Frequently Asked Questions

You must be 21 years of age by the time of your graduation from the POST academy.  We do not have have an age limit for our officers and, in fact, we encourage applicants with a variety of life experience!

Our local POST academy, hosted by the Western Colorado Community College, is a 16-week course.

Typically, there are two academy classes per year; one that starts in January, and one in August.

There is a lot you can in preparation that will help you in the application process!  

• Go on a ride along with our agency and learn as much as you can from the officers who are currently doing the job you seek.  
• Check out our physical ability map (PDF) and start preparing for the test.  You can also watch this short video to learn more about what our test entails.
• Visit the City of Grand Junction website to learn about our community.  Also, follow us on social media for pre-hiring events where we’ll be reaching out to engage with potential applicants.  
• Ask questions! Reach out to us directly, and we’d be happy to visit with you about the process.  You can contact us here. 

Colorado statute requires that officers wishing to transfer be fully certified in another state and have served at least one year in the last three years to be eligible for Provisional Certification.  Qualified applicants may either go through a skills test in the Denver area, or attend a refresher academy.  More information about the process of transferring certification to the state of Colorado can be found by visiting the Colorado POST website. 

If you apply and are selected as a sponsored cadet with the Grand Junction Police Department, not only will we pay your tuition through our local academy, but we will also pay you an hourly wage while you attend.  If you are interested in additional information about our local academy, more information can be found on the Western Colorado Community College website.

The physical ability test is pass or fail, with only one attempt allowed.  If you fail the test, you may reapply after six months.

Typically, the entire process takes an average of eight weeks.

If you are hired by the Grand Junction Police Department as a sponsored recruit in the academy, all uniforms, equipment, and books will be provided at no cost to you.

Applicants who come to us directly from the academy will go through a four week "mini-skills" program, to acclimate them to our agency.  They will then move on to patrol in a Field Training program, where they will be paired with a training officer.  That training program typically lasts 12-16 weeks.  Lateral or certified applicants coming to us from another agency will typically go through an abbreviated version of the same training.