



Some programs may also charge extra fees for things like the required background check, fingerprinting, application for state certification, physical evaluation and uniforms. The Basic Law Enforcement Training program at Wayne County Community College in North Carolina, for example, costs around $2,000 to attend. While many states, including Washington and Oregon, require recruits to be offered a job before completing the academy, others allow aspiring officers to attend stand-alone academies, generally offered by community colleges and local tech schools. These programs do require students to pay tuition, which again will vary depending on the location and institution. These officers can expect to earn either their starting salary in full or a fraction of it, with the remainder kicking in upon graduation. That's because they have already been hired as police officers, and the academy, generally run by the hiring agency or the state in which they will be working, is considered part of the new job. Does the police academy cost anything?įor many police recruits, attending the academy is not only free, but it will also earn them a salary. While the duration of each basic training academy will vary depending on a number of factors, including location and agency type, the average length is 833 hours in the United States, which will take around five months to complete.
