The Wilmington Police Department Training Academy includes 26 weeks of training that will challenge recruits both physically and academically.  The training consists of NC Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) in addition to Standardized Field Sobriety Testing (SFST), Mobile Data Terminal (MDT) training, firearms training, and more.

Recruits that attend the academy are chosen from a large pool of applicants.  Each academy class ranges from 10-20 recruits.  All WPD recruits receive full Police Officer salary and benefits while in training.

Upon graduation, recruits will be assigned to the Field Training Program for approximately 15 weeks.