Hiring new officers, checked Nov 13, 2026
Closed right now
Laterals: closed right now. Official jobs page.
The 10 steps, in order
- 1
Application and screeningApply through the city's governmentjobs.com page. The most qualified applicants are invited to test.
- 2
Written testA written exam is required. The city does not publish the test name or passing score.Prep for this step - 3
Physical agility testPush-ups, body drag, wood fence climb and one-mile run, held with the questionnaire step.Prep for this step - 4
Preliminary Investigative QuestionnaireCompleted on the same day as the physical agility test, per the latest posting.
- 5
Panel interviewOral interviews follow about two weeks after testing, per the latest posting.
- 6
Background investigation and Live ScanIncludes a personal history statement and fingerprint check.
- 7
Polygraph
- 8
Medical and psychological examsIncludes hearing, color vision and visual acuity standards.
- 9
Conditional job offer and police academyHired as a Police Officer Trainee and sent to a police academy.
- 10
Field trainingA 16-week program with an experienced field training officer.
How long hiring takes
Each agency's own stated figure. They do not all measure the same span, so check the note on each bar.
Minimum requirements
- At least 21 years old at appointment
- High school graduate or equivalent
- Authorized to work in the United States
- Valid Class C California driver's license at appointment
- No felony conviction
- Pass a polygraph and background investigation
- Pass medical and psychological evaluations
- Vision correctable to 20/20, with uncorrected vision no worse than 20/100 in each eye
- Pass a whisper hearing test at 15 feet and an Ishihara color vision test
- Able to read, write and speak English
Not published by this agency
- Name of the written test and its passing score
- How long a written test score stays valid
- Whether outside PELLETB scores are accepted
- Which academy trainees attend and how long it runs
- How long the hiring process takes
- Tattoo and grooming policy
- Cash hiring or lateral bonus
- First assignment after field training
- Current sworn vacancy count
Field training
16 weeks with a field training officer
The latest trainee posting says the agility test has five events but lists only four.
The trainee posting was closed on Nov 13, 2026, so its details come from a third-party copy. Only a Reserve Police Officer posting was live.
Sources, checked Nov 13, 2026: Escondido Police home page · Police About Us (mission) · Join Our Team · Professional Standards Bureau (hiring steps) · Training Division (field training) · City job board, police officer search · Classification and Compensation Plan, effective Oct 12, 2026 · Police Officers' Association sworn MOU, 2025 to 2026 · FY2026/27 Operating Budget, final · New Chief of Police news release, Aug 1, 2025 · Police Officer Trainee posting, third-party copy (Vaia) · California DOJ stop data, 2024
Agency colors not applied yet. They are only used once pulled from the agency's own site.
Photo: Downtown Escondido, Grand Avenue. Historic Downtown Escondido Grand Avenue July 2025, Facing Northeast.jpg by CaliforniaUrbanist, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and tinted.
