Collegiate Officer Program

The Collegiate Officer Program (COP) provides one way for obtaining the education and training needed to become a certified peace or police officer in the state of Oklahoma.

An associate or bachelor degree is a requirement for completion of the Collegiate Officer Program.

Students completing the Collegiate Officer Program may have an advantage when competing for employment in the law enforcement field because they will have already completed the peace officer training mandates which are established in Oklahoma State Statutes, Title 70, § 3311.

Students should be aware that other opportunities for peace officer employment and certification do exist. For example, certification may be obtained at no cost to a student by securing employment as a full-time peace officer with any municipal, county or state law enforcement agency and then attending a Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training, or Council approved basic academy.

Students are admitted for enrollment into the Collegiate Officer Program after academic advisement from the institution's police science or criminal justice department.

Students who have a record of a felony conviction or conviction for a crime involving moral turpitude should not enroll in the Collegiate Officer Program because such convictions will preclude their completion of the program.

Collegiate Officer Program students are required to meet certain course prerequisites and other program conditions.

The Collegiate Officer Program criminal law courses are prerequisites for all other Collegiate Officer Program courses.

Certain Collegiate Officer Program skills courses are only offered from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Skills training courses require 100 percent attendance.

First Aid courses, or units, require a minimum unit or course score of 80 percent.

In addition to certain educational and training requirements, Title 70, § 3311 of Oklahoma State Statutes prescribes that peace officers have the following:

A high school diploma or a GED certificate;

Have a psychological examination by the employing agency using a psychological instrument approved by the Council on Law Enforcement Education and Training. A psychologist evaluates the assessment instrument and the employing agency certifies that the employee/applicant is suitable to serve as a peace officer.

Has no record of a conviction of, and is not participating in a deferred sentence agreement for, a felony, a crime involving moral turpitude, or a crime of domestic violence.

Rules governing the Council state that persons:

". . . hired after January 1, 1987, shall be twenty-one (21) years of age prior to completion of basic certification training."

Students completing the Collegiate Officer Program must meet other requirements before they are issued their peace officer certification. These requirements include, but depending on the hiring agency, may not
be limited to the items listed below.

Students must pass a comprehensive examination over all their Collegiate Officer Program course work. This examination is known as the Council's qualification examination. A minimum score of 80 percent is required to pass the examination.

After COP course work is complete, students must be hired by a city, county, or state entity of government as a full-time peace officer before they will receive their Oklahoma peace officer certification.

Hiring agencies may require in-depth background investigations of prospective employees, including Collegiate Officer Program graduates.