends!  Great, just the answer that you wanted to hear, right?  Well unfortunately with the amount of departments and police academies that there are nationwide, that is best answer that I can give on a nationwide question. 

 Don't be discouraged, I am going to tell you how to find out.........

Ok, in some states and regions, departments require you to have the Police Academy completed before you even apply for the job.  What you can do is contact a department that you are interested in applying for, and eiter right on the application, it will tell you, or simply ask.  Usually a recruiter will be able to give you the information that you will need in order to contact the Police Academy and sign up for the appropriate classes.

In New York, where I was a Police Academy Drill Instructor, (Zone 4), you could not simply sign up for the Polce Academy.  How it worked, was you took the civil service police officer exam, and if you passed all of the test (Written, Psychological, Medica, Physical, and Oral Exam) you would be hired and sent to the Police Academy.  In essence, you would be sponsored by a Police Department or Police Agency.