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How to Become a Police Officer in Galveston, Texas

9 min readUpdated 2026-08-22

Galveston last published a police cadet cell on the 2025 Galveston Police Department Pay Scale (DocumentCenter/View/20263), still linked from Employment: Cadet Entry $24.30 an hour / $50,555.07 a year while attending the Basic Police Officer Academy, based on 2,080 hours. POI, Sworn to 1 Year, is $32.27 / $67,123.94. The cadet cell on this page is $50,555.07. POI is $67,123.94 after swear-in, not the cadet start. Employment reprints laterals up to $88,992.65 (Police Officer V Pay) and a Senior Officer top of $97,322.85. The PDF types PO V as $88.992.65 with a period. Employment prints $88,992.65 with a comma. The Galveston Fire Department listing still lists 116 sworn and 6 stations and no dollar. A fire-page trainee figure of $65,465 sits on the city's Why Apply page. Instagram $72,848 is not a city cell. Those fire figures are not the dated Cadet cell.

Law enforcement pathway

Galveston Fire hires on a separate schedule. /772 Fire civil service exam and Port of Galveston PD are other agencies, not this Cadet cell. This page covers Galveston PD.

The license is TCOLE's. The job is Galveston PD'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 drawn from Employment, the 2025 pay scale, Minimum Requirements, the August 21 Wufoo form, Lateral Hiring Process, Police hub, Administration, 2026 Training Classes, prior /746, prior /27, prior /772, prior Document 18554, TCOLE Statewide Vacancies, and the department listing.

Department listing: Galveston Police Department. Pay comparison: Texas police salary by department. That salary page still keeps Galveston out of the N=12 table because that collection is DFW municipal departments plus Texas DPS. City hiring guides in this series: Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Frisco, McKinney, Mesquite, Grand Prairie, Denton, Houston, Lubbock, Amarillo, Brownsville, McAllen, Waco, Killeen, Pasadena, Texas City, Pearland, League City, Sugar Land, Carrollton, Lewisville, Richardson, Allen, Flower Mound, Rockwall, Lancaster, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Rowlett, Wylie, Little Elm, Baytown.

What Galveston PD actually is

Recruiting lives under Employment. The city police hub is Police Department. /27/Police-Department is Government, not this hub. 2026 Training Classes prints GPD at 601 54th Street, Galveston, Texas 77551. Hub phones: Police 409-765-3702. Office of the Chief of Police 409-765-3790. Operations Bureau 409-765-3629. Investigative Service Bureau 409-765-3764. Front Lobby 409-765-3636. Human Resources on Minimum Requirements: 409-797-3650. City hall footer is 823 Rosenberg, Galveston, TX 77553, 409-797-3500. That is city hall, not the police building. Administration: Chief of Police Doug Balli.

Filled sworn count, station count, call volume, and founding year are unpublished on the officer sources (0).

Training is the in-service hub. BPOC week count is unpublished as a hiring-page figure. FTO week count is unpublished. Cadet pay is the academy cell on the 2025 scale, not a later sworn step.

The live apply door

Register on the city's Upcoming Civil Service Entrance Exam form. The Wufoo title is still Register for the August 21st GPD Entrance Exam. The dated field is 8/21/2026. That exam is already past (August 21, 2026). The department listing still lists No open posting recorded. TCOLE Statewide Vacancies reprints Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and Galveston College this retrieval, not Galveston Police. Workday CityofGalvestonTexasCareers returned an outage page this retrieval. The Wufoo copy is the August 21 date, not a future date. A next exam after August 21, 2026 is unpublished. Facebook Friday March 20 is not a city door.

The live Ready to Serve card for Galveston PD returns 200 with no dollar and no open posting. That empty listing sits against a last-posted exam that has already run. Hiring is not open on a future dated card.

galvestontx.gov/earnit 301s to /771. HTTPS www.galvestonpdcareers.com timed out this retrieval. The HTTP host 301s to Minimum Requirements. That hostname is not a third apply door.

Minimum requirements

Minimum Requirements & Hiring Process:

  • Must be 21 years of age by swear in date.
  • High School Graduate OR attained GED AND 12 credit hours from an accredited college or university.
  • U.S. Citizen.
  • Not prohibited by State or Federal law from operating a motor vehicle.
  • Not prohibited by State or Federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition.
  • Good physical and mental condition.
  • No felony convictions.
  • Has never been convicted of a Family Violence Offense.
  • Has never been convicted of a Class A Misdemeanor.
  • Has not been convicted of a Class B Misdemeanor in the last 10 years.
  • Has never been discharged from the Military under a less than honorable discharge.

Wufoo exam registration also certifies: at least 20 years of age and have not yet reached 45th birthday, with age measured as of 8/21/2026. A 2023 press release said younger than 45 by hire. Current /745 does not print that cap. The Wufoo age lines and the /745 age line are both published. Those two measuring points are not the same.

Employment hiring process adds: applicants MUST NOT have visible neck or facial tattoos. Applicants MAY be subject to a polygraph if the background investigator believes they have been deceptive.

Hiring process as printed: register for the scheduled Civil Service Exam (GPD Training or Human Resources 409-797-3650, or the /771 form). Attend and pass the exam. Pass the Physical Agility Test the same day. Submit the Personal History Statement. Background investigation. Chiefs Interview / Conditional Offer. Physical (Medical) Screening. Psychological Evaluation. Galveston PD In-service Academy. Sworn in as a Galveston Police Officer.

Cadet door is none at apply. TCOLE Basic is not required at apply. Recruits reach the Texas Basic Peace Officer exam after the Galveston PD In-service Academy, not at apply.

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)). /745 measures 21 by swear-in date. Wufoo measured at least 20 and not yet 45 as of 8/21/2026. Those city measuring points are not the same as TCOLE's 18-with-waiver floor. Read TCOLE peace officer license requirements.

U.S. Citizen is Galveston PD's hiring line. TCOLE's matching rule is 37 TAC 217.1(b)(17): U.S. citizen, or a legal permanent resident who is an honorably discharged veteran with two years of service and has applied for citizenship.

/745 already reprints TCOLE's driving floor: not prohibited by State or Federal law from operating a motor vehicle (37 TAC 217.1(b)(8)). A Texas driver's license is not printed as a separate Galveston hiring card this retrieval. TCOLE does not require a Texas license.

The city Class A line is conviction-only and lifetime. TCOLE makes a Class A conviction a lifetime bar and puts the ten-year lookback on Class B only (37 TAC 217.1(b)(4), (b)(6)). /745 prints family violence as a conviction bar. TCOLE also bars community supervision for family violence (217.1(b)(7)). That TCOLE floor is the license gate even if the city pages name conviction only.

The test, PAT as printed

Civil service written entrance exam first. /771 links the POST practice test at ApplyToServe.com/Study. Cutoff unpublished on Employment.

Physical Ability Test, same day, for every entry-level and lateral applicant who passes the written exam:

  • 1.5 mile run in 15:00 minutes.
  • 25-minute rest.
  • 500-meter row sprint on a Concept2 rower in 2:29, males and females.

Not CPAT. Not Galveston Fire's GPAT. Employment links Concept2 technique videos. Advanced preparation is strongly encouraged.

Then: background, possible polygraph, Chiefs Interview, medical, psychological, in-service academy, swear-in.

Academy length

Academy week count is unpublished as a hiring-page figure. FTO week count is unpublished. /745 and Employment name Galveston PD In-service Academy, then swear-in.

See What to expect at a Texas police academy.

Laterals

Lateral Hiring Process: email GPD-Training@Galvestontx.gov. Eligibility:

  • Licensed Peace Officer.
  • Basic Peace Officer Certificate or higher.
  • At least 2 years of experience in a patrol function for one or more municipal, county, or state law enforcement agencies with a minimum of 30 sworn Police Officers, handling the full array of urban police work.

Employment: officers with prior law enforcement experience may be eligible for up to $88,992.65 (Police Officer V Pay) depending on prior years of service. /746/Lateral-Hiring-Process is Power of Attorney, not the lateral page. No dated lateral job card this retrieval. Lateral close date unpublished.

TCOLE Statewide Vacancies does not reprint Galveston Police this retrieval.

Pay and benefits

Dated first cell, 2025 GPD Pay Scale, still linked from Employment, based on 2,080 hours:

  • Cadet Entry (while attending Basic Police Officer Academy) $24.30 / $50,555.07
  • POI, Sworn to 1 Year, $32.27 / $67,123.94
  • PO II, 1 to 2 years, $35.13 / $73,088.36
  • PO III, 3 to 4 years, $37.68 / $78,389.06
  • PO IV, 5 to 6 years, $40.23 / $83,690.86
  • PO V, 7 to 8 years, $42.78 / $88,992.65 (PDF types $88.992.65)
  • Senior Police Officer, 9 to 14 years, $45.65 / $94,957.21
  • Senior Police Officer, 15 to 17 years, $46.13 / $95,961.51
  • Senior Police Officer, 18+ years, $46.78 / $97,322.85

The cadet cell on this page is $50,555.07. POI is $67,123.94 after swear-in, not the cadet start. The lateral-up-to cell is $88,992.65. $97,322.85 is the Senior Officer top, not the start. No 2026 GPD pay-scale PDF is linked this retrieval. Document 18554 Police-Salaries-1 has no extractable text. A COLA percentage is not applied to these cells.

Employment incentives, annual: Associate $900. Bachelor $2,400. Master $3,000. TCOLE Intermediate $1,200. Advanced $2,004. Masters $2,496. Uniform allowance $1,250 a year after issue (initial uniforms and equipment provided). Night Watch $2,004. Bilingual $900. Vacation: 0-4 years 10 days; 5-14 years 15 days; 14+ years 20 days. Standard city benefits: pension, life, dental, vision, health. Supplemental insurance available.

The fire listing's dollars and the fire-page trainee $65,465 are fire pay, not this department. Those fire figures are not the 2026 Cadet cell.

Sources, used 2026-08-22

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