Becoming a police officer in the state of Delaware is one of the best ways to make an instant impact on your community. Police officers along with other branches of law enforcement are important for any city, especially cities in Delaware with about average crime rates. They have the responsibility of responding to situations where they’ll be expected to handle multiple types of situations and get everything under control.
Police officers are admired across the nation and some of the real outstanding ones are considered role models in their local communities. Well-trained officers are currently needed in the state of Delaware. And this guide will go over some of the things you can expect from training. But we also recommend visiting PrepareForThePoliceAcademy.com for more in-depth and helpful guides on becoming a police officer.
The Future Of Law Enforcement
Throughout the state of Delaware, current estimates say that there will be nearly 400 new law enforcement jobs annually with a better than average starting salary of $40,000. It’s not as much as some other states, but keep in mind that because Delaware has a very low cost of living rate in most of its cities, making $40,000 a year is not that bad at all. Also, police officers can easily make more money by signing up to work overtime for conventions, and other special events that occur throughout the year.
Becoming A Police Officer in Delaware
To become a police officer in the state of Delaware, there are a few requirements that first must be met. First, applicants must be at least 21 years old or older. Second, they must be a citizen of the United States. Third, they must have graduated high school or if they don’t have a diploma then at least they must have a GED.
Fourth and most importantly, applicants mustn’t have any types of felony convictions on their record. And not only felonies but also high-level misdemeanors. Those applicants with minor convictions such traffic or vehicle violations may be accepted. And lastly, If they ever served in the military or any branch of armed forces, they under any circumstances, can’t have been dishonorably discharged for any reason.
Once you’ve cleared the minimum requirements of becoming a police officer, the next step is taking a physical exam and mental exam. These exams include your fingerprints being run through a database to confirm and validate your criminal background history. The Delaware police department always are looking for applicants with great character and a moral character, so that’s why the background check is as intense and thorough as it is.
The background check also includes interviews with immediate family members, friends, and even neighbors. That’s why it’s vital to be fully prepared for all of these various tests and exams. And that’s also why we recommend everyone to download Prepare For The Police Academy because of their helpful guides that assist applicants with learning everything they need to know before applying to become a police officer.
The Academy Life and Graduation
Now once all of the interviews and testing is done, the next step is the actual police academy training. Their goal at the police academy is to push recruits to their limits to make sure they’ll be ready for any type of situations once they become a full-fledged police officer. They will meet with a recruit and once the final exam is given and passed, then they’ll become certified police officers.
The first part of training includes physical tests. This training involves plenty of exercises, including push-ups, sit-ups, running, vaults and intense walking. Now, these exercises may not seem that difficult, but they will make you perform these exercises in different types of scenarios and under short time constrictions. Because being a police officer these days is physically demanding, they want to both see where your physical fitness level is at, and also help you improve your fitness since training can last for weeks.
The next phase of training includes lots of classroom time. In this part of training, you’ll learn the essential traffic and criminal codes specifically for the state of Delaware. You’ll also learn about the different types of radio communications, how to write a police report, the proper way to pat down a suspect and many more things that every police officer must know. There will also be defensive driving classes.
Driving a patrol car is way different than driving a regular vehicle. There will be times when you may have to drive over 90+ miles an hour while chasing a suspect and driving at these types of speed in traffic require lots of practice. Then once you’ve passed all of these tests and graduate from training, you can then apply to become an actual police officer. But before applying, we suggest visiting PrepareForThePoliceAcademy.com today for more in-depth guides that will help you be fully prepared for police officer training.
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