Become a Police Cadet
A Police Cadet attends and successfully completes a program in law enforcement at department authorized institution to meet the academic and technical skills requirements of the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) Board.
Cadets hired are promoted to Police Officer upon successful completion of the P.O.S.T. Board academic and skills requirements that are part of the recruit academy. Cadets hired must commit to two years of employment with the Minneapolis Police Department following their promotion to Minneapolis Police Officer.
Recruits who do not complete the two years of Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) employment must pay back, on a pro-rated basis, the costs of the tuition paid by the department.
Failure to pass the Minnesota P.O.S.T. Board licensing exam at end of the training program may result in termination.
Information session (optional)
The Minneapolis Police Department offers detailed information sessions before opening applications to a cadet class. Attendance is optional for all applicants or potential applicants. Registration is NOT required. Each session lasts up to 1.5 hours. We discuss the following:
- Fitness exam details
- Background investigation information
- Oral exam expectations
- Medical, psychological, and drug & alcohol testing
- Cadet academy and education program
Application process and education requirements
REQUIREMENTS:
Must be at least 18 years of age.
Education:
An Associate or Bachelor Degree earned or awarded in any field from a regionally accredited college or university.- Licenses:
- Must have and maintain a valid driver's license that is accepted by the state of Minnesota.
- Applicants must not have taken and passed the MN Board of P.O.S.T. licensing exam or other state equivalent.
- Applicant cannot be, or ever have been, licensed as a police officer in any state.
- State Requirements
- Must not have a felony conviction.
- Ability:
- Relate and work well with people from diverse cultural, economic and ethnic backgrounds.
- Must have physical ability to run and chase, wrestle and subdue suspects, jump and crawl over and under objects and lift and drag heavy objects.
- Fitness Qualifications
- Must participate in and complete the fitness assessment. You are expected to reach and maintain fitness levels according to standards set by the MPD. This is a term and condition of continued employment.
- Eyesight:
- Vision no poorer than 20/100 without correction in the poorer eye; correctable to 20/40 in both eyes. Ability to distinguish the colors red, yellow and green.
- Hearing:
- Possess standard hearing average threshold without correction or no worse than a 40-decible loss on the average at 500, 1,000 and 3,000 Hertz frequencies in the better ear.
- Medical/Psychological:
- Must be deemed medically and psychologically fit and successfully pass a drug and alcohol screening before hiring.
Selection process
- Any one or any combination of an evaluation of related education/experience/screening question responses, fitness exam, oral exam, etc. may be utilized.
- Be as detailed as possible in the online application.
- Applications and resumes are screened for completeness and requirements.
- The City of Minneapolis reserves the right to select and limit the number of candidates at any point in the exam process, based on a review of application materials.
- Qualified candidates, as determined by Human Resources, will be invited to fitness exam.
- Qualified candidates will be notified by email to self-schedule the fitness exam.
- Candidates must attend and pass all parts of the fitness exam.
Fitness Standards
- Vertical Jump (13 inches)
- 300 Meter Run (82 Seconds)
- Bench Press (102 lbs. Or 60% of your body weight) OR Push Ups (20)
- Sit Ups (25)
- 1.5 Mile Run (15 Minutes 44 Seconds)
- Selected candidates are contacted to schedule a background investigation, conducted by MPD. This can take up to 3 months to complete.
- Qualified candidates are notified by email to self-schedule for the oral exam.
- The eligible list is established by Human Resources after all testing components are completed.
- Conditional offers are contingent upon successfully passing pre-employment exams.
- Final offers are made inviting candidates to the Cadet Academy.
- Candidates who do not complete any part of this process are not eligible to move on in the hiring process.
Notes
- See P.O.S.T. requirements for more information.
- Eligible list expires six months from the date of certification.
- Questions? Contact Sgt. David Burbank 612-673-5583
Last updated Feb 25, 2020
