OAN’s Roy Francis
1:59 PM – Saturday, July 15, 2023
After large amounts of experienced police officers retired in New York City, the police department is struggling to bring in new recruits according to The New York Post.
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So far in 2023, the police department has given the Police Officer Exam twice, most recently on Thursday. The NYPD expected to have 3,000 individuals sign up to take the first test of the year in March, instead they only received about 1,300.
According to The New York Post, the numbers of the newest test were not available, however inside sources told them that it was far below expectations once again. The NYPD has implemented different methods to try and attract more applicants.
The department has chosen to extend the registration period by a month, they also waived the fee required in order to take the exam, and they are offering a contract with more enticing pay raises, however none seem to be working.
Police Benevolent Association President, Patrick Hendry, spoke with the New York Post about how the police department’s greatest recruitment tool is now causing the department to struggle.
“The NYPD’s best recruiting tool has always been word of mouth,” he said. “But right now the word is, ‘Stay away.’”
Hendry also said that cops in the past encouraged family members to join the department, however recently, they don’t want them to risk their lives for laws that government officials “don’t want enforced.”
“Patrol treats people like s—,” a police officer with more than two decades on the job told The New York Post. “I told my son to do something else.”
Hendry explained that the NYPD and the city need to address the issue if they want to be able to recruit more officers.
“They don’t want them constantly hyper-scrutinized and second-guessed,” he said. “If the NYPD wants to fix its recruitment problem, it needs to make this a job that cops can recommend.”
The numbers of the test takers for the NYPD has been gradually dropping in recent years.
In 2015 and 2016 no exam was given due to the fact that the NYPD had too many applicants, with over 40,000 certified candidates. In 2017, over 18,000 people took the two tests that were given that year. In 2019, around 14,000 took the single test that was administrated that year. In 2022 the NYPD had only around 6,000 test takers.
Executive Director of the Police Executive Research Forum in Washing D.C., Chuck Wexler, pointed out that the recruitment problem is not a phenomena that is exclusive to New York City. He explained that since 2020, recruiting has been a problem for police departments nationwide.
“Traditionally, in policing, you would have the legacy factor, meaning cops’ kids and family members would go on to be police officers,” Wexler said. “Today, if you walk into a room in most places in the country, and you say to cops, how many of you would like to see your children or your brothers be cops? Very few raise their hands.”
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