After a rigorous campaign, the NYPD’s new recruitment process has thousands of New Yorkers signed up for the June 2021 Police Exam — and from every walk of life across the five boroughs, police officials boasted Tuesday.
According to law enforcement officials, 14,502 applicants have signed on to take the exam this summer. The campaign, according to police officials, included “precision” recruitment, with teams of NYPD officers hitting certain communities to let people know about the admissions test.
“I am thrilled to be standing in front of you today to tell you that we not only moved the needle, we surpassed what we thought we could,” said Police Commissioner Dermot Shea.
Part of the recruitment campaign included mobilizing fraternal organizations to “hit the right the communities,” including the city’s minority communities. Of those applicants, 70% identified as a minority, a nearly 10% increase compared to the last four tests.
Approximately 29.2% of applicants, according to the NYPD, identified as Black or African American — an 11% increase compared to the past five police exams. The number of Hispanic and Asian applicants increased by 1% each, and applicants who identified as female increased to 31.8% in this campaign.
“The largest demographic we had trouble recruiting. Not last test, not the last two tests — the last five tests, the average was 17.8%. I would have been happy to move it up 5 percentage points,” said Shea, referring to the city’s Black community. “We moved it up 11 percentage points. That is very significant, it’s a testament to the work of everyone up here. It’s the first step, though.”
Part of the issue stems from potential applicants not knowing how to take the exam. Through the new recruitment campaign, officers and recruiters worked with the community to ensure that applicants knew about the test and helped throughout the extensive application process, including test prep and getting documents ready for background checks.
The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) assisted in waiving the $40 filing fee, which was aimed to help working class New Yorkers and students, and the department worked with applicants to allow people to file remotely with laptops.
