How to Become a Police Officer in Dallas, Texas

If that window is still open when you read this, the next step is the civil service exam, not a brochure. The license is TCOLE's. The job is Dallas'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 Dallas's own documents.

Department listing: Dallas Police Department. Pay comparison: Texas police salary by department. Denton hiring from the September 2026 POA is How to Become a Police Officer in Denton. 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 Dallas actually is

Join DPD, the department's recruiting site, says the department was established in 1881, serves more than one million residents across 385 square miles, and runs more than 100 specialized units. After academy, new officers go to one of seven Patrol Divisions for field training. Recruiting is Join DPD. Email dpdrecruiting@dallas.gov. Phone 214-671-4409 or 800-527-2948.

This page does not print a sworn headcount. Join DPD's home page, opened 2026-08-21, does not publish one.

Minimum requirements

Two Dallas documents set the floor, and they are not word-for-word the same. Join DPD Qualifications is the recruiting page. Police Officer Trainee FY26 is the civil service posting. Where they differ, both are below. Nothing is averaged. TCOLE's statewide license floor is on TCOLE peace officer license requirements. Dallas's Qualifications and posting are the hiring rules on this page.

Citizenship. U.S. citizen (Qualifications).

High school. U.S. high school graduate or G.E.D. Qualifications applies this to every applicant, not only the diploma-plus-employment door.

Age. At least 19 and a half, and you must not have reached 45 on the date of the civil service written exam (Qualifications and posting minimum qualification 1).

Education and work, age 19.5 to 20. Qualifications: 60 semester hours with a 2.0 GPA from an accredited college or university. The posting's numbered list (A) says 45 hours with a C average, but posting question 12 says applicants under 21 must have 60 hours. If you are 19 or 20, treat 60 hours as the live rule.

Education and work, age 21 to 44. Qualifications gives two doors: 45 semester hours with a 2.0 GPA, or a high school diploma / GED plus 36 months of full-time, consecutive employment. Remedial, developmental, or repeated courses do not count. The posting repeats the 45-hour door as (A) and the employment door as (E), and adds two more: 36 months of full-time certified law enforcement experience with no more than four months since separation (B), and an active TCOLE Basic Peace Officer license (C).

Military waiver. Qualifications waives college hours for at least three years of active duty with an honorable or uncharacterized discharge on the DD-214 member 4 copy, and allows 10 calendar days short of three years. The posting's door (D) is 36 months of active service with the same discharge language and the same 10-day short rule; more than 10 days short needs approval from the Assistant Chief over Personnel and Support.

Active TCOLE license. Qualifications waives college hours for an active TCOLE Peace Officer license. The posting lists that license as its own qualification path.

Driving. The posting requires demonstrated safe driving habits and qualification to drive a motor vehicle in Texas. Disqualifying Factors adds: no pending citations, not three or more hazardous traffic convictions in the 24 months before application, proof of disposition on citations in the previous year, and you may not be on deferred adjudication or waiting out a driver's safety course.

What bars you. Disqualifying Factors. DPD heads that page "Not all inclusive." No felony; no Class A (conviction, plea, probation, or deferred adjudication, civilian or military); no family-violence conviction; no public lewdness, indecent exposure, or prostitution; no Class B within the last 10 years or since the 17th birthday; no DWI (Class B) within 10 years of application; not on probation for any crime; no military discharge under less than honorable conditions; no pending criminal investigation or charges; no outstanding traffic warrants or pending citations. Show proof of final disposition on every arrest. Under Texas law, expungements are not accepted on convictions, even if the sentence was probation. No tattoos, brands, or body art on the head, scalp, face, neck, hands, or fingers, and nothing offensive or obscene anywhere. Drug use is case by case (type, recency, count, age at last use). Call a recruiter rather than guessing. Unstable employment (dismissed, or resigned in lieu of dismissal, for inefficiency or misconduct) bars you.

Attach a transcript, DD-214 / statement of service, active TCOLE license, or out-of-state license with the application. Diplomas, resumes, and cover letters are not qualifying documents on the posting.

Step-by-step hiring process

1. Apply on the City of Dallas posting. Police Officer Trainee FY26 on the city's NEOGOV board. Incomplete applications (no transcript or military papers) are incomplete.

2. Pass the civil service exam. Three hours. The posting's exam description: map reading, reading comprehension, prioritization, probability, vocabulary and word use, mathematics, sentence clarity, and character comparison. Applicant Processing Steps says you must pass each module. There is a practice exam linked from the posting.

3. In-person testing with DPD Recruiting. After you pass, Civil Service refers you to Recruiting. Bring athletic clothes (no tank tops), running shoes, a small towel, snacks, and water. Complete and print, but do not sign, the Preliminary Interview Form and the Personal History Statement before you arrive. Out-of-town applicants travel twice; Recruiting may ask for those forms by email before you fly. Join DPD defines out-of-town as residing outside Texas or more than 200 miles from Dallas. Testing is at Jack Evans Police Headquarters, 1400 Botham Jean Blvd (formerly S. Lamar Street), Dallas, TX 75215.

In-person day, in this order:

• Physical readiness test (below)
• Document completion and verification
• Polygraph (truthfulness of the file, undetected crimes, illegal drugs, employment)
• Applicant Interview Board: three members, formal business attire, scenario questions, scored on appearance, communication, judgment, and logical reasoning

4. Background. A detective works the Personal History Statement: employers, references, co-workers, former spouses, family, schools, residences, money, military, driving. Join DPD says this typically takes two to four months, and most delays are references not answering. The file then goes up the chain. If it clears, you get a conditional offer.

5. Phase II after you accept the offer. Return to Dallas for two psychological written tests plus a staff-psychologist interview, a medical exam, and a drug screen.

Physical readiness test

The test is given in this order. Join DPD Applicant Processing Steps and the FY26 posting print the same cuts.

1. Vertical jump: 6.5 inches minimum
2. Bench press (free weights): 56 percent of current body weight
3. Illinois shuttle run: 24.9 seconds maximum
4. Sit-ups: 14 repetitions in 1 minute
5. 300-meter run: 110 seconds maximum
6. Push-ups: 4 repetitions (no time stated on the recruiting page)
7. 1.5-mile run: 19:09 maximum

Those are entry cuts, not academy graduation cuts. Lateral applicants have a harder table (below). Train to pass on the day you fly, not "by academy."

Academy and field training

Dallas prints three academy lengths. They are all on city or department pages. This guide does not pick a winner.

• The Training Academy page: 40 weeks, 1,400 hours of instruction, at 5310 Redbird Center Drive, Dallas, TX 75237. Recruits should arrive at peak fitness. After academy, new officers spend 24 weeks of field training in one of seven Patrol Divisions.
• The FY26 civil service posting, essential function 1: a 32-week Basic Training Course at the Dallas Police Academy, then the TCOLE Basic Peace Officer Licensing Examination, then Dallas-specific training (city ordinances and department work).
• Salary and Benefits GI Bill copy: eligible veterans and dependents may draw benefits during a 37-week Basic Training Academy and a 24-week Field Training phase. Military liaison: Senior Corporal Juan Saldana, Jr., 214-671-3413.

TCOLE's current basic course is 736 hours. Dallas runs longer than that floor on every document above. Daily academy life is in Texas Police Academy: What to Expect.

The uniformed police schedule we opened has no separate trainee stipend. The FY26 trainee posting lists $81,232, which is Year 0-1 officer pay. Do not expect a lower academy number unless Dallas publishes one.

Pay and benefits

Base (2026). City of Dallas Uniformed Police Salary Schedule, effective January 1, 2026 (first full uniformed pay period January 14, 2026):

• Meet and Confer market-survey start: $78,924 a year ($6,577 a month)
• Year 0-1, FY 2025-2026 start-step enhancement: $81,232 a year ($6,769 a month)
• Year 9: $102,304

Join DPD's DPD Pay Scale 2026-08-03 PDF matches those two starts. The FY26 trainee posting lists $81,232. Those two starts are both published. They are not one number.

Adds on the Salary and Benefits page. Bachelor's degree: $300 a month. College hours above the 45-hour minimum: $12 a month per additional 3 hours, cap $240 a month. Language pay $110 to $150 a month for Spanish, Khmer, Cantonese, Korean, Kurdish, Lao, Thai, or Vietnamese. Tuition reimbursement up to $1,500 per fiscal year for job-applicable classes. Overtime at time-and-a-half, or compensatory time; court appearances while off duty carry a two-hour overtime minimum. Sick leave: 4 hours each 80-hour biweekly period, up to 12 days a year. Basic life insurance $75,000.

Pension. Dallas Police and Fire Pension System. Members contribute 13.5 percent of compensation pay. The city contributes 34.5 percent of base pay. Vested at five years. Full benefits at age 58. Reduced benefits at age 53 with at least five years, or at 20 years of service at any age.

Patrol clock. Five 8-hour shifts with two days off, or four 10-hour shifts with three days off. Watch assignment is by seniority.

Lateral officers

Already licensed? Lateral Entry is a different door. You still sit the civil service exam. Then Personal History Statement, Physical Readiness Evaluation, Applicant Interview Board, polygraph, background investigation, psychological and medical exams, and a conditional offer. Hired laterals attend a 12-week condensed academy on Dallas policy. Pay credit is up to five years of prior experience.

Entry PAT for laterals is harder than the trainee table, and Join DPD prints seven events at each standard, same order as the trainee table:

1. Vertical jump: 15 inches
2. Bench press: 63 percent of body weight
3. Illinois shuttle: 21.1 seconds
4. Sit-ups: 30 in 1 minute
5. 300-meter run: 80 seconds
6. Push-ups: 18 (no time limit)
7. 1.5 mile: 16:31

Week 10 retest:

1. Vertical jump: 16.5 inches
3. Illinois shuttle: 19.2 seconds
4. Sit-ups: 33 in 1 minute
5. 300-meter run: 73 seconds
6. Push-ups: 20
7. 1.5 mile: 15:01

Fail that eval and you do not graduate.

Out-of-state laterals still need TCOLE. Start with the reciprocity rules.

How to prepare this month

1. Read Qualifications and Disqualifying Factors against your own age, hours, record, and driving history. If a Class B, family-violence, or discharge line is in play, call Recruiting before you pay for travel.
2. If you are 19 or 20, confirm 60 hours on an official transcript. Do not apply on 45.
3. Train the seven-event PAT in order, at the trainee cuts, with a 56-percent bench. Laterals train the harder table.
4. Sit the practice exam. The live test is three hours and every module counts.
5. Start the Personal History Statement early. The two-to-four-month background is mostly other people answering the phone.
6. Out-of-town: budget two trips. First in-person day at 1400 Botham Jean Blvd. Phase II is a second trip after the conditional offer.

Career path inside DPD

Promotions to Senior Corporal, Sergeant, and Lieutenant are competitive civil service exams. Major, Deputy Chief, and Assistant Chief are appointed by the Chief of Police. Join DPD's pitch is the specialty-unit count. This page does not inventory those units from a brochure.

What to do this week

Apply on Police Officer Trainee FY26 (T46100-FY26) if the September 30, 2026 close is still ahead of you. Attach the transcript or the DD-214. Then train the PAT and write the history statement while you wait for an exam date. Recruiting: dpdrecruiting@dallas.gov, 214-671-4409.

Sources

• City of Dallas, Police Officer Trainee FY26, job T46100-FY26 (open 10/01/2025, close 9/30/2026; salary $81,232; 32-week academy line; exam outline; PAT; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Join DPD Qualifications (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Join DPD Disqualifying Factors (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Join DPD Applicant Processing Steps (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Join DPD Training Academy (40 weeks / 1,400 hours; 24 weeks FTO; 5310 Redbird Center Drive; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Join DPD Salary and Benefits (adds, pension, 5x8 / 4x10, GI Bill 37-week / 24-week copy; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Join DPD Lateral Entry Police Officers (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Join DPD Out of Town Applicants (1400 Botham Jean Blvd; out-of-town is outside Texas or more than 200 miles from Dallas; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• City of Dallas Uniformed Police Salary Schedule 2026 (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Join DPD Pay Scale 2026-08-03 (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Join DPD home (retrieved 2026-08-21)