The NYPD may soon allow new recruits as old as 48-years-old to join the force under a new City Council bill pushed through on Thursday.
The proposed legislation, which will now go to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s desk, raises the maximum age for civil service exam from 35 to 43 years old.
It also allows veterans to sign up until the age of 48.
“We are desperate here,” said Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens), one of the bills co-sponsors.
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“This city has made it so difficult to be a cop that people simply aren’t signing up for the job any more. If we want to keep our precincts staffed, we need to resort to desperate measures. Until we can change the anti-cop atmosphere we’re living in, this is what we will have to do attract new recruits to the force.”
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has voiced support for the bill, but hasn’t directly called for the change.
“The NYPD has already taken important steps to strengthen recruitment by reducing the college credit requirements to 24 credits, expanding the number of police officer examinations, and making those examinations free to take,” said Amanda Farias, who introduced the bill.
“Those efforts have resulted in five times as many examination filers over the past year compared to previous years. Intro 913A addresses another point where otherwise qualified people have been falling directly out of that pipeline.”
It was unclear if the mayor planned to sign the proposed bill into law.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
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