Police Officer Employment Frequently Asked Questions

These are the minimum qualifications to be considered for the position of police officer:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen.
• Be at least 21 years of age at time of application.
• Possess a high school diploma or G.E.D.
• Possess a valid state driver's license.
• Not have a personal or professional history that would automatically disqualify you for the position.

No. The only age restriction is that you must be at least 21 years old at time of application.

The only residency requirement is that you must live within approximately 45 minutes' drive time to the Lenexa Justice Center, located at 17371 Prairie Star Pkwy., Lenexa, KS 66219. We have officers who live in Kansas and Missouri, and in different counties around the Kansas City metropolitan area.

From the time of initial application, the hiring process can take up to three months. The following are all the steps of our hiring process. With a couple of exceptions, each step of the process is pass/fail, meaning you have to successfully complete any given step to move on to the next.

1. Application: Submit a Police Officer employment application. Once you submit a Police Officer employment application online, you will be contacted and emailed a link to the Lenexa Police Department Personal History Statement. You must complete the Personal History Statement to move on to the next step.

2. Written test: If your application materials are approved, you will be invited to participate in a written aptitude test. Test topics include reading comprehension, grammar, and basic math. This test takes place at the Lenexa Police Department and lasts approximately 90 minutes. Applicants who do not pass the written test are eligible to retake it the next time it is offered.

3. Interview Board: If you successfully pass the written test, you will be scheduled for an in-person interview at a later date with a board comprising Lenexa officers and supervisors. The interview takes place at the Lenexa Police Department and lasts approximately 30 minutes.

4. Polygraph Examination: If you advance this far in the process, you will next take a polygraph exam administered by one of our detectives that is a certified polygrapher. This exam takes place at the Lenexa Police Department and lasts approximately two hours.

5. Background Investigation: Upon a successful result of your polygraph exam, a detective will be assigned to conduct your background investigation. This investigation includes, but is not limited to, a financial credit check, a review of your social media accounts, and interviews with current/previous employers, current/previous co-workers, current/previous neighbors, current/previous roommates, and current/previous spouse or significant other. This background investigation can take 2–3 weeks to complete.

6. Physical Fitness Test: The test is designed on a functional fitness model, and consists of the following: Beep test (measure of aerobic capacity), dumbbell bench press (40% of body weight, maximum reps), plank (hold for time) and squat (no weight, max reps in one minute). This test takes place at the Lenexa Police Department and lasts approximately 45 minutes.

7. Patrol Ride-Along: You will participate in a patrol ride-along with a Lenexa officer to experience first-hand how we operate. This gives you the opportunity to see if a career with us is a good fit. The ride-along lasts approximately 4 hours.

8. Interview with Chief of Police: If you complete the hiring process to this point and have been recommended for hiring consideration, you will be scheduled for an interview with the Chief of Police. This interview takes place at the Lenexa Police Department and lasts approximately 1 hour. The Chief may or may not extend a conditional offer of employment during this interview. If you are given a conditional job offer, it is not a guarantee of employment, but rather a promise to be considered in the most qualified applicant pool upon successful completion of all components of the hiring process. If a conditional offer is given, the remaining steps of the process will be scheduled.

9. Psychological Inventory: You will participate in a battery of psychological tests conducted by a licensed psychologist. This inventory takes place at a local psychologist's office and lasts approximately 2 hours.

10. Medical/physical examination: You will be given a medical examination by a physician to check your general health, fitness and conditioning. The results will be evaluated according to your height, weight and age, and based on procedures that are valid and non-discriminatory. As part of the medical exam, you will also take a drug screening examination to determine the recent use of illegal drugs.

11. Final Job Offer: The Chief of Police, based upon the results of the entire hiring process, will make the final hiring decision. The Chief of Police or designee will advise you of the hiring decision and provide you a final job offer.

If you are hired with no previous police experience, here are the training phases for our new recruits. You will receive your full salary beginning with your first day of employment.

1. Pre-Academy training: Prior to attending the police academy, you will have 2–3 weeks of pre-academy training instructed by Lenexa officers. This is to establish a baseline of skills which will assist you in successfully graduating from the police academy. Topics include firearms, equipment issue, and ensuring you are prepared for the academy.

2. Police Academy: After the pre-academy training, you will attend the Johnson County Regional Police Academy. Located on the campus of Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, the police academy is staffed by full-time instructors from different police agencies in Johnson County as well as various adjunct instructors. The police academy is 16 weeks long and runs Monday through Friday, generally 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. The police academy is commuter in nature, and recruits do not live on-site. You will attend the academy with other recruits from Johnson County police agencies. The topics of training include law, defensive tactics, interview and interrogation, firearms, emergency vehicle operation, physical conditioning, practical application testing and more. Upon graduation from the academy, you will be a certified Kansas law enforcement officer.

3. Post-Academy Training: Upon graduation from the police academy you will have another 4–5 weeks of "in-house" training with Lenexa officers. Topics include advanced firearms tactics (handgun and rifle), defensive tactics (control tactics, handcuffing and weapon retention), patrol tactics, report writing, and orientation to specialized units such as K-9, Traffic, Dispatch and Investigations. This phase ends with 1–2 days of scenario-based training where you will put all of your previous training to the test during simulated traffic stops and calls for service involving role players.

4. Field Training Program: The final and most advanced phase of your training is the Field Training Officer Program (FTO). During FTO you will be paired with specially trained officers on a rotating basis. You will have a daily assignment in one of our patrol districts and conduct "real-life" police activities such as traffic stops, crash investigations, and other calls for service. During FTO you will likely spend time on all 3 of our patrol shifts (days, evenings, nights). You will receive daily evaluations and feedback to ensure that you are successfully progressing through the FTO program. The FTO program is progressive in nature, meaning you are not expected to know everything from the start. You will be provided with training and resources to gradually learn the basic role of a Lenexa Police Officer. Our standard FTO program is 15 weeks long.

5. Solo Patrol: Upon successful completion of all phases of training, and at the recommendation of the FTO supervisor, you will be released to solo patrol and assigned to one of the patrol shifts. At this point your "new officer" training is over and you are expected to handle calls for service and police activities independently. Of course, we rely on teamwork a lot! You aren't expected to know everything, and collaboration with shift-mates to problem solve is something we do regularly.

That is no problem as you long as you're willing to learn! We do not expect new recruits to have experience or proficiency with firearms prior to being hired. In fact, it can be a positive since there will be no pre-existing bad habits for you to break. We have had numerous recruits that had never fired a gun until their training with us. We will provide you with ample range time at both in-house and police academy training to become confident and proficient in firearms skills.

Police services are provided 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Patrol officers choose their assigned shift according to seniority. The three patrol shifts are:

• Day Shift: 6:45 a.m. - 4 p.m.
• Evening Shift: 1:45 p.m. - 11 p.m.
• Night Shift: 9:45 p.m. - 7 a.m.

Patrol officers work 9-hour shifts, meaning that every other weekend is a 3-day weekend. Overtime is paid for time worked in excess of the daily assigned shift.

Collateral duties are held in addition to your regular assignment as a patrol officer. These are not full time assignments, but instead are utilized as needed. Here are some of the collateral duties we have:

• Tactical Team (SWAT)
• Crisis Negotiator
• Drone Pilot
• Field Training Officer
• Defensive Tactics Instructor
• Honor Guard
• Peer Support
• Community Policing
• Gang Officer

We have the following specialized units, which are full-time assignments and not a collateral duty:

• K-9 Unit
• Investigations
• Bicycle Unit
• Directed Patrol Unit
• School Resource Unit
• Traffic Safety Unit
• Training Unit

Most of our specialized units and collateral duties require you to be off probationary status before you are eligible to apply for them. All officers, including lateral transfers, are on probationary status for 12 months from the date of completion of the field training.

Having sufficient patrol experience and a track record of good, proactive police-work is the biggest asset when seeking specialized assignments. Realistically, we find it takes a minimum of 3-5 years of patrol work to gain the necessary skills and experience to be a competitive candidate for a specialized unit.

When choosing a police career, you should understand that patrol is the backbone and largest division of any municipal police agency. Your first desire should be in patrol work, which is interesting, diverse, and makes the most positive impact in the community. If you have little interest in patrol work and only want to be part of a specialized unit, you may not be ready to realistically consider a career in policing.

Once you complete the Field Training Program, you will not be assigned to work with a partner. There may be periodic times where officers will ride together for a shift, however this is not a regular practice. Even though we do not run two-person vehicles, we work together a lot during the course of a shift. Multiple officers will always be dispatched on priority calls such as disturbances or crimes in progress.

Yes. We typically have opportunities to pick up extra patrol shifts and off-duty security assignments every month. You must be off probationary status to work these. These are assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Here are the time of service minimums to be eligible for promotion. Keep in mind that this is just one part of the criteria for promotion:

• Master Police Officer - 5 years
• Corporal - 6 years
• Sergeant/Captain/Major/Deputy Chief - 7 years

We have hired many officers who were already certified as police officers and employed at other law enforcement agencies. See our webpage on lateral hires for more information.

The Lenexa Police Department does observe Veteran Preference laws. We recognize the values, discipline, mindset, and skills that veterans offer. We find these skills often translate to law enforcement well. We also offer pay consideration for your years of military service.

All uniforms and equipment will be issued to you when you start. In fact, any equipment you carry needs to be Department approved and/or issued. The only exception to this is your footwear. You will need to purchase a pair of black boots (such as Danners or Hi-Techs). When hired you will be put into the rotation to have your boots purchased for you, and generally this will happen around year two or three.

The only approved facial hair is a mustache, which cannot extend below the corners of the mouth.

• Members shall not have any tattoos or brands, whether visible to the public or not, that exhibit or advocate: discrimination against any sex, race, religion, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, gender identity, medical condition, or marital status, or any other protected class; gang, supremacist, or extremist group affiliation; drug or alcohol abuse; violence; sexually explicit or suggestive acts; profane words or phrases; lawlessness; language or depictions that may impair or disrupt the operations of the Department, or is inconsistent with the mission of the Department; or other obscene matters.

• For sworn members, tattoos or brands on the head, face, neck, or hands are not permitted. The only exceptions are that sworn members may have one band ring tattoo on one finger of each hand.

• For non-sworn personnel, tattoos or brands on the head, neck, or hands must be approved by the Chief of Police.

Lenexa has a population of approximately 55,000 residents, and is part of the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan area, which has a population of over 2 million residents. Lenexa is located 12 miles southwest of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Lenexa is known for its many community festivals throughout the year such as the Great Lenexa BBQ Battle, Community Days Fourth of July Parade, and the Spinach Festival.

Lenexa has been named among ‘Best Places to Live' numerous times by Money Magazine, most recently in 2018. Lenexa enjoys a healthy business base and is considered a city of choice for a variety of high tech and bioscience companies, as well as a number of national and international headquarters.

Citizens and visitors alike enjoy Lenexa's established neighborhoods and commercial developments, beautiful parks and trails, and quality roads and other infrastructure. Lenexa has earned the reputation as a leader in local government initiatives such as public safety, development issues, festivals, stormwater management, communication and the use of technology.