Connecticut Police Academy Requirements & Qualifications

One of the most respected careers is being a police officer. But becoming one is not as easy as people may think. Police officers see people during hard times and situations.

However, their goal is to help citizens get through various difficult times. That’s one of the reasons why people become officers. Most officers want to help improve their communities.

They risk put their lives every night. We created this guide to help you on your way to becoming a police officer, but we also suggest visiting Prepare For The Police Academy for more in-depth information.

Future Outlook Of Connecticut Police Officer Jobs

So if you want to become a police officer in Connecticut, here’s some important info. First, the police officers in Connecticut make a good annual salary. The average salary is almost $64,000 and there will be nearly 240 job openings per year in the next few years. So that means that having a law enforcement job is definitely “future proof”.

Requirements And Exams

Becoming an officer in the state of Connecticut is competitive, and there are requirements all applicants must meet. For starters, all applicants must be a U.S. citizen, must have a GED or high school diploma and be 21 years old at the time of training.

They must also have a valid I.D. and drivers license. Any applicants with felonies or any high-level misdemeanors automatically disqualify. Also, all applicants will get drug tested.

They’ll also have to take a lie detector test. A psychological examination is also taken to make sure they’re mentally stable enough to handle the job. And a medical examination is taken to ensure they are healthy enough.

Now after this, they’ll go through a background check to make sure that he or she doesn’t have a criminal history. They also interview family and friends to learn about your integrity and character.

Police Academy and Training

Once in the academy, things become very serious. But the Connecticut police academy main goal is to turn applicants into good police officers. From day one, be prepared to work extremely hard.

Candidates will do plenty of exercises including running and sit-ups. These exercises are aimed to make you stronger, and they’ll also create a fighter instinct within you, so when times get tough, you won’t quit. All candidates go through classroom training.

You’ll be taught how to write reports, specific criminal codes, and traffic codes for the state of Connecticut, courtroom testimony, and federal codes.

They will also learn about patrol functions, which will include handcuffing techniques and how to search a suspect for weapons. You will also learn how to deal with domestic disputes. Plenty of time will be spent on the firearms range because the firearm is one of the most important things that all police officers must know in-and-out.

If you ask any officer, they will say that the last thing they would want to do is have to draw the gun. But in some situations, it can’t be helped. And in those situations, they’ll need to know the proper way of but handling the firearm and most importantly, knowing when and when not to use it.

Now one thing that most recruits love to learn is the patrol driving techniques. it’s definitely one of the best fun parts throughout the entire police training. Because obviously they all know how to drive a car, but as we all know, driving a police car at very high speeds takes practice and confidence.

All recruits will learn how to drive defensively, when the proper time to engage in an actual pursuit, how to park the vehicle while at a traffic stop and lastly, after all of that, they will make the applicant drive through an extensive obstacle course.

Once You Graduate

Now once the applicant graduates from the academy, they can then focus on getting an actual job as a police officer. When first hired on, all rookie officers are first trained by one of the veteran police officers. Basically, this is just a time to learn the ropes of becoming an actual police officer.

Once this initial training is done, you will then be able to start patrolling on your own. Now that you have an idea of what to expect from police training, we suggest that you visit Prepare For The Police Academy for affordable guides that will help you throughout the entire process of becoming a police officer in the great state of Connecticut.

County Sheriff & City Police Departments in CT