The Illinois State Police Merit Board has set the requirements and standards by which any police officer will be selected and trained in Illinois. After a candidate is found to have met the requirements and the education requirements (listed in the following section) then they may apply for employment as a Illinois police officer. The process for evaluating new candidates is lengthy and includes a written test, a physical ability test, a psychological test and a medical exam. If you meet or exceed all requirements, you may be selected to attend academy training at one of the following academies in Illinois:
- Chicago Police Academy – Chicago
- Cook County Sheriff’s Police Academy – River Grove
- Illinois State Police Academy – Springfield
- Police Training Institute – Champaign
- Southwestern Police Academy – Belleville
- Suburban Law Enforcement Academy – Glen Ellyn
Requirements for How to Become an Illinois Police Officer
As far as the requirements for Illinois officers go, most are similar to other states, applicants have to be US citizens, have a valid driver’s license and be at least 21. If these requirements are met and a person has a clean background check then the only other major requirement that Illinois has is education. Illinois (unlike most other states) requires that police officer applicants have one of the following:
- A bachelor’s degree, OR
- An associate’s degree AND 3 consecutive years with the same police department or 3 consecutive years in military service, OR
- Has no education but was honorably discharged from the military and has one of the qualifying medals, or serves with the National Guard and has one of the qualifying medals
It is important to follow these education guidelines or you won’t be a viable candidate for police work. Illinois takes the education portion of their requirements very seriously. Anyone who was dishonorably discharged from the military will not be considered for employment in law enforcement in the state of Illinois.
Police Officer Salaries in Illinois
In Illinois the average salary for a patrol officer is around 70,000 a year. However this number is a bit misleading as most officers do not make near that amount in Illinois, but the pay difference between a rural areas and say, Chicago, is drastically different. Police officers in a rural area of Illinois may make as low as 33,000 a year, whereas Chicago area officers make an average of 72,660. As for Detectives and Criminal Investigators: the average salary is around 81,640 in Illinois. Again that number reflects that detectives in Chicago make more, and detectives in less populated areas make substantially less than the average.
Illinois Law Enforcement Training
Since Illinois requires more education than most states for becoming a police officer, we have included some schools which have criminal justice degree or other related law enforcement schooling programs:
- Argosy University
Chicago, IL / Schaumburg, IL- 866-290-2777
- Aurora University
347 South Gladstone Avenue, Aurora, IL 60506
630-892-6431
- Blackburn College
700 College Avenue, Carlinville, IL 62626
217-854-3231
- College of DuPage
425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn, IL 60137
630-942-2800
- Danville Area Community College
Locations across Illinois- 217-443-3222
- Eureka College
300 E College Avenue, Eureka, IL 61530
309-467-3721
- Governors State University
1 University Parkway, University Park, IL 60484
708-534-5000
- Greenville College
315 E College Avenue, Greenville, IL 62246
618-664-2800
- Illinois Eastern Community Colleges
Mount Carmel, IL / Olney, IL / Robinson, IL- 618-393-2982
- Illinois State University
100 North University Street, Normal, IL 61761
309-438-2111
- ITT Technical Institute
Burr Ridge, IL / Mount Prospect, IL / Orland Park, IL- 630-455-6470
- Lewis University
One University Parkway, Romeoville, IL 60446
800-897-9000
- Lincoln College
300 Keckuk Street, Lincoln, IL 63656
217-732-3155
- Loyola University Chicago
1032 W Sheridan Road, Chicago, IL 60660
773-274-3000
- MacMurray College
447 E College Avenue, Jacksonville, IL 62650
217-479-7000
- Millikin University
1184 West Main Street, Decatur, IL 62522
217-424-6211
- Northeastern Illinois University
5500 North St. Louis Avenue, Chicago, IL 60625
773-583-4050
- Olivet Nazarene University
One University Avenue, Bourbionnais, IL 60914
800-648-1463
- Quincy University
1800 College Avenue, Quincy, IL 62301
217-222-8020
- Rasmussen College
Aurora, IL / Rockford, IL- 815-316-4800
- Robert Morris University
401 S State Street, Chicago, IL 60605
800-762-5960
- Roosevelt University
430 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, IL 60605
312-341-3500
- Saint Xavier University
3700 West 103rd Street, Chicago, IL 60655
773-298-3000
- Southern Illinois University-Carbondale
1220 Douglas Drive, Carbondale, IL 62901
618-453-2121
- Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville
State Route 157, Edwardsville, IL 62026
618-650-3705
- University of Illinois at Chicago
1200 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL 60607
312-996-7000
- University of Illinois-Springfield
One University Plaza, Spingfield, IL 62703
217-206-6600
- Waubonsee Community College
Route 47 at Waubonsee Drive, Sugar Grove, IL 60554
630-466-7900
- Western Illinois University
1 University Circle, Macomb, IL 61455
309-298-1414