How to Become a Police Officer in Alabama

Who can apply

• You must be at least 19 years old.
• You must be a U.S. citizen and fluent in English (able to speak, read, write and understand it).
• You need a high school diploma or GED plus a passing score on the Basic Ability Test (BAT), or an associate degree or higher from a regionally accredited college (which replaces the BAT). Online, correspondence or mail-order GEDs are not accepted.
• You must have a valid driver's license.
• Any felony conviction is a permanent bar to certification, even with a pardon. Misdemeanors are weighed case by case.
• You cannot be legally barred from possessing a firearm or be required to register as a sex offender.
• You must pass a physical exam and a psychological evaluation, both reported on APOSTC forms.
• You must be employed full-time by an Alabama law enforcement agency before you can attend the academy.

Step by step

1. Take the Basic Ability Test (the ACT WorkKeys Assessment) at an Alabama community college, unless you hold an associate degree or higher.
2. Get hired by an Alabama law enforcement agency. Agencies set their own hiring tests and may require more than the state minimums.
3. Complete a physical exam (APOST Form 3A) and a psychological evaluation (APOST Form 3B).
4. Your agency submits your certification application package to APOSTC on your first day of employment, including the affidavit (Form 2), two fingerprint cards and a release of information (Form 4).
5. Complete the 560-hour APOSTC basic law enforcement academy within your 180-day provisional appointment.
6. Pass the academy's written exams, firearms qualification, physical agility test, defensive tactics test and driving course.
7. APOSTC certifies you as a law enforcement officer.

Official application →

Training and exam

Training: Alabama requires the APOSTC-approved basic law enforcement academy curriculum, which is 560 hours, at a Commission-approved academy. You can only attend while employed by a law enforcement agency. You must finish within your provisional appointment of 180 days total (counted across all agencies over a two-year period). To pass, you need a 70% overall average on written exams, 70% on the first aid and legal issues exams, a passing physical agility test, firearms qualification (70 on two of three attempts), a defensive tactics proficiency test and the emergency vehicle driving course.

Exam: Before hiring, applicants without an associate degree must pass the Basic Ability Test (BAT), which is the ACT WorkKeys Assessment given at Alabama community colleges. The fee is $45, and a failed segment of the three-segment test can be retaken for $15 per segment. Out-of-state applicants may take WorkKeys in their home state if the employing agency approves. In the academy you must pass written exams with a 70% average plus separate first aid and legal issues exams at 70% (one retest within 72 hours). Failing all three firearms qualification attempts bars you from employment and certification for two years.

What it costs in Alabama

Fixed amounts are set by the state. Items marked “your quote” are priced by private sellers, so enter what you’re quoted.

How long it takes

The academy must be completed within the 180-day provisional appointment that starts when you are hired.

Keeping your certification

Renewal: Certified officers must complete and report 12 hours of APOSTC-approved continuing education every year and pass an approved firearms course every year. Failing the annual firearms requalification can lead to revocation. Since January 1, 2024, Ala. Code 36-21-51.1 also requires 1 hour of training on interacting with people with sensory needs or invisible disabilities every other year (free online through KultureCity). Deputy sheriffs need the annual continuing education only if their county commission adopts a resolution requiring it.

Good to know in Alabama

180-day limit: You may work under a provisional appointment for no more than 180 days in total, counted across all agencies over two years. If you do not get certified in that time, you cannot be hired as a law enforcement officer again for two years.

Officers from other states: An officer with a valid certification in good standing from another state's POST can apply for a Waiver of Lateral Entry Equivalency Training if, after certification, they worked full-time as an officer in that state for more than one year continuously and have not had a break in full-time service of more than two years. Federal and military police applicants are evaluated under a points system. If approved, you take the 120-hour Lateral/Refresher course instead of the full academy.

Expunged records: You must disclose any expunged arrest record to APOSTC. An expunged felony, or a misdemeanor involving force, violence or moral turpitude, sends your application to the Commission's Committee on Character and Psychological Evaluation Review.

Failed psychological evaluation: If your psychological evaluation is not positive, you are not eligible for one year and must be cleared by the Committee on Character and Psychological Evaluation Review before any future appointment.

Other hiring bars: Any military discharge must be under honorable conditions. You cannot be hired while you have criminal charges pending, are on court-ordered probation or are subject to a court protection order. Falsifying your application bars you from employment and certification for two years.

Sources

• APOSTC - Home and notices
• APOSTC - Academy Curriculum (560-hour basic, 120-hour lateral/refresher)
• APOSTC - ACT WorkKeys Assessment adopted as Basic Ability Test
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-2-.01 - Training (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-2-.02 - Age (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-2-.03 - Education (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-2-.04 - Physical and psychological exams (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-2-.05 - Character and convictions (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-2-.06 - Citizenship (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-4-.01 - Certification Training Requirements (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-4-.06 - Waiver for Lateral Entry Equivalency Training (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-12-.02 - Continuing Education (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-12-.03 - Firearms Re-qualification (Cornell LII)
• Ala. Admin. Code r. 650-X-2-.07 - Military discharge (Cornell LII)