POLICE OFFICER FILING OPEN UNTIL JAN. 15

Start at $25G; Top Pay $59G; February Test; 3,000 Officers Hired Each Year; Need 60 College Credits

The city is currently accepting applications for an exam leading to Police Officer jobs, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services said.

Forms must be submitted by Jan. 15, 2007. The written exam is scheduled to be held Feb. 24, 2007. Alternative test dates are also planned for Feb. 23 and March 1 and 4.

Pay Levels

The starting annual salary is $28,900, based on a union arbitration award issued in June 2005 that reduced the pay scale for new cops. Police Academy recruits will make $25,100, with pay rising to $32,700 after they complete six months of training. Officers reach $59,588 after 5-1/2 years on the job.

The Police Department hires roughly 3,000 officers each year to fill vacancies due to attrition. There is no filing fee. Individuals can apply online at www.nyc.gov/nypd. Candidates who place near the top of the eligible list will likely be hired in July 2007.

By the last day of filing, applicants must be at least 17-1/2 years old, and they must not have reached their 35th birthday by the first day of filing. Applicants with military experience may be as old as 41.

On their date of appointment, candidates must have completed 60 college credits with at least a 2.0 grade-point-average. To be hired, they also need to be at least 21 years old. A high school diploma and two years of full-time military service may be substituted for the college requirement.

Appointees must have a driver's license and must be residents of New York City or Nassau, Westchester, Suffolk, Orange, Rockland, or Putnam counties.

The multiple-choice exam will test candidates' abilities to memorize and comprehend information and identify problems. It will also gauge their deductive and inductive reasoning skills. A five-point residency credit will be given to applicants who live in the city. In addition, those who have a parent who died in the line of duty as a uniformed officer can apply for a legacy credit worth five points.

Candidates must pass a background investigation, medical and psychological assessment, physical agility test, and a drug-and-alcohol screening.

Police Officers are tested periodically for drug use during their careers. Eligibles will be required to pay a $75 fingerprint screening fee.

Further information and a copy of the exam notice can be obtained online at http://www.nyc.gov/dcas or in person at the NYC Department of Citywide Administrative Services Application Center, 18 Washington St., Manhattan. Details about the position can also be acquired by calling 311 or 212-NEWYORK and asking for civil service information or by sending a self-addressed business-sized envelope requesting an application to: DCAS Application Section, One Centre St., 14th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10007.