The New York City Police Department is considering lowering the college credit requirement to become a police officer as a way of boosting the ability of more people to enter the police academy, law enforcement sources told Newsday.
No final decision has been made about reducing the current 60 college credits, and it is unclear what any new requirement would be, although one NYPD source said the credit requirement could be halved. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because the source was not authorized to speak for the department.
Faced with an exodus of officers retiring or quitting, the NYPD has been trying to get more potential recruits signed up to take the police examination, a crucial step in joining the department. During her recent State of the NYPD address last month, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch lamented about the trouble getting police candidates.
"I am not going to sugarcoat the real recruitment issues we are facing," Tisch told an audience of law enforcement, politicians and business leaders. "In the recent past, NYPD recruits used to wait for years to get the call to go the [police] academy. Now we are practically begging people to take the exam."
The problem of recruiting by police departments has been a national issue, according to the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based policing think tank. In a report published in 2022 following a conference on police recruiting, the group noted departments around the country reported seeing younger officers resign and older officers retire as new applicants plummeted. There was frustration among departments as they struggled to attract new recruits, the forum noted.
In her address, Tisch said some of the problem in recruiting stemmed from the impact of the defund and anti-police movement in recent years, a concern also mentioned by other police executives, according to the forum.
The two largest Long Island police departments seem to be bucking the national trend.
Nassau County Police Department spokesman Det. Lt. Scott Skrynecki said the department is not having any problems recruiting, adding about 13,000 people took their last exam last year. Fewer than 9,000 took the last exam in New York City in 2024, a union official said.
Suffolk County Police Department spokesperson Dawn Schob said the department hosted more than 300 recruitment events and had more than 13,000 register for the police test in 2023.
"The department is not having a recruitment issue," she said.
In a statement Sunday, the NYPD said recruitment efforts were a top priority and "we are considering a variety of measures to attract more qualified candidates to join the agency." The statement didn’t elaborate on what the department is doing or considering doing.
Tisch noted she recently swore in a group of about 1,000 police officers, which she hoped will get the department head count to nearly 35,000. But according to the NYPD website, as of October, the headcount was just under 33,200. With monthly attrition of about 200 to 300 officers a month, the department appears to be just treading water with the addition of new officers.
"It is one step forward and two steps backward," one NYPD source said about the churn in personnel.
The Police Benevolent Association of the City of New York, the largest union representing city police officers, said in a statement on Sunday there may be fewer than 500 applicants in the pool of people wanting to become police officers, in contrast to the past when there were thousands.
PBA president Patrick Hendry said in a statement to Newsday that lowering the college credit requirement is not a quick fix.
"Lowering the education requirement won’t solve the NYPD’s staffing crisis," Hendry said, adding New York City is competing with other police departments with lower education requirements, better benefits and quality of life.
No matter the education level, police chose other departments or use NYPD jobs as a steppingstone to better jobs, Hendry said.
The Suffolk County Police Department requires a high school degree or equivalent, while the Nassau County Police Department requires 32 college credits to enter the academy but not to take the police exam, according to its website.
Former NYPD Sgt. Joseph Giacalone, who teaches law enforcement at Pennsylvania State University Lehigh Valley and is a supporter of a college requirement, said college doesn’t necessarily make for a better police officer.
But, he added, the college experience "shows the ability to start things and finish things, to do research, things you need to be a police officer."