The New York Police Department is reducing the number of college credits that potential officers need as it reels from an exodus that shows little sign of slowing.
While cutting education requirements, the department will bring back a physical requirement for candidates, who will have to complete a 1.4-mile run in 14 minutes and 21 seconds, Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said on Wednesday.
“It’s no secret that the N.Y.P.D. is facing a hiring crisis,” Commissioner Tisch said at a breakfast hosted by the Association for a Better New York, a coalition of corporations and nonprofit organizations. “These changes will allow the N.Y.P.D. to recruit more quality candidates to serve as police officers, while increasing the physical standards and maintaining academic rigor that continues to surpass what most other police departments require.”
New York’s police force, the nation’s largest, has about 34,100 officers, down from a peak of 40,000 in 2000, according to department figures and the city’s Independent Budget Office. Officers have fled, often before retirement age, lured away by jobs in other states that offer higher pay and less stress. The attrition, which has plagued the department since 2020, has forced overtime shifts that many officers say leave them burned out.
Departments in states including Florida, California and Colorado have seized on the malaise, offering bonuses, stronger retirement packages and quieter beats. Last year, only 8,177 applicants signed up to take New York City’s police exam, according to the Police Benevolent Association. In 2017, more than 18,400 did.
Commissioner Tisch said she and Mayor Eric Adams are trying to get the department’s head count up to 35,000. One way to do that is by loosening requirements. As of Wednesday, people applying to become police officers will need only 24 college credits to qualify, down from 60 credits.
Commissioner Tisch said the department was America’s only large department that even required college credits; Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and Boston do not.
But Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, said he was not convinced the changes would help when other departments are offering better benefits and “a better quality of life.”
“Tweaking the hiring standards alone won’t solve the N.Y.P.D.’s staffing crisis,” he said in a statement. “No matter their background or education level, police recruits will continue to choose those departments over the N.Y.P.D. Even those who do choose the N.Y.P.D. will continue to view it as a steppingstone to a better policing job elsewhere.”
He described the changes as “another temporary Band-Aid” when the city should be looking at “long-term solutions and incentives.” The union has called for better pension packages for officers.
Commissioner Tisch said that she made the change following a review of the department’s six-month training program at the police academy.
The department requires cadets to show they can climb fences and stairs, restrain a suspect, drag a 176-pound mannequin, pull a gun trigger repeatedly and sprint after a fleeing person. But it scrapped the long run in 2023.
Jillian Snider, a former police officer and a lecturer at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said she was “thrilled” the department had brought back the running requirement. She said going the distance quickly shows “stamina and endurance.”
An officer who is able to complete a 1.4-mile run quickly is more likely to be able to take down someone without having to resort to use of force, she said.
Ms. Snider said the department is also better off with officers who have a higher level of education. Reducing college credit requirements from 60 to 45 would have been a better compromise, she said.
A more educated officer is more likely to have “better verbal communication skills,” Ms. Snider said. “That makes you more likely to use de-escalation techniques instead of using force.”
Louis Turco, president of the lieutenants’ union, said he was hopeful the changes would help the staffing problems. When he joined the department in 1990, only a high school diploma or the equivalent was required.
“Some of the best cops I ever worked with were guys and gals who only had a high school diploma,” he said.
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