The New York Police Department is reeling from an exodus of officers that shows little sign of slowing.
One solution? Scale back education requirements.
The department is reducing the number of college credits that applicants need to become cadets from 60 to 24, Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said on Wednesday.
At the same time, the department will bring back a physical test for candidates, who will have to complete a 1.5-mile run in 14 minutes and 21 seconds, she said.
“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.
Commissioner Tisch said she and Mayor Eric Adams are trying to get the head count to 35,000.
Officers have fled, often before retirement age, lured by jobs 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.
Other agencies in New York and departments in states like Florida, California and Colorado have seized on the malaise, offering bonuses 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.
The department is also girding for mass departures this year, when about 3,700 officers will reach their 20th anniversaries, making them eligible for full pension.
On Wednesday, Commissioner Tisch said that even with the reduction in required credits, the department remained America’s only large police force that required college credits at all. The changes will not affect how many credits officers need to be promoted to sergeant or lieutenant. Promotion to captain will still require a bachelor’s degree.
The commissioner said that she believed police standards would be upheld despite the change after a review of the department’s six-month training program at the police academy. The review found that recruits who complete the program should earn more extra college credits than they do now.
The reduction makes sense in an environment where agencies are struggling to recruit young people to a field that has been heavily criticized after high-profile killings, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, a research group in Washington.
“In an ideal world, I think you would want college-educated recruits,” he said. “Recruiting this next generation has never been harder, so departments are having to look at a combination of performance requirements.”
For example, departments may look for candidates who have limited college experience but had other jobs before applying to the academy, Mr. Wexler said.
“Departments are having to rethink what makes a good cop,” he said.
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 said the city should be looking at “long-term solutions and incentives.” The union has called for better pensions for officers.
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.
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.
Ms. Snider said an officer who is able to complete a 1.5-mile run quickly is more likely to be able to take down someone without having to resort to force.
She said the department is also better off with officers who have a higher level of education. Reducing college credit requirements 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.