Waiver Process

Individuals who have served honorably as a peace officer in Arizona and their certification as a peace officer has lapsed, or served in another state or a federal agency, may be eligible to gain Arizona POST certification through Waiver Testing in lieu of attending an Arizona peace officer basic course at an academy. To be eligible, a person must:

1. Have previously served as a certified peace officer in Arizona , another state, or federal agency
2. Have completed basic and advanced training that demonstrates substantial comparability to the Arizona basic course
3. Obtain an appointment from an Arizona Law Enforcement Agency
4. Meet all of the minimum qualifications for certification as an Arizona Peace Officer

If a candidate meets all of the above qualifications, the appointing agency may provide a POST Waiver Application form to be completed by the applicant, including appropriate documentation and verification of training. The verification of training forms ("Record of Equivalency Training") can be found on our web site www.AZPOST.gov - AZ POST Forms. Applicants can print the form and then "plug-in" all their training hours and topic areas to see if they feel they will meet our minimum training requirements. All support documentation for previous training must be attached to the "Record of Equivalency Training" form and included with the Waiver Application. If there is no verification, the hours will not be counted toward meeting the requirements.

Study materials are provided by the sponsoring agency once the official determination has been made that the candidate will be eligible for and participating in the waiver process. The Waiver Test is administered, with very few exceptions, on the first Wednesday of each month at the AZ POST headquarters in Phoenix .

The waiver test has two (2) components:

1. A written component consisting of either: A two (2) part written test consisting of 161 questions for officers from another state who are currently working as a peace officer, or have been actively working two (2) of the past three (3) years, or, A seven (7) part written test consisting of 426 questions for those persons who have: (1) served solely as Tribal officers and have not been certified by another state, or (2) Federal officers who have served solely in agencies with limited or specialty enforcement missions, or (3) officers from another state who have been out of service for more than one (1) year, or (4) Arizona peace officers who’s certification has lapsed.
2. A three (3) part proficiency test consisting of 1. Firearms qualification (day, night, target identification/discrimination) 2. Tactical Driving Qualification 3. The Peace Officer Physical Aptitude Test (POPAT) which contains five events including: a 500 yd run, scaling a 6' chain link fence followed by a 25 yard sprint, a 6' solid wood fence followed by a 25 yard sprint, a 99 yd obstacle course, and a 165 lb "dummy" drag. (All events are timed and scored in a pass/fail mode)

You may print the AZ POST Waiver Manual by clicking on this link. Please feel free to contact Marie Dryer, Basic Certification Manager if you have further questions.