Police Academy
To become a police officer in the United States an individual must be a citizen, 20 years or older with no convicted felonies and a high school diploma or GED. In order to be accepted to a law enforcement agency an individual must pass several written and physical examinations and may be required to have at least an associates degree to work on a federal or state level. After an individual has been accepted by a law enforcement agency, he or she must undergo 12-14 weeks of rigorous intellectual and physical training in a police academy before they may work as a police officer.
The police academy is an intense mixture of classroom lectures and training to fieldwork and physical conditioning routines. Classroom work may include such things as constitutional law, civil rights, and state and local laws. These courses are designed to ensure that police officers are not only knowledgeable about the law and upholding citizen's rights but ethically conduct their police work. The police academy provides a thorough and well balanced legal education to those individuals who wish to uphold the law as a career.
The police academy may blend classroom work and fieldwork while providing training on several key aspects of law enforcement. For example, firearm training will include knowing all working parts of the weapon and how to handle it safely, to firing it with accuracy. Knowledge of first aid procedures is an essential skill for police officers especially when responding to an accident scene. First aid training in the police academy includes textbook knowledge of the human body as well as demonstrative skills of performance by using a dummy.
Other skills honed by the police academy are self defense and how to restrain a suspect in a safe, effective manner. Emergency response and accident investigation are necessary skills. The police academy offers specialized courses in investigation for those individuals who wish to become detectives. The training a police officer requires often does not end at the police academy but continues throughout the course of their career.