How to become a police officer in Illinois

Pay at the Chicago Police Department

Each city and county sets its own pay. This is the official scale of the Chicago Police Department, the largest city's agency.

CPD 2026 Position & Salary Schedule (CPD-61.400), Police Officer grade D-1: Step 1 entrance rate (first 12 months) $63,636; Step 2 after 12 months $90,816; Step 3 after 18 months $95,982; Step 4 after 30 months $100,950; Step 5 after 42 months $105,906; Step 6 after 54 months $111,252; Step 7 after 10 years $115,158; Step 8 after 15 years $119,154; Step 9 after 20 years $123,576; Step 10 after 25 years $127,146. Step 11 ($131,592 after 30 years) 'affects only those members attaining 30 years of service prior to 1 January 2006', so Step 10 is used as the top.

Source:[directives.chicagopolice.org]

Pay for this work across Illinois

Federal survey figures for police and sheriff's patrol officers in Illinois, counting every employer in the state, public and private, so they differ from any one agency's pay scale above.

Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, state estimates (all employers)[bls.gov]

Requirements

• Education: High school diploma or equivalent high school education (65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6; a board of fire and police commissioners may require an associate's or bachelor's degree)
• Citizenship: U.S. citizen, or a non-citizen legally authorized to work in the United States under federal law, or a DACA recipient (65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6)
• ILETSB may admit to a certified academy only applicants of good character with no felony conviction, none of the misdemeanors listed in 50 ILCS 705/6(e), and no crime of moral turpitude
• Must be employed full-time by an Illinois law enforcement agency to attend the basic academy and take the certification exam
• No permanent appointment unless the officer earns the basic training certificate (or a Board waiver) within 6 months of initial full-time employment (50 ILCS 705/8.1)
• Must pass the Board's physical fitness (POWER) standards before starting the academy
• Age: state law sets no single minimum. In municipalities under the Illinois Municipal Code board of fire and police commissioners system (not Chicago), applicants must be under 35; 20-year-olds with 2 years of law enforcement college study may be appointed but have no arrest power and may not carry firearms until age 21 (65 ILCS 5/10-2.1-6)

Source:[ilga.gov]

Hiring process

1. Hire by an Illinois law enforcement agency (local entrance exam, background and medical per the agency or its board of fire and police commissioners)
2. ILETSB applicant review: good character and no disqualifying felony or misdemeanor
3. Physical fitness (POWER) test before the academy: sit and reach, one-minute sit-ups, bench press
4. Minimum Standards Basic Law Enforcement Training Course at an ILETSB-certified academy (70% average on academy written exams)
5. State Comprehensive certification examination
6. Certification within 6 months of initial full-time employment

Source:[ptb.illinois.gov]

Entrance exam

ILETSB State Comprehensive Examination (law enforcement officer certification exam). Given on site at the academy to trainees who finish the basic course with at least a 70% average; 3.5 hours; a trainee who fails may retake it a maximum of 2 times (alternate version). The Board sets and announces the minimum passing score. Officers seeking a waiver of basic training take the separate Equivalency Examination (passing score 66% beginning December 15, 2022).[ptb.illinois.gov]

Required training

640 hours minimum. ILETSB describes 'the full 640-hour Basic Law Enforcement Academy'. 20 Ill. Adm. Code 1720 says the Board sets the minimum hours of the Minimum Standards Basic Law Enforcement Officers Training Course and strongly recommends exceeding them.[ptb.illinois.gov]

Pension and retirement

• Plan: Policemen's Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago (PABF), Illinois Pension Code Article 5 - Tier 2
• Benefit formula: 2.5% of final average salary for each year of service, maximum 75% of average salary; final average salary is the greater of the highest 48 consecutive months within the last 60 months or the highest 96 consecutive months within the last 120 months; pensionable salary capped ($141,407.74 for 2025)
• When you can retire: Tier 2 (started on or after January 1, 2011): age 50 or more with 10 or more years of service; annuity reduced one-half of 1% for each month under age 55

Illinois has no single statewide pension plan for city police officers, so the plan of the largest-city department (Chicago) is shown. Every CPD sworn officer contributes 9% of salary (7% employee annuity, 1.5% widow annuity, 0.5% annual increase).

Source:[chipabf.org]