The city of Birmingham, AL is one of the local agencies that I currently work for. Birmingham Police Department pride themselves in seeking qualified candidates and seeking candidates who exemplify the values of duty, honor, and selfless service. The BPD holds a strong commitment not only to law enforcement but also so to upholding community relations. When BPD are in the recruiting process, they utilize the opportunity of being present at job fairs.
In order for an individual to be qualified for the agency, they must meet the State of Alabama Minimum Standards requirements, as well as the Jefferson County Personnel Board requirements
and the Birmingham Police Department requirements (Birmingham Police Department). There are minimum qualifications including being a U.S. citizen, 19 years or older, high school diploma, valid Alabama license, and pass a Class A physical before qualifying. During the selection process, the BPD commits to recruiting and selecting the most qualified. The process must be successfully complete and it includes completing physical before employment, ..background check, polygraph examination, medical examination, and a psychological screening. To be able to qualify, the candidate must be able to pass each of these components to be selected. The physical is one of the components that a candidate must pass and
is deemed to be the most difficult. There are some candidates that fail this component and must redo the physical in order to qualify. The physical includes tasks such as pushing a car, scaling a 6ft fence, push-ups and sit ups within a minute time frame, and run a 1 ½ ,mile. Training included 800 hours of instruction, in addition to 560 hours of Alabama Peace Office Standards. Training typically lasts for about 20 weeks and along with instruction time, a candidate is also being taught and trained in firearms, defensive tactics, physical fitness, and more. Once an officer has gone through academy training, they are sworn in and complete field training for a minimum of 16 weeks. During this time of training, the hired officer is assigned to
