NOTE: These pages are neither authorized by nor connected in any official way with the Connecticut Department of Public Safety, Division of State Police; nor do they represent the opinions of that agency or any official of the state of Connecticut. I put these pages together because I did 21 years in this outfit, and it had no web site of its own.
 

QUALIFICATIONS:
At least 20 years old by test date and 21 by start of academy
U.S. Citizen by date of appointment
General good health with sufficient strength, stamina and agility
High school diploma or GED
Good educational and/or work record, excellent moral character
Normal hearing, color vision and depth perception
Distance and near vision, with lenses, at least 20/30 each eye
Connecticut driver's license and residence prior to graduation 
    (Be sure to check for most current information at link below)

Please DO NOT EMAIL THIS SITE asking how to apply to the Connecticut State Police.
This is an UNOFFICIAL page and the information is not available here.
 
CLICK HERE for OFFICIAL INFORMATION and APPLICATION

SELECTIONS:
If you are interested in a career as a trooper with the Connecticut State Police, please understand that the application, screening and selection process is lengthy and complex. Exams are only scheduled as authorized by the state personnel department, and each time an exam is given, enough candidates are selected so that several recruit classes can be processed. What this means is that exams are not given on a regular, or frequent basis, and the luck of the draw may dictate that you will apply at a time when an exam has been recently conducted and there is a sufficient pool of qualified candidates to supply several recruit classes. Many prospective applicants wait more than a year for an exam. The best course of action is to contact the Connecticut State Police Recruiting Section and request that you be included on a list to be contacted for the next scheduled exam. You can send a request to:   Connecticut State Police Recruiting, PO Box 2794 Middletown, CT 06457 or call 860-685-8335 OR 800-952-9950 (In state only)  Those interested in a state police career should also read the sections below, and take note of the time involved in the actual selection process. 

MANY ARE CALLED, FEW ARE CHOSEN


THE TRAINING:
State Police candidates undergo an arduous selection process which includes many tests, among which are written, orals, physical (medical), physical assessment, psychological,  polygraph (lie detector), background investigation, and psychological evaluation. This process often takes up to two years.  Of those making initial application, about two percent successfully pass all phases. Two percent! 
Once selected and appointed to a class as recruits, trainees enter the State Police Academy where they begin a rigorous training regimen lasting up to six months. Recruits are required to live at the academy Monday through Friday. Many don't make it. It is a very difficult, but necessary ordeal.  More than one former Marine has entered the academy and been hard-pressed to find many differences from Marine boot camp.  
The training consists of a wide range of academic subjects covering the spectrum of law enforcement, as well as intensive physical training, firearms training, and other subjects like operating a vehicle in emergency conditions, which is done in specially equipped cruisers on wet pavement - a break in the routine that offers some fun, but pays dividends in the real world. Those who make it to graduation are assigned to a troop, one of eleven in the state. They make the transition from recruit to patrol trooper under the watchful eye of an FTO, or field training officer, over a period of several weeks. This helps them to apply their training to real life situations, and affords them the experience and knowledge of specially selected and trained veteran troopers while they are learning and making rookie mistakes.  Some fall by the wayside during this process, also.

Obviously, those who successfully complete the entire ordeal and make the transition to "road cop" have a fierce sense of pride in themselves and their department . . . . . . and rightly so.  They earned it.

 

Web page by Tom Seeley,
Lieutenant, CSP Retired