How to Become a Police Officer in Maine

Who can apply

• You must be at least 21, or at least 20 if you have an associate's degree or 60 credit hours of college.
• You need a high school diploma, or GED scores of at least 35 on each part and an average of at least 45.
• You need a valid driver's license, and must get a Maine license within the time Maine law allows.
• You should have no convictions (or conduct) amounting to murder or a Class A, B, C or D crime, or violations of Maine Criminal Code chapters 15, 19, 25 or 45, or equivalent crimes elsewhere. An agency that has made you a written conditional job offer can ask the Board for a waiver.
• You must pass a state and FBI fingerprint check, a background investigation, a polygraph exam, a psychological evaluation, an oral interview, a physician's medical certificate, and a reading and writing test.
• You must not falsify anything in the application, background investigation or polygraph.

Step by step

1. Get hired as a full-time officer by a Maine agency (or apply to MCJA as a pre-employment tuition student). Your chief sends MCJA a Notice of Employment within 30 days of hire.
2. Your agency submits your license, background, medical, polygraph, psychological and weapons forms to MCJA.
3. Report to MCJA about one month before class for orientation and pass the physical fitness test (push-ups, sit-ups and 1.5-mile run, each at the 40th percentile for your age and sex) in the same session.
4. Complete the 18-week residential Basic Law Enforcement Training Program at MCJA in Vassalboro (offered twice a year).
5. Pass the Maine Law Enforcement Officer's Certification Examination.
6. Finish basic training within your first 12 months of full-time employment. The Board can extend this by up to 180 days in emergencies. After graduation you serve at least a one-year probationary period.

Official application →

Training and exam

Training: Full-time officers must complete the Board-approved basic training course at MCJA within the first 12 months of full-time employment. The Basic Law Enforcement Training Program is an 18-week residential program in Vassalboro, run twice a year. Before an officer can make arrests or carry a firearm on duty, they must be certified as meeting pre-service training standards; completing basic training satisfies this. Part-time officers instead take the Law Enforcement Pre-Service program: a 40-hour online Phase I with a final exam, an 80-hour classroom Phase II, then supervised work after hire.

Exam: Applicants must pass a reading and writing test at the level needed for the basic course. After completing basic training and being employed, you take the Maine Law Enforcement Officer's Certification Examination, which is based on a job task analysis of critical police tasks.

What it costs in Maine

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

Basic training must be completed within 12 months of starting full-time employment (up to 180 more days in emergencies). The academy itself is 18 weeks.

Keeping your certification

Renewal: All law enforcement officers, full and part time, must complete mandated in-service training to keep certification. For 2026 this is 2 hours each of MCJA firearms qualification, new law and case law updates, human trafficking survivors, and elder exploitation, plus 4 hours of in-person MARC (defensive tactics) refresher. On top of the yearly topics, officers need 20 hours of elective training every two calendar years (current cycle January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2027). Failing to complete in-service training is grounds for the Board to suspend or revoke the officer's certificate (MCJA states the Board is required to revoke).

Good to know in Maine

Pre-employment route: People not yet hired can apply to the Basic Law Enforcement Training Program as tuition students on a space-available basis, with preference to hired officers. A Selection Committee reviews and interviews candidates. Finishing does not guarantee a job, but lets you tell employers you have met the training requirement; you take the certification exam once employed.

Fitness test: The entrance physical fitness test has three events: one-minute push-ups, one-minute sit-ups and a 1.5-mile run. You must meet the 40th percentile for your age and sex in all three in the same testing session. Results must be less than a year old when you apply, and everyone is retested 30 days before the academy starts.

Officers trained elsewhere: The Board may waive the basic training requirement in individual cases when the facts show an equivalent course has been completed. Only full-time officers or people with a conditional job offer from a Maine agency can apply ($250 processing fee in advance for conditional-offer applicants). You must meet Maine's entrance standards, pass Phase I of the Pre-Service program and its exam, show firearms proficiency, and pass the certification exam; you may have to take some extra MCJA classes. Most federal or military programs do not count as substantially similar.

Age 20 exception: Maine law allows applicants of 20 to qualify if they have an associate's degree or 60 college credit hours.

Part-time officer supervision: After the pre-service program, a part-time officer's agency must document 80 hours of supervised work before MCJA grants certification. You have one year to complete the 80 hours; the MCJA Board may extend this in extenuating circumstances.

Sources

• 25 M.R.S. 2804-C - Basic law enforcement training
• 25 M.R.S. 2804-B - Preservice law enforcement training
• 25 M.R.S. 2804-E - In-service law enforcement training
• 25 M.R.S. 2804-G - Qualifications (age)
• 25 M.R.S. 2808 - Sharing of training costs
• MCJA - Basic Law Enforcement Entrance Standards
• MCJA - Pre-Employment Training
• MCJA - Basic Law Enforcement
• MCJA - FAQ
• MCJA - Mandatory In-Service Training for Law Enforcement
• MCJA - Law Enforcement Pre-Service