How to Become a Police Officer in Arlington, Texas

Dallas and Fort Worth sit you in a civil service exam window. Arlington's own FAQ says the opposite: "We are not a civil service agency and therefore, we do not administer a written test as part of the hiring process." The live door is the city's Workday posting, Basic / Lateral Police Officer, job JR100552. Apply Today says that web form is the only way in.

The Workday posting still lists "Ability to pass the written exam and a physical agility test" among knowledge, skills, and abilities. That sentence is on the posting. The FAQ is the recruiting site's answer to why test dates are not listed. Both sentences stay. This guide does not invent a civil service exam date.

The license is TCOLE's. The job is Arlington's. Those are two gates. The Texas sequence is in How to Become a Police Officer in Texas. The license rules are in TCOLE peace officer license requirements. This page is Arlington's own documents.

Department listing: Arlington Police Department. Pay comparison: Texas police salary by department. Dallas's own posting is How to Become a Police Officer in Dallas. Fort Worth's own Chapter 5 is How to Become a Police Officer in Fort Worth. Grand Prairie's own posting is How to Become a Police Officer in Grand Prairie. Denton's own posting is How to Become a Police Officer in Denton. Same-city fire is a different credential and a different clock: How to Become a Firefighter in Arlington. Houston hiring from hpdcareer.com and NEOGOV 5328764 is How to Become a Police Officer in Houston. Lubbock hiring from Recruiting, the 2025-26 pay scale, NEOGOV 5405047, and lateral 5097636 is How to Become a Police Officer in Lubbock. Amarillo hiring from Benefits/Salaries and Workday JR2397 is How to Become a Police Officer in Amarillo. Brownsville hiring from the June 13, 2025 civil service notice, Employment & Benefits, and the stay-tuned exam page is How to Become a Police Officer in Brownsville. McAllen hiring from the August 21, 2026 civil service notice, Staff Services, and the October 13, 2026 exam packet is How to Become a Police Officer in McAllen. Waco hiring from the FY 2025-2026 Civil Service Police Salary Schedule, NEOGOV 5344313, Employment, Training, and Employment Fitness Test is How to Become a Police Officer in Waco. Texas DPS hiring from Training Operations is How to Become a Texas State Trooper.

What Arlington actually is

Arlington PD hires through the city's Workday portal. It is not a civil service agency, so there is no written exam calendar to wait for. Recruiting lives on the city's Police Recruiting hub. Personnel and Recruiting: 817-459-5733, PoliceRecruit@ArlingtonTX.gov. Named recruiter on the FAQ: Officer Liz Duong, 817-459-5314, Elizabeth.Duong@ArlingtonTX.gov. The joinapd.org domain is Anchorage, not this department.

The recruiting hub, Eligibility, FAQ, Apply, academy, and benefits pages do not publish a sworn headcount.

Minimum requirements

Police Recruiting Eligibility and Workday JR100552 print the same floor. Laterals have a second door, below. TCOLE's statewide license floor is on TCOLE peace officer license requirements. Eligibility and JR100552 are the hiring rules on this page.

Citizenship. U.S. citizen (Eligibility). TCOLE also licenses a legal permanent resident who is an honorably discharged veteran with two years of service and has applied for citizenship. Arlington's Eligibility line is U.S. citizen.

Age. 21 or older (Eligibility). TCOLE's own floor is 21, or 18 with an associate's degree, 60 semester hours, or an honorable discharge after two years of active service (37 TAC 217.1(b)(1)(A)). If you are 20, Arlington's apply rule is 21.

Education and service, unlicensed entry. One of four doors:

1. A bachelor's degree from an accredited institution of post-secondary education, certified through a commission on higher education of a regional educational agency for colleges and universities recognized by TCOLE
2. Four years of active-duty military experience with an honorable discharge
3. 60 hours of college credit with two continuous years as a City of Arlington employee
4. 60 hours of college credit with completion of the Arlington PD Hometown Recruiting Program

The Hometown program is named as a door. The recruiting pages do not describe how to join it. Call Recruiting before you treat it as a plan.

Criminal and driving. No felony or Class A, including deferred adjudication. No misdemeanor above Class C, including deferred adjudication, within the past 10 years. Not on court-ordered community supervision or probation for any criminal offense above Class C. No DWI conviction within the past 10 years. Stable school, work, and driving record.

Family. No family members working for APD. That line is on Eligibility and on JR100552. It is not a Dallas or Fort Worth rule.

English. Read, write, and speak English.

Vision. 20/20, corrected or uncorrected, in each eye. Uncorrected vision cannot exceed 20/100 in each eye unless it is corrected by contacts or prescription glasses that you wear on duty and during all enforcement. Free of dichromatic color blindness, night blindness, and other visual deficiencies.

Hearing. No hearing loss greater than 45 decibels at 4000 hertz.

Medical. Pass a physical exam as determined by a physician.

Tattoos. None on the neck, face, or hands except for one wedding band.

Later promotions. An associate's degree is required for officers seeking Corporal. A bachelor's degree is required to promote to Sergeant.

Workday extras not on Eligibility. JR100552 also lists the ability to lift 100 pounds, to pass a polygraph, medical examination, and a drug screen, and to pass "the written exam and a physical agility test." The polygraph line sits next to Apply Today's EyeDetect process. Both lines are on the city's pages.

Step-by-step hiring process

Arlington does not publish a civil service exam calendar. The FAQ says that is because there is no written test. The process below is the Apply Today Hiring Process tab.

1. Apply on Workday. Basic / Lateral Police Officer, JR100552. Create a City of Arlington profile. The posting was live on 2026-08-21 (location: Police Training Center). No close date was on the posting text. The posting itself is stamped Posted 30+ Days Ago. Do not treat that posting as a forever-open door; confirm JR100552 still shows Apply before you spend a trip.

FAQ: it can take 1 to 2 weeks to be contacted after you submit. Apply Today adds that the process runs most-qualified-first, so the clock varies.

2. Phase I: screening and the row. If you meet Eligibility, Personnel and Recruiting schedules a Screening and Physical Agility Assessment date and sends a Personal History Statement. Form-fill the first part on a computer, then print a hard copy and hand-write the essay. Bring the completed statement to screening. Recruiting may ask follow-up questions that day. Sign the Physical Agility Assessment Claim Release before you row.

3. Phase II: EyeDetect, psychological, medical. Each applicant must complete a Converus EyeDetect examination covering credit, theft, illegal drugs, criminal convictions, serious crimes committed, work history, and any excessive-use-of-force complaints (former officers). A polygraph may be administered in lieu of EyeDetect in limited situations, at the discretion of the Personnel and Recruiting Sergeant. Psychological: a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist provided by the city. Medical: a licensed physician provided by the city.

4. Phase III: background. Employment, prior law enforcement, criminal history, thefts, drug use, financial or credit history, driving and accident history.

5. Phase IV: oral interview board. Senior command staff. Dependability, command presence, situational reasoning, interpersonal skills, oral and written communication, integrity.

Out of town. FAQ: count on three trips to Arlington, for Phases I, II, and IV.

How long the file lasts. FAQ: your application is good for one year from your assigned Screening date. Background-investigator assignment can be 3 days to a year; once assigned, about 4 weeks. Apply Today: the application process is valid for one year from the date of the Preliminary Interview. FAQ measures from Screening. Apply Today measures from the Preliminary Interview. Those are two clocks.

Physical agility assessment

Not a seven-event PAT. Physical Agility Assessment is a Concept 2 row: 2,000 meters at or above the 25th percentile for your age, weight, and gender.

Arlington points you at the Texas DPS Concept 2 calculator. Select gender and age range, enter weight, type 25 under Desired Results, then Calculate. The page says this is a competitive process and tells you to put forth your best effort. Train to the number the calculator returns for you, not to someone else's time.

Academy and field training

The Police Academy Experience page prints one length: 32 weeks, about 1,280 hours. Breakdown on that page:

• Classroom (720 mandatory hours from TCOLE)
• Scenario training
• Leadership skills
• Physical training and defensive tactics
• Professional police driving
• DWI / SFST
• Firearms
• Written examinations

Every recruit must complete the basic academy and pass the TCOLE examination before becoming an official police officer. After academy, the recruit continues to the Patrol Training program, then a probationary period. The academy page does not print a field-training week count for basic recruits. The 7-week field-training clock is the lateral door.

Occupations Code §1701.2551 sets the basic peace officer course at no less than 720 hours. TCOLE's current course on the license page is 1000736, Basic Peace Officer Course 736. Arlington's classroom line is 720 TCOLE hours inside a 1,280-hour academy. Those are different sentences. See TCOLE peace officer license requirements. Daily academy life is in Texas Police Academy: What to Expect.

You are paid the officer entry rate in academy. Recruiting labels it Entry (Academy) $83,665.

Pay and benefits

Base (FY 2026), hired on or after January 1, 2015. Adopted step plan, effective October 1, 2025, with recruiting rounds beside the cells:

• Entry (Academy): adopted $83,665.8870 / recruiting $83,665
• 12 months: $87,863.3031 / recruiting $87,863
• 24 months: $92,240.6575 / recruiting $92,240
• 36 months: $96,865.2883 / recruiting $96,865
• 48 months: $101,714.1073 / recruiting $101,714
• 60 months: $106,764.3609 / recruiting $106,764
• 180 months: $109,436.2136 / recruiting $109,436
• 240 months: $112,174.9883 / recruiting $112,174

Officer (P-1) includes all commissioned non-supervisory positions (patrol officers and detectives). The pre-2015 legacy officer entry of $79,692.80 is not the new-hire scale.

Sergeant (P-2). Recruiting: entry $118,419; 1 year $124,340; 2-year max $130,557. Multi-step promotional process. Three years with the department before applying.

Lieutenant (P-3). Recruiting: entry $138,670; 1-year max $145,603. Three years of supervision experience before applying.

Adds on the benefits page. Education pay $110 a month. Detective pay $50 a month. Bilingual pay $100 a month. Police Training Officer 5 percent. Shift differential 6 percent. Clothing allowance $600. Stability Index Pay after 5 years of continuous service, printed as Police Officer 112.33 x yrs, Sergeant 136.83 x yrs, Lieutenant 141.13 x yrs. The page does not label those as monthly or annual. This guide leaves the unit as printed.

Leave and retirement as listed. Medical, dental, paid life. Three weeks paid vacation. 10 paid holidays. "20 Year Retirement." 401K with 50 percent match. Tuition reimbursement. Tax saver plan. Sick leave (the page says "Generous Sick Leave Plan" and does not print an accrual rate). The benefits list does not name the pension fund.

Lateral officers

Already licensed? Lateral Transfer Academy is a different clock, not a different hiring process. Laterals still complete each hiring step.

Academy. 10 weeks for in-state laterals, 14 weeks for out-of-state laterals, then 7 weeks of field training.

Pay by years of experience (recruiting): 1 year $87,863; 2 years $92,240; 3 years $96,865; 4 years $101,714; 5 or more years $106,764.

Eligibility. Eligible for TCOLE certification, and either (a) actively employed as a licensed peace officer for a municipal, county, school/university, or state agency with no service-year requirement and a bachelor's degree, or (b) actively employed with 3 years of continuous licensed service at those agency types if you do not have a bachelor's. Continuous service may include multiple agencies if any break was less than 90 days. Laterals who meet that door are exempt from the basic-entry education requirement. Associate's still required for Corporal; bachelor's still required to promote to Sergeant.

Out-of-state laterals also complete the TCOLE out-of-state eligibility packet. Reciprocity rules: TCOLE peace officer license requirements.

How to prepare this month

1. Read Eligibility against your own age, degree, military time, record, tattoos, vision, and whether a family member already works at APD. The bachelor's bar is the default door. 60 hours alone is not enough unless you also have two years as a City of Arlington employee or the Hometown program, which the recruiting pages do not describe.
2. Open JR100552 and confirm Apply is still there. There is no civil service window to wait for, and there is no close date on the posting text we opened.
3. Train the 2,000-meter Concept 2 row to the DPS 25th-percentile time for your age, weight, and gender. That is the test. Not Dallas's seven events.
4. Start the Personal History Statement early. Hand-write the essay. Background assignment can sit for months.
5. Out-of-town: budget three trips (Phases I, II, and IV).
6. If you already hold a license, use the lateral door for the 10- or 14-week academy and the 7-week field-training clock. You still row, still sit EyeDetect, still face the oral board.

Career path inside APD

Sergeant and Lieutenant are multi-step promotional processes on the benefits page, not civil service exams. Three years in the department before you apply for Sergeant. Three years of supervision before you apply for Lieutenant. Corporal needs an associate's. Sergeant needs a bachelor's. This page does not inventory specialty units from a brochure.

What to do this week

Apply on JR100552 if the posting still shows Apply. Attach the degree, the DD-214, or the 60-hour transcript plus the City-employee or Hometown proof. Then train the row and write the history statement while you wait for a screening date. Recruiting: PoliceRecruit@ArlingtonTX.gov, 817-459-5733.

Sources

• City of Arlington FY 2026 Police Step Plan (eff. Oct 1, 2025; hired on/after Jan 1, 2015; officer entry $83,665.8870; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Police Employee Benefits (Entry Academy $83,665; steps; sergeant and lieutenant; adds; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Police Recruiting Eligibility (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Police Recruiting Frequently Asked Questions (not a civil service agency; no written test; three trips; one-year clock from Screening; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Police Recruiting Application (Workday only; four phases; EyeDetect; most-qualified-first; one-year clock from Preliminary Interview; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Workday JR100552, Basic / Lateral Police Officer (live 2026-08-21; Posted 30+ Days Ago; written-exam KSA; lift 100 pounds; polygraph KSA; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Physical Agility Assessment (Concept 2, 2000 m, 25th percentile; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Texas DPS Concept 2 calculator (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Police Academy Experience (32 weeks / about 1,280 hours; 720 TCOLE classroom hours; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Lateral Transfer Academy (10 / 14 weeks then 7 weeks FTO; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Police Recruiting hub (817-459-5733; PoliceRecruit@ArlingtonTX.gov; retrieved 2026-08-21)