TexasCHLforum.com

In Texas, the largest number of police academies are sponsored by regional governmental councils and local community colleges. In both of these, anyone who can pass the background check can attend. Each academy will have different rules on tuition, uniforms, supplies, etc. but figure an average of $1200 for tuition and $300 for books. I have seen a few that require full uniforms, but most where the uniform is jeans and a specific polo shirt. You buy two or three shirts from them and are good to go.

At some point in the academy, you will also have to purchase leather gear and a pistol. In most case, if you buy plain black leather, this will allow you to use it for the department also, saving some money overall. Figure the leather will total around $300 and a pistol in the 400 to 700 range. Your current pistol may be enough to let you go through the academy, and may even be right for a department.

As far as classes go, all academies must teach the same basic peace officers course at a minimum. Some expand on it, but TCLEOSE requires the minimum curriculum. For the guys who know they are going full time, this is usually a Monday through Friday all day course. For others, there are a variety of options.

I have seen part time classes taught on weekends only, evenings during the week only, and combinations of the above. Many [abbreviated profanity deleted] the academies break the part time course down into three phases or semesters. This is a carryover from the old days when TCLEOSE had basic, intermediate, and advanced reserve officer licenses with the advanced being equal to the regular basic. Since TCLEOSE changed to all reserves have to have a regular basic, the phases are no longer needed, but it is a convenient way to make the class fit the normal college semester plan.

To find the closest academy to you, and get their specific information, TCLEOSE has the following list of academies int he state:

http://www.tcleose.state.tx.us/surveyte ... 2-7-07.pdf

That is illegal now in Texas, at least for the cities. The Local Government Code forbids cities from requiring residency for employees other than residency in the US. As far as I know, counties may still require ti, and it would be up to the county to make that decision.

The other loophole in this law is that any agency can require a residency within a certain normal response time. Consider if HPD required all officer to live in an area where they could respond to the headquarters building within 30 minutes of notification in case of emergency. Normally, the response time is to your normal duty station, but it can be to HQ.

dihappy wrote:I wish i could legally carry on Padre Island :(

I can :)

Seriously, if you want to expand your carrying nationally, look into becoming a reserve officer for some small town. There are a lot of academies that run part time classes for working adults and most towns are crying for good people who will become reserves. And under the newest laws, a reserve police officer is a peace officer with full authority even off duty. And the new laws allow it nationally now too (we need to get that for CHL's too though I have mixed feelings about the feds getting involved). In most cases, if you can qualify for a CHL, you can qualify for a police academy. And most of the people I know with a CHL already have the right mindset for police work too. They are interested in self defense and in helping others during an emergency (big or small). It might be something you should consider.

I believe that the Alamo is currently legally owned by the state of Texas and under the management of the DRT. This means it cannot be posted for 30.06 carry. A quick research through Google shows that Texas bought it in 1883, turned it over to San Antonio to manage, and then over to the DRT for management but it is still owned by Texas.

As a side note, the Alamo Rangers are private security guards employed by the Alamo and are not peace officers. But, the Park Rangers are part of the city and are peace officers. I believe they have changed the name of the department to the Park Police but it may still say ranger on it somewhere. These are the guys in green uniforms on the Riverwalk in San Antonio (which is a city park, BTW).