So I’ve decided that I want to pursue a career in law enforcement. And I’ve found several postings for law enforcment careers that will pay me while I’m in training and the pay is good. But here is my problem. I don’t know what the physical agility tests require. I’m 30, in decent shape, but I haven’t run in a while, or done any real working out. How do I become a cop and what do I need to doto prepare myself for the interview process and testing parts? This is something I really want, but I’m unsure of how to get it.
Does your local police force have any information online? This site gives details of recruitment procedures for the NSW police (educational, fitness requirements etc). They’re probably reasonably similar to those that your local police force would require.
Depends on the agency. In Florida, most every department I’ve seen either uses the obstacle course or Coopers.
The obstacle course is simple enough. It’s a state standarized course consisting of a little jogging, some small hurdles, a dummy drag, and some more jogging. An out of shape, obese man could complete it in the allotted time with a coffee in his hand.
Coopers is more like a PT test where you have to do a bench press, a stretch test, and a 1.5 mile run in some ridiculously slow time. But for an out of shape person, Coopers is much harder to pass than the obstacle course.
Agencies elsewhere may very well have much stricter physical requirements or none at all. I think Miami used to have a Swim Test, or they still do. I don’t remember, but there was some fuss raised recently when the new Chief (or maybe the new Mayor) claimed it was racially biased. You know… because black people can’t swim :rolleyes:
This is something you’ll have to find out in your area, since it varies so greatly across the country.
Amen to variences. Up here, 12 different departments will have 12 different standards. If a municipality makes physical agility a job requirement, then those requirements are a matter of public record. Head down to the cop shop and chat up the folks in records. They will fill you in quick enough.
Tips for the interview:
You are not an elitist and you do not show special treatment to others. If you pulled over the Chief’s daughter you would treat her exactly like any other citizen. But while you do not write tickets to 100 percent of the citizens you pull over, you would not necessarily write her a ticket.
If a fellow officer gives you a ride home because your car is broken, or something… and while riding home, you notice a marijuana joint in his ash tray, You would report this to your superior. There is no room for even recreational drug use among law enforcement officers.
The first thing you do is make sure the scene is safe.
If the person is violent, argumentative, just freaking huge, or there are multiple people, call for back up. It’s routine and no big deal.
Those are all I can think of right now. Trust me, if they dont make sense now, they will when the Q&A starts.
Here’s a link for the Hayward PD.
Oakland is hiring and lists its minimum requirements, and then there’s this police jobs page.
Good luck to you. It’s an admirable position that doesn’t pay what it deserves. I wish I’d done it when I was younger.
Apply to multiple departments. Many have hiring restrictions (due to budgetary issues) and it may be difficult to find out ahead of time what the likelihood is of your being hired. Also, most (big city) cops don’t want to live where they work; you’ll find that there are plenty of cops who will commute a fair distance to work.
As for the physical requirements, they can be demanding. I know a couple cops (LAPD), and for the women, they start training early (8 weeks? 12? something like that) so that they can get in better shape before it starts.
Also, don’t be a psycho. I understand that they try to screen for those. 
Good luck; the cops I know think it’s a pretty awesome job.
I’ve heard that in my neck of the woods, State Trooper training is more demanding (apparently both mentally and physically) than training to be part of the police force in a small town. Source - my sister-in-law who is a cop for said small town in western WI. I don’t know, however, whether State Trooper training would be more demanding than training for police force duty in a largish city, nor how individual state’s ST training differs.
Don’t forget to check out your local colleges to see which ones have a police force and apply to those as well.
CHP is definitely different from city cop. My father was the former, my step dad the latter. I wouldn’t call Hayward a small town anymore, but there are still a lot of differences. I’d say the job is every bit as dangerous no matter which way you go.
Walnut Creek is also looking for police officers.
You got a billyclub, mace, and a gat, plus backup, you’ll be fine. 
Watch out, man. Apparently a lot of rappers want to f**k you.
(unless that’s your thing… not that there’s naything wrong with that.)
The Chicago Police have a 4 point physical pre-employment test.
It’s detailed on their employment page. Bear_Nenno started to describe it.
For the 20-29 year old bracket, it’s:
1.5 miles in 13min 49sec;
bench press 99% of body weight once;
38 situps in a minute;
16 inch stretch (I’m not actually sure how they measure this one).
The pay and benes are … impressive. Over $50k/yr after a 18 month probation period, 4(!) weeks paid vacation to start, 13 paid holidays, 100% tuition assistance, home purchase assistance, full health insurance, etc.
Do you like donuts? That’s a plus.
BE NICE TO YOUR DISPATCHER!! :mad:
Odd…I want to be handcuffed.