How to Become a Police Officer in Mesquite, Texas

iwanttobeacop.net reprints those cells as starting $83,868, second year $83,868, third year $88,062, through seventh year $107,039. The city page /501/Recruiting redirected to that site on 2026-08-21. Human Resources labels it Police Officer Recruit Information.

Mesquite is a Chapter 143 department. The FAQ on iwanttobeacop.net says so in those words. NEOGOV 5416661 cites "State of Texas, Chapter 143, Police and Fire Civil Service Regulations." That is the door.

The license is TCOLE's. The job is Mesquite'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 Mesquite's own documents.

Department listing: Mesquite Police Department. Pay comparison: Texas police salary by department. Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Frisco, McKinney, Grand Prairie, and Denton have their own hiring guides: Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, Frisco, McKinney, Grand Prairie, 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 Mesquite actually is

Recruiting lives on iwanttobeacop.net. The department home is Police, 777 N. Galloway Ave., Mesquite, TX 75149. Chief of Police: David Gill. Non-emergency: 972-285-6336. Administration Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The FAQ says "authorized manpower of 263 sworn officers." That is recruiting copy, not a roster count.

Recruiting phone and email on the home page: 972-216-8144, recruitment@mesquitepolice.org. The Contact Recruiter control is a Google Form. NEOGOV 5416661 prints employer 972-216-6218 at 1515 N. Galloway Ave.

Minimum requirements

NEOGOV 5416661, job 2600141, is the August 22, 2026 exam card. Its application window closed August 14, 2026, but it is the fullest published statement of the floor. The Police Officer page reprints a shorter version.

Citizenship. NEOGOV 5416661: U.S. citizen under the provisions of State Civil Service Law. That is Mesquite's gate. TCOLE's own rule, 37 TAC 217.1(b)(17), also licenses a legal permanent resident who is an honorably discharged veteran with at least two years of service who has applied for citizenship. Mesquite's civil service rule is the one that governs this door. The recruiting FAQ's summary that TCOLE requires all officers to be a U.S. citizen is incomplete.

Age. Not less than 21 at the next scheduled academy start date; lateral candidates not less than 21. Both NEOGOV 5416661 and the Police Officer page print that rule in those words. Only the card names the date, February 8, 2027. Read it against the academy date on whichever card you apply to.

If you are 20, Mesquite's academy-start rule is 21. 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 before you spend the application.

Education. High school diploma or GED, and one of four doors on 5416661:

1. 30 hours of college credit from an accredited college or university in any subject. Remedial courses and grades below C do not count. The card names the regional accreditors and accepts NACES-evaluated foreign coursework.
2. A minimum of 2 years of patrol and/or investigative experience as a full-time commissioned police officer.
3. A minimum of 2 years of active military duty with an honorable discharge.
4. A minimum of 18 months of full-time employment with the City of Mesquite.

The Police Officer page shortens doors 2 and 3 into one sentence: "2 years active military or police duty with honorable discharge reduces college requirement to 0 hours." That is recruiting shorthand. It is not a fifth door. 18 months of full-time City of Mesquite employment also reduces college to 0 hours on that page.

Driver's license. Possession of a valid Class C Texas driver's license (Mesquite hiring). TCOLE does not require a Texas license; 37 TAC 217.1(b)(8) is that you are not prohibited from operating a motor vehicle.

Vision and hearing. Vision at least 20/70 uncorrected in each eye, correctable to 20/20 in each eye, no color blindness. Audiometric testing: average hearing loss in the unaided better ear greater than 40 dB at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz (ANSI Z24.5) is not eligible.

TCOLE. Possession of, or ability to obtain, certification as a Peace Officer by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement. 5416661 prints that as "TECOLE." That is the card's spelling. The commission is TCOLE. Legal qualification under U.S. and Texas law to possess firearms and ammunition.

Disqualifiers on 5416661. Any use of marijuana that exceeds very limited experimentation, or any experimentation within two years immediately prior to testing. No police applicant may use or possess cocaine within ten years of application and not more than three times. Any illegal use of a controlled substance other than marijuana and cocaine. Any felony conviction.

TCOLE bars, from the FAQ. Felony conviction. Class B misdemeanor conviction, or court-ordered community supervision or probation for a Class B, within the last ten years from the date of the court order. Any family violence conviction or community supervision as defined under Chapter 71, Texas Family Code. Currently charged with any criminal offense that would bar licensure. TCOLE also makes a Class A conviction a lifetime bar (37 TAC 217.1(b)(4), (b)(6), (b)(7)).

Tattoos. FAQ: tattoos deemed offensive will not be allowed to be visible. No tattoos shall be visible on the neck, face, head, or hand areas without approval by the Chief of Police or his designee.

Facial hair. FAQ: beards and mustaches are allowed within departmental parameters.

No residency requirement. FAQ: none. Relocation reimbursement up to $2,500 if you relocate within the city limits of Mesquite.

Step-by-step hiring process

1. Read the older Apply HERE first, then the closed August posting, then the flyer. On 2026-08-21 the home-page Apply HERE still pointed at NEOGOV 4905546, job 2500110, Police Officer-June 14, 2025. Opening April 13, 2025. Closing June 11, 2025 at 4:00 p.m. Central. Salary $77,548.43-$103,922.31. Academy date on that card: October 13, 2025. That posting is not apply-now. Those dollars are the 2025 bulletin, not Table A.

The August 22, 2026 door is NEOGOV 5416661, job 2600141, Police Officer - August 22, 2026. Opening July 20, 2026. Closing August 14, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. Central. Salary $83,868.62-$107,039.97. Civil service exam Saturday, August 22, 2026. Academy February 8, 2027. That application window closed August 14. If you did not apply by then, this posting is not your door.

The next door on the June 2026 2026-2027 exam flyer: post Monday, August 24, 2026; deadline Friday, September 11, 2026 by 4 p.m.; exam Saturday, September 19, 2026; academy February 8, 2027; check-in 8:30 a.m.; exam 9:00 a.m.; City Hall Training Room A&B; PAT the same Saturday. No September NEOGOV card had a print URL on 2026-08-21. Watch mesquitetx careers after August 24. 4905546 is not apply-now. 5416661 is closed.

Only candidates who pass the minimum qualifications and supplemental questions receive an email from Human Resources with exam seat confirmation.

2. Personal History Statement due on exam day. Home page: download the MPD Personal History Statement. FAQ 21 and 22: Human Resources emails the questionnaire packet; it must be fully completed and submitted the day of the exam or you are disqualified. The personal history statement is submitted at check-in. If it is not notarized, they can notarize it on the exam date. 5416661: a Police Personal History Questionnaire Packet is emailed and due on the exam date prior to the beginning of the entrance exam.

3. Written exam. Saturday, August 22, 2026 on the closed card, or Saturday, September 19, 2026 on the next flyer row. Check-in 8:30 a.m. CST. PAT instructions and video 8:45 a.m. Exam start 9:00 a.m. Location on 5416661: City of Mesquite Hall, Training Room A & B, 757 N. Galloway Ave., Mesquite, TX 75149. Pass is 70. Military: 5 extra points for 180 days of active duty, honorable discharge, and a passing grade of 70 or better, with DD214 member 4 copy. FAQ: you may test two times per calendar year.

4. Physical agility the same day if you pass. Fail the written and processing stops. Pass 70, and the row is the same Saturday. Testing location "to be disclosed at a later time" on 5416661. Details live on Physical Agility.

5. After the row. FAQ sequence: polygraph, oral board, background, job offer contingent on a psychological evaluation and physical. Official college transcripts in a sealed envelope are required at a later date for candidates who passed both the written and the row. FAQ: from the civil service test to a job offer averages about 2 to 3 months. Start date depends on the next scheduled academy class. Out-of-state FAQ: for most applicants, two to three visits.

Physical agility

Mesquite's test is the Texas DPS Concept2 2,000-meter indoor row, damper set to 5, minimum 50 percent. Passing time depends on gender, age, and weight. Same Saturday as a passing written exam.

Physical Agility points at the DPS row calculator: https://www.dps.texas.gov/apps/TOD/FitnessWellness/concept2RowerCalc.htm. Select your gender and age range, enter your weight, then put 50 in the Percent box. The time listed is the maximum time to row 2,000 meters.

Practice sessions (2,000-meter practice, two rowers, 757 Galloway Ave., 2nd floor training rooms): September 1, 2026 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.; October 20, 2026 (Hallway); November 18, 2026; January 5, 2027; February 16, 2027; March 16, 2027; April 13, 2027 (Hallway); May 11, 2027; June 1, 2027. All 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

Academy and field training

FAQ: the police academy lasts approximately 6 months.

Our Police Academy / BPOC: 30 week academy. Recruits earn a full officer's salary from day one. In May 2026 the department graduated its 28th academy class.

Police Officer page GI Bill copy: eligible veterans can use Post-9/11 GI Bill education payments while attending the police academy for a period of 6 months. The department still pays the annual salary. The Police Officer page answers "How much would I be getting paid monthly?" with "$2,612.00". That page also says the department pays your annual salary and the VA benefit is paid directly to you, so the $2,612 figure reads as the VA education payment, not total compensation. The page does not say which. Ask the Academy Coordinator in the first week, and bring a VA letter of eligibility plus a joint service transcript.

Out-of-state and federal laterals who already hold TCOLE: 7 week in-service course with abbreviated field training. The department reimburses up to $1,000 for expenses accrued while obtaining TCOLE certification if hired.

Occupations Code §1701.2551 sets the basic peace officer course at no less than 720 hours. That is the state floor, not Mesquite's clock. Daily academy life is in Texas Police Academy: What to Expect. You are paid the officer base, $83,868.6244, because this plan has no recruit cell.

Pay and benefits

Base (Police Pay Plan, Table A), annual, effective January 1, 2026. Hourly in parentheses, as the plan prints them. Officers begin at base. Third anniversary to B3. Then one step each anniversary. B7 is the range maximum.

Police Officer (PG1):

• Base / B1 / B2: $83,868.6244 ($40.3215)
• B3: $88,062.0556 ($42.3375)
• B4: $92,465.1584 ($44.4544)
• B5: $97,088.4163 ($46.6771)
• B6: $101,942.8372 ($49.0110)
• B7: $107,039.9790 ($51.4615)

iwanttobeacop.net reprints those same dollars as Starting / 2nd Year / 3rd Year through 7th Year. "2nd Year" is still base. "3rd Year" is B3. Those labels are the recruiting page's, not extra steps. NEOGOV 5416661 prints $83,868.62-$107,039.97, which is base through B7 rounded. 4905546's $77,548.43 is the 2025 bulletin.

Police Officer page recruiting, not a second pay plan.

• Civil service agency, in-house academy
• Lateral transfer pay incentive (FAQ: based on years of service and department size; contact recruiting for the number)
• 11 paid holidays, 15 vacation days per year
• Health and life insurance
• TMRS matched 2 to 1 by the City of Mesquite. Eligible for retirement after 20 years. Optional 457
• Relocation reimbursement up to $2,500 inside city limits
• Education: $72.00 a month Associates degree, Criminal Justice. $120.00 a month Bachelor's degree, any major. FAQ also names a master's incentive without a dollar.
• Bilingual: $150.00 a month certified to read, write, and speak a non-English language. $75.00 a month certified to speak a non-English language
• Individually assigned Glock pistol, Colt AR-15 rifle, and portable radio
• FAQ: patrol works 10-hour shifts, four days a week. Days off and assignment depend on seniority. Certain shifts receive differential pay. Take-home car depends on seniority, vehicle availability, and living in the city of Mesquite

Promotional ranks on the plan: Sergeant PG2, Lieutenant PG3, Deputy Chief PG4, Assistant Police Chief PG5. FAQ: civil service promotional opportunities include Sergeant, Lieutenant, Deputy Chief. Officers must be off probation before other duty assignments.

Lateral officers

Already licensed? Still the civil service exam door.

Texas-certified officers: contact recruiting for the lateral step. FAQ: lateral entry salary is based on years of service and department size. The page does not print that grid.

Out-of-state or federal officers: Police Officer page. Apply through TCOLE for the Texas Peace Officer certification. If hired, reimbursement up to $1,000 for expenses accrued while obtaining TCOLE. Relocation reimbursement up to $2,500 if you relocate inside the city limits. Training after TCOLE: 7 week in-service with abbreviated field training. The page names TCOLE and OSS Academy as useful links.

5416661 has a supplemental question: "Are you applying for the lateral transfer program as a Police Officer for MPD?"

Eligibility lists

City HR Police 2026 Eligibility List: Civil Service Police Entrance Exam, Saturday, July 18, 2026. Ranked names, raw scores, veteran points. The pass mark of 70 is printed on NEOGOV 5416661, not on the list; the list is consistent with it, ranking down to a raw 70 and leaving a 69 unranked.

iwanttobeacop.net "latest Civil Service Exam results" still pointed at a March 28, 2026 eligibility list PDF on 2026-08-21. That is not the July list.

How to prepare this month

1. Open iwanttobeacop.net and the 2026-2027 exam flyer. If you missed August 14, the next flyer door is post August 24 / apply by September 11 / exam September 19 / academy February 8, 2027. 4905546 is not apply-now.
2. Run the 50 percent row standard, damper 5, 2,000 meters. Practice row: September 1, 2026, 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m., 757 Galloway Ave., 2nd floor.
3. If you are using the college door, confirm 30 hours with no grade below C from an accredited school. If you are using the military, commissioned-officer, or City of Mesquite door, read 5416661, not just the recruiting shorthand.
4. Fire dollars live on DocumentCenter 931. This page covers Mesquite police, not fire.

What to do this week

Open iwanttobeacop.net. Call 972-216-8144 or email recruitment@mesquitepolice.org. Ask whether the September 19 card is up, because August 14 already closed. Then train the row to 50 percent.

Sources

• Police Pay Plan, Table A (FY 2025-26 Civil Service; effective Jan 1, 2026; PG1 base $83,868.6244; B3 $88,062.0556; B7 $107,039.9790; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• iwanttobeacop.net (city /501/Recruiting redirect; starting $83,868; Apply HERE still pointed at 4905546; PHS; March 28, 2026 results PDF; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Police Officer (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• FAQ (Chapter 143; academy ~6 months; authorized 263; process; tattoos; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Physical Agility (2000m, damper 5, 50 percent; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• DPS Concept 2 Rower Calculator (enter gender, age, weight, then 50 in the Percent box; retrieved 2026-08-22)
• Our Police Academy / BPOC (30 week academy; 28th class May 2026; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• 2026-2027 exam flyer (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Employment Information (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Police (retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Police 2026 Eligibility List (July 18, 2026; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• NEOGOV 5416661 (job 2600141; $83,868.62-$107,039.97; opened 07/20/2026; closed 8/14/2026; Aug 22 exam; Feb 8, 2027 academy; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• NEOGOV 4905546 (job 2500110; June 14, 2025 posting; $77,548.43; retrieved 2026-08-21)
• Adopted 37 TAC §217.1, effective June 1, 2026 (TCOLE license floor; retrieved 2026-08-21)