Good luck with your endeavor, it is indeed a tough market out there, but not impossible. For the responses in regards to the Academy being paid for by a department, there is a difference between being hired by a department that will then put their "Cadets" thru either their own academy (Denver, CSP to name a couple), or an academy provided by a College, and someone choosing to go thru a College Academy to obtain their POST certificate, in order to later meet the qualifications that most departments now days require in order to be hired. Just sayin. Either way good luck, i'm sure you will do great.