Recruitment Standards
Recruitment standards in Michigan are set by the Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES), the state's POST body. This domain tests which candidate qualifications are state-mandated, which are agency-specific, and how selection evidence must be documented before an academy or license.
Mandatory selection standards
- Minimum age 18, U.S. citizenship, and a high school diploma or GED.
- No felony conviction, no misdemeanor domestic violence conviction, and no dishonorable military discharge.
- Good moral character, a background investigation, psychological evaluation, medical examination, and drug screen.
- Passing the MCOLES Reading and Writing Skills Examination and the MCOLES Physical Fitness Test before academy entry.
- Agencies may adopt stricter standards, such as a college degree, but cannot waive or lower MCOLES minimums.
Worked example
A 19-year-old applicant has a GED, a clean criminal record, and passes the reading/writing exam and physical fitness test. The agency completes background, psychological, medical, and drug screening, and the applicant clears all of them. The agency may hire the applicant and send them to a MCOLES-approved academy. If the same applicant had a felony conviction, the agency could not hire them as an officer; agency discretion cannot cure a state disqualifier.
Traps that cost marks
- Treating an agency preference, such as a degree, as a state law requirement.
- Confusing selection standards with licensing: passing selection does not issue a MCOLES license.
- Overlooking automatic disqualifiers such as domestic violence misdemeanors.
- Failing to document each standard; missing paperwork can invalidate a hire.