Starting the probation officer academy

[ProbationRookie]

I have been told that I will be starting the academy in tallahassee in the middle of January 2017. Can someone tell me what I should expect with P.E. and classes? Do we sleep in a dormitory? Any little bit of information you can give me would be greatly appreciated

[Unregistered]

I have been told that I will be starting the academy in tallahassee in the middle of January 2017. Can someone tell me what I should expect with P.E. and classes? Do we sleep in a dormitory? Any little bit of information you can give me would be greatly appreciated

Haven't you been assigned to an office? If so, people in your office should be able to tell you everything you need to know.

[ProbationRookie]

Haven't you been assigned to an office? If so, people in your office should be able to tell you everything you need to know.

Not been assigned as of yet. Just looking for some general information about the academy and what to expect and what i should be prepping for with respect to PE

[Unregistered]

Went to different academy. From what I am told about Tallahassee is that it isnotthat bad. The supply you with your whole uniform and you stay in dorm.

[ProbationRookie]

Went to different academy. From what I am told about Tallahassee is that it isnotthat bad. The supply you with your whole uniform and you stay in dorm.

Thanks for that input. But since this is the first time at an academy, what should I be expecting? When you went how was your daily schedule?

[Unregistered]

Thanks for that input. But since this is the first time at an academy, what should I be expecting? When you went how was your daily schedule?

Classroom 8-5 Mon-Friday. Off on sat and Sun. You do have two weeks of defensive tactics which will occur in a gym like atmosphere. The rest is classroom. Its not hard, its just a long 13 weeks

[LEO89]

I have been told that I will be starting the academy in tallahassee in the middle of January 2017. Can someone tell me what I should expect with P.E. and classes? Do we sleep in a dormitory? Any little bit of information you can give me would be greatly appreciated

do you know the exact date that the academy is starting?

[Unregistered]

I will be going to the academy in January. The start date that I have is the 9th with the 8th designated for travel.

[Unregistered]

Fist of all, hi! This is my first post.



As others have stated, your attitude sucks and with that way of thinking you'll only serve to drive P&P further down the wrong road with laxed supervision and add to the negative stigmata already attached to the profession. Probation is evolving into a more LE oriented gig. The times where a 4 yr degree and a pulse were all you needed are just about over. The agency is talking about a fairly decent increase in pay to put P&P on the same field as other state LE jobs (FWC/FHP) and implementing a PT test/ height weight requirements as a part of the hiring standards. The class I was in was comprised of prior LEO's, prior CO's, and prior Military. The vast majority had CJ degrees as well, so i'm assuming the shift may have already began. I can tell you this shift will boost morale and serve to save the department money (hopefully getting us that raise) as tenure and hiring competitiveness will certainly increase. Being fully staffed with QUALITY officers is something FL DC hasn't had in a long time from my understanding. Being able to carry openly outside the office and concealed carry inside the office (which should be changing fairly soon with open carry inside the office as well) is a huge change in direction from the days of carrying a revolver concealed in the field and to me, is a testament of the overhaul to come. They have been talking about issuing Glock firearms to officers for a while now, I would say that's due to happen within the next couple years (until then bit the bullet and buy your own..don't be that guy without a weapon, it's dangerous).

That being said, i'm not here to judge you. I graduated from the Pat Thomas CPO Academy recently. PT is done by a private company called Titus. You do pretty much the same work out as the folks they charge to train in their Tallahassee office. PT was running, push-ups, sit-ups, activity with the medicine ball and a slew of other cardio/cross fit exercises. The PT test is a 1.5 mile run, sit ups, push ups, 200 yrd sprint, sit and reach, vertical jump, high jump, hand pressure test and weight in. You take an initial assessment on day 1, then you take another assessment towards the end, at this time the standard is self improvement. Actually DT was more intense than PT. In DT we did about 30 mins of exercise prior to training with side straddle hops (Jumping Jacks), planks, push ups, running, mounting climbers, ect until exhaustion. I like PT and I wish we would have done more than 3 days a week. We had 3 get recycled during DT due to injuries.

In terms of classes, academics get a lot of people sent home. you have to score at least an 80% on all block tests to pass that block. Get below the 80%, you get a retake, fail the retake..you are packing your stuff and leaving the same day, no exceptions. Yes, even those with a 4 yr degree fail these tests regularly. The academy tests are written by both academy instructors as well as CJSTC folks and are not to be taken lightly. The legal block is the most difficult and lengthy (luckily it's the first section..so they don't have to wait and see if they are wasting their time with you) The state exam is around 240 questions and requires an 82% to pass. Around 90% of my class passed the exam. The cost of the exam is $150.00, should you not pass the exam you can retake it twice, each time the cost of the exam is out of your pocket. Fail it a third time and you are no longer eligible to take the exam.

You get issued a State Probation Officer Jacket, 5.11 tactical boots, 5.11 operator belt, (2) 5.11 tac-lite pants, (2) tac polo shirts with the CPO badge and your name on it, a backpack, and PT gear. The academy sells additional pants and can order you additional polo shirts to be embroidered. I would highly recommend you buy additional uniforms as washers and dryers can become a scarce commodity due to other agencies coming on your floor, using your stuff, because of an issue with their machines. Nice to have a full weeks worth of clothes you can take home and bring back. All uniforms need to be pressed daily and boots shined. Inspections are a regular thing.


Coming from a prior military and prior CO background with two Criminal Justice degrees the academy wasn't hard, but you needed to pay attention. I haven't been doing the job long and may very well go an LE route in the near future, but this academy was a good experience and it's always good to have an additional FDLE-CJ certification under your belt.

I know this is probably more than what you asked for, but I thought I would do a dump here of everything pertinent that I could think of.

Best of Luck!

Good post. All I can say is we need more officers with your line of thinking.

[Unregistered]

Fist of all, hi! This is my first post.



As others have stated, your attitude sucks and with that way of thinking you'll only serve to drive P&P further down the wrong road with laxed supervision and add to the negative stigmata already attached to the profession. Probation is evolving into a more LE oriented gig. The times where a 4 yr degree and a pulse were all you needed are just about over. The agency is talking about a fairly decent increase in pay to put P&P on the same field as other state LE jobs (FWC/FHP) and implementing a PT test/ height weight requirements as a part of the hiring standards. The class I was in was comprised of prior LEO's, prior CO's, and prior Military. The vast majority had CJ degrees as well, so i'm assuming the shift may have already began. I can tell you this shift will boost morale and serve to save the department money (hopefully getting us that raise) as tenure and hiring competitiveness will certainly increase. Being fully staffed with QUALITY officers is something FL DC hasn't had in a long time from my understanding. Being able to carry openly outside the office and concealed carry inside the office (which should be changing fairly soon with open carry inside the office as well) is a huge change in direction from the days of carrying a revolver concealed in the field and to me, is a testament of the overhaul to come. They have been talking about issuing Glock firearms to officers for a while now, I would say that's due to happen within the next couple years (until then bit the bullet and buy your own..don't be that guy without a weapon, it's dangerous).

That being said, i'm not here to judge you. I graduated from the Pat Thomas CPO Academy recently. PT is done by a private company called Titus. You do pretty much the same work out as the folks they charge to train in their Tallahassee office. PT was running, push-ups, sit-ups, activity with the medicine ball and a slew of other cardio/cross fit exercises. The PT test is a 1.5 mile run, sit ups, push ups, 200 yrd sprint, sit and reach, vertical jump, high jump, hand pressure test and weight in. You take an initial assessment on day 1, then you take another assessment towards the end, at this time the standard is self improvement. Actually DT was more intense than PT. In DT we did about 30 mins of exercise prior to training with side straddle hops (Jumping Jacks), planks, push ups, running, mounting climbers, ect until exhaustion. I like PT and I wish we would have done more than 3 days a week. We had 3 get recycled during DT due to injuries.

In terms of classes, academics get a lot of people sent home. you have to score at least an 80% on all block tests to pass that block. Get below the 80%, you get a retake, fail the retake..you are packing your stuff and leaving the same day, no exceptions. Yes, even those with a 4 yr degree fail these tests regularly. The academy tests are written by both academy instructors as well as CJSTC folks and are not to be taken lightly. The legal block is the most difficult and lengthy (luckily it's the first section..so they don't have to wait and see if they are wasting their time with you) The state exam is around 240 questions and requires an 82% to pass. Around 90% of my class passed the exam. The cost of the exam is $150.00, should you not pass the exam you can retake it twice, each time the cost of the exam is out of your pocket. Fail it a third time and you are no longer eligible to take the exam.

You get issued a State Probation Officer Jacket, 5.11 tactical boots, 5.11 operator belt, (2) 5.11 tac-lite pants, (2) tac polo shirts with the CPO badge and your name on it, a backpack, and PT gear. The academy sells additional pants and can order you additional polo shirts to be embroidered. I would highly recommend you buy additional uniforms as washers and dryers can become a scarce commodity due to other agencies coming on your floor, using your stuff, because of an issue with their machines. Nice to have a full weeks worth of clothes you can take home and bring back. All uniforms need to be pressed daily and boots shined. Inspections are a regular thing.


Coming from a prior military and prior CO background with two Criminal Justice degrees the academy wasn't hard, but you needed to pay attention. I haven't been doing the job long and may very well go an LE route in the near future, but this academy was a good experience and it's always good to have an additional FDLE-CJ certification under your belt.

I know this is probably more than what you asked for, but I thought I would do a dump here of everything pertinent that I could think of.

Best of Luck!

Good post, very interesting

I thought you guys already needed a college degree and already made more than FHP, their salary is 33k annually, a bit more in Miami Dade. FWC got a raise recently I believe so their entry level salary is now higher than FHP.