Requirements to become a police officer in Puerto Rico

The three paths

Puerto Rico has three separate police systems, each with its own recruitment process: the Puerto Rico Police (the state police), the municipal police forces (each municipality recruits its own) and the federal police (civilian positions at installations like Fort Buchanan and VA hospitals).

A recent change worth knowing: with Act 83 of 2025, passed on July 30, 2025, the Police Bureau ceased to exist as an entity attached to the Department of Public Safety, and the Puerto Rico Police was established as an autonomous civil body with full administrative and fiscal authority. If you find announcements or articles referring to the 'Negociado', they are using the earlier name.

None of the three charge to apply. Each official announcement publishes its own requirements, base salary and dates; always check the current announcement before preparing, because details change between them.

Puerto Rico Police (state police)

Cadet recruitment opens through periodic announcements; it is not open year-round. When one opens, the general process includes the application, requirements verification, testing (academic, physical, medical and background) and, for those who pass, the Police Academy. Graduating from the Academy you are sworn in as an officer.

Exact requirements and base salary are set in each official announcement. Recent announcements have typically required a high school diploma or equivalent, a valid driver's license, and passing the background process, but the current official list is what counts.

Something to know before you enter: under current law, cadets must obtain an associate degree within three years after being sworn in. The Academy (the Auxiliary Superintendency for Education and Training) also incorporates specialized courses on ethics, civil rights, sign language, intervention with autistic individuals and behavior management.

Where to watch: the Police recruitment page (policia.pr.gov/reclutamiento) and the official empleos.pr.gov portal. MyPRjobs syncs empleos.pr.gov twice a day, so when they post there, the position appears here automatically with its official description and salary.

Municipal police forces

Each Puerto Rico municipality runs its own municipal police force and recruits on its own: there is no central portal for the 78 municipalities. Some publish their announcements (including cadet positions) on empleos.pr.gov (when they do, they appear on MyPRjobs automatically) and others announce through their own pages, social media or human resources offices.

If you are interested in a specific municipality, the most direct route is contacting that municipality's human resources office or its municipal police command and asking when the next announcement opens. Each municipality sets its own salary scale, stated in the announcement.

Federal police in Puerto Rico

The federal government hires civilian Police Officers in Puerto Rico, mainly at Fort Buchanan (Army) and at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities. These positions are posted on USAJOBS with their federal pay scale visible in each announcement, and typically carry standard federal benefits (FERS retirement, FEHB health insurance, leave).

Each announcement states its requirements (for example citizenship, background and physical standards) and whether it accepts candidates from the general public. These positions appear on MyPRjobs in the federal section, with the direct link to the official announcement to apply.

How to prepare starting today

Even with no open announcement in your preferred path, you can get ahead: have your documents ready (diploma or transcript, driver's license, ID), keep your record clean and your physical condition up, and prepare your resume, for federal positions use the detailed federal format in the MyPRjobs resume builder.

Search "policía" on MyPRjobs to see every active position across the three systems (the search also finds English titles like Police Officer), and save the ones you care about to follow them.