The Maricopa Community College District in conjunction with the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST), which has statutory responsibility for law enforcement officer training in Arizona, has established the Police Academy Preparation (PAP) Certificate Program. This certificate program permits students to fulfill a portion of their Academy studies at a community college.

PAP is a 42 credit hour certificate program composed of 7 courses from the Administration of Justice Studies core and 7 courses specifically developed for this program.

Successful completion of the PAP Certificate Program enables a student, if hired by a law enforcement agency, to apply for admission to an Arizona POST certified proficiency skills Academy. The Proficiency Skills Academy will involve approximately 600 hours of specialized training in areas such as tactical driving, firearms, high risk vehicle stops, practical scenarios, report writing, and other appropriate subject matter. After graduation from a proficiency skills academy the student will become certified as a peace officer in the State of Arizona.

Note: AJS101, 107, 109, 205, 260, 270, 275 are approved by the Arizona Peace Officer Standards and Training Board (POST) as ones that meet a portion of the academic requirements for peace officer. Students completing all POST approved courses with a "C" grade or better will be eligible to take a POST examination and be considered for appointment to a skills based academy. See AJS faculty or Advisement for further details.

Program Prerequisites:

1. The person shall be a United States citizen.
2. The personal shall be at least 21 years of age, except that a person may attend an academy if he or she will be 21 prior to graduating.
3. The person shall be a high school graduate or have successfully completed a General Education Development (GED) examination.
4. The person's background shall meet the standards of Arizona POST Rule R13-4-106.
5. The person shall be able to succeessfully complete a medical examination.
6. The person shall have not been convicted of a felony or any offense that would be a felony if committed in Arizona.
7. The person shall not have been dishonorably discharged from the United Staes Armed Forces.
8. The personal shall not have been previously denied certified status, revoked, or have his or her current certified status under usupension pursuant to Section R13-4-109.
9. The person shall not have illegally sold, produced, cultivated, or transported marijuana for sale.
10. The person shall not have illegally used marijuana for any purpose within the past three years.
11. The person shall never have illegally used marijuana other than for experimentation.
12. The person shall never have illegally used marijuana while employed or appointed as a peace officer.
13. The person shall not have illegally sold, produced, cultivated, or transported for sale, any dangerous drugs or narcotics, other than marijuana.
14. The person shall not have illegally used dangerous drugs or narcotics, other than marijuana, for any purpose in the past seven years.
15. The person shall never have illegally used dangerous drugs or narcotics, other than for experimentation.
16. The person shall never have illegally used dangerous drugs or narcotics while employed or appointed as a peace officer.
17. The person shall not have a pattern of abuse of prescription medication.
18. The person shall be able to successfully pass a Board-approved drug screening test, or polygraph examination, which polygraph examination relates to the provisions of subsection (A) (9-17).