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Law EnforcementCareer Guide

How to Become a Police Officer in Lancaster, Texas

8 min readUpdated 2026-10-14

The City of Lancaster 2025-2026 Adopted Police Plan printed certified Police Officer (P1-CS3001) Step 1 at $78,473.55 a year ($37.73 an hour). Non-certified is $52,497.12 ($25.24 an hour). Certified Step 2 is $81,801.93, Step 3 $85,296.65, Step 4 $88,239.21, Step 5 $91,293.23, Step 6 $94,467.29, Step 7 $97,769.94. The sheet face is Adopted 10/1/2025, and the file opened on 2026-10-14 with the same cells. The Police Officer Benefits page links it and reprints Step 6 at $94,467.29 (read 2026-10-14). A prior NEOGOV 5365533 Job 3001-2026-2 bulletin, read 2026-08-22, reprinted non-certified $52,497.12, certified $78,473.55, top after seven years $97,769.94, and laterals Step 6 $94,467.29. The first certified Police Officer cell on this page is $78,473.55.

Law enforcement pathway

Lancaster Fire hires on a separate schedule. Prior Public Service Officer and prior 911 Dispatcher bulletins are not this sworn officer door. This page covers Lancaster PD.

The license is TCOLE's. The job is Lancaster 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 the 19195 pay plan, prior bulletin 5365533, live Police Officer Requirements, Police Officer Qualifications, Police Officer Physical Fitness, Police Officer Benefits, Civil Service Testing, the City NEOGOV board, and TCOLE Statewide Vacancies.

Department listing: Lancaster Police Department. Pay comparison: Texas police salary by department. That salary page still keeps N=12. Lancaster's printed certified Step 1 is sourced here and is not yet a row in that table. 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, Cedar Hill, DeSoto.

What Lancaster PD actually is

The live department hub is lancaster-tx.com/198/Police. Public Safety Building: 100 Craig Shaw Memorial Parkway, Lancaster, Texas 75134. Police non-emergency dispatch (972) 218-2711. Prior bulletin 5365533 lists a lieutenant as the contact for PAT questions. City Hall on prior NEOGOV cards: 211 N. Henry Street, Lancaster, Texas 75146. Apply on the City NEOGOV board. How to Apply is lancaster-tx.com/178/How-to-Apply.

Filled sworn count is unpublished. 65 on 19195 is TOTAL POLICE, authorized, not a filled count. Station count, call volume, and founding year are unpublished on the officer sources.

The live apply door

Apply on the City of Lancaster NEOGOV board. Retrieval is 2026-08-22. A keyword search for police returned no jobs. Prior Police Civil Service Exam 8.15.26, Job Number 3001-2026-2, opened 06/04/2026, closed 8/13/2026 4:00 PM Central. Exam Saturday August 15, 2026, 9 A.M., Lancaster Recreation Center, 1700 Veterans Memorial Parkway, Lancaster, Texas 75134. The Physical Agility Test was to run immediately after the language-skills exam. The window and the test are past. That bulletin is not an open posting. Prior Police Civil Service Exam 4/4/26 is a prior sitting.

Police Officer Requirements says the next Civil Service Exam is scheduled for Saturday, December 5, 2026 (read 2026-10-14). Civil Service Testing lists the Civil Service Police Entrance Exam as TBD (read 2026-10-14). Completion of an electronic testing notice does not register you for an exam. You submit an online application and the required documents.

TCOLE Statewide Vacancies printed no Lancaster string this retrieval. Do not treat a civilian posting or a closed exam bulletin as an open sworn-officer door.

Minimum requirements

Police Officer Requirements:

  • No Police Pre-Certification is required to take this exam. Must meet all legal requirements necessary to become eligible for future licensing by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement
  • Must possess a current valid driver's license with acceptable driving record
  • Must be at least 21 years of age and meet all eligibility requirements of Texas Local Government Code, Section 143.023 of the Texas Fire and Police Civil Service Law and Lancaster Local Rules
  • High School Diploma, OR G.E.D. Certificate (or 12 College credit hours), OR 24 months active duty in the U.S. military with proof of honorable discharge (DD-214 Member 4 copy)
  • Must meet all physical requirements
  • Must be U.S. Citizen

Prior bulletin 5365533 reprints the same six lines and adds: G.E.D. Certificate with 12 college credit hours (minimum 2.0 GPA on a 4.0 scale); age 21 by the date of the examination. Both GED lines are published. They are not the same sentence.

21 at exam is Lancaster PD's hiring line. 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)). Those are not the same measuring point. Read TCOLE peace officer license requirements.

City citizenship is U.S. Citizen. 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.

A current valid driver's license is Requirements item 2. TCOLE does not require a Texas license. TCOLE's floor is not prohibited from operating a motor vehicle, 37 TAC 217.1(b)(8).

Police Officer Qualifications is the department appendix, not a complete reprint of 217.1. City: no conviction for or probation that would preclude licensing by TCOLE. Pending trial for any felony, Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or non-traffic Class C, or any family violence offense. TCOLE's Class A bar is conviction or court-ordered community supervision, lifetime (37 TAC 217.1(b)(4), (b)(6)). Only Class B carries the ten-year lookback. TCOLE bars conviction or community supervision for family violence, 217.1(b)(7). The city line and the TCOLE floor are both published; a candidate has to clear both.

The test, PAT as printed

Prior bulletin 5365533: language-skills entrance exam, then the Physical Agility Test immediately after for those who pass. Study guides from Human Resources after a complete online application. Ranked eligibility list one year unless exhausted. Whether a list from the 8.15.26 sitting is still standing is unpublished. Requirements page says the next Civil Service Exam is scheduled for Saturday, December 5, 2026 (read 2026-10-14).

Police Officer Physical Fitness: all Police Officer applicants who pass the written portion of the entrance exam are required to pass the Department's physical readiness test. The minimum standard for all new applicants is passing the physical readiness test at 50% on the Concept2 Rower at level 5 damper setting. Applicants must pass one of the three physical readiness tests offered at the minimum percentage based on age, weight, and gender. Test C is named 4:00 Minute Row (Age, Weight, Gender). Pass the row. Not CPAT. Not Lancaster Fire's PAT. DPS Concept2 calculator is linked from that page.

Prior bulletin 5365533 lists a lieutenant as the contact for PAT questions.

Academy length

The city has not published a named recruit academy hour count. Prior bulletin 5365533: no Police Pre-Certification is required. Non-certified appointments start at $52,497.12. Upon completion of the academy the pay will be $78,473.55. There is no cadet door at hire: you attend a TCOLE academy. This guide does not print a week count.

See What to expect at a Texas police academy.

Laterals

Prior bulletin 5365533 and live benefits: certified officers with experience can start up to Step 6 ($94,467.29 annually) based on years of service as a certified peace officer, prior credit for up to six years of verifiable full-time service. TMRS will carry over. Sworn officer bulletin 5365533 closed on 8/13/2026 (NEOGOV, read 2026-08-22). This guide does not print a year-for-year table beyond that sentence.

Pay and benefits

Printed certified Police Officer cells, from the adopted plan 19195 (opened 2026-10-14), checked against prior bulletin 5365533 and the Benefits page Step 6:

  • Non-certified $52,497.12
  • Certified Step 1 $78,473.55
  • Step 2 $81,801.93
  • Step 3 $85,296.65
  • Step 4 $88,239.21
  • Step 5 $91,293.23
  • Step 6 $94,467.29
  • Step 7 / top after seven years $97,769.94

The certified Step 1 figure on this page is $78,473.55. Prior bulletin 5365533 reprints the same certified Step 1, academy-complete, top, and Step 6 cells. Live benefits reprints Step 6 $94,467.29.

Live Police Officer Benefits: signing bonus $2,500 for TCOLE certified officers, first half upon hire and second half upon completion of the Field Training Program. Certification pay $50 / $100 / $150 per month Intermediate / Advanced / Master Peace Officer. Special assignment pay up to $2,080 annually. Overtime time-and-a-half after 80 hours in a pay period. Vacation 15 days years 1-9, 20 days at 10 years. Sick 15 days. Military leave 15 days paid. Compensatory time 1.5x, max 26 hours worked / 39 hours banked. Patrol 12-hour shifts, 6:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m.-6:00 a.m., every other weekend off, 7 days in a 14-day pay period. TMRS 7 percent employee, City matches 2:1, plus Social Security. Optional 457. Sergeant exam after 2 years; Lieutenant exam after 2 years as Sergeant. Immediately after FTO, officers can apply to CID, S.T.R.I.K.E., Traffic/CMV, or Community and Media Relations while still working patrol.

Sources, used 2026-08-22, re-read 2026-10-14 where marked

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