POLICE AND CORRECTION OFFICER JOBS AVAILABLE

Plan Thousands Of Hirings Off Exam Rosters; Require Some College Or Military Duty For Both Posts

Filing is open until May 15 for exams leading to Police Officer and Correction Officer jobs, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services said.

In an attempt to attract more candidates, DCAS has started to continuously accept applications for three scheduled tests annually. The city is looking to hire hundreds of Correction Officers this year, and the NYPD appoints roughly 3,000 cops each year to fill vacancies due to attrition.

Test Dates

The Police Officer written exam is scheduled for June 15. Alternate afternoon and evening tests dates are also set for June 21 and 24.

The Correction Officer exam is set for Aug. 4. Candidates who score near the top of the eligible list can expect to be hired within six months of the list being established.

Appointees for both titles need to have a state driver's license and must be residents of New York City or Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Rockland, or Putnam counties. They also must pass a background check, a psychological evaluation, a physical exam, and a drug-and-alcohol screening. A $75 fee for fingerprint screening is required for the background investigation. The starting annual salary for Police Officer 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 starting salary for Correction Officer is $26,667, which rises to $34,742 after six months, for combined first-year compensation of $30,710. The top salary is $63,309 after 5-1/2 years on the job. An unresolved Patrolmen's Benevolent Association contract is the reason salaries for Correction Officers are currently higher than those for cops.

CO Qualifications

CO candidates must have completed 39 college credits or two years of full-time U.S. military service, and must have a high school diploma or GED by the time they enter the training academy. Individuals with a high-school diploma who have two years of experience as a city, state, or Federal law-enforcement officer may also qualify.

To be appointed, candidates must be at least 21 years old. Applicants must be 17-1/2 by the end of the filing period to take the exam.

The multiple-choice exam will test candidates' abilities in written comprehension and expression, problem identification, basic arithmetic, and deductive and inductive reasoning. It will also gauge candidates' abilities to order information, determine where they are in relation to an object, and visualize how something will look after it is moved or changed.

Appointees will have probationary status for 24 months and must complete a training course. Correction Officers have to pass an annual firearms test. They are required to work nights, weekends, and holidays.

Further information can be obtained by calling 1-877-NY1-BOLD, on-line at www.nyc.gov/dcas , or by writing the DCAS Application Center, 18 Washington St., New York, N.Y., 10004.

Police Criteria

Police Officer applicants can file on-line at www.nyc.gov/nypd. By the last day of the set filing period, 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.

By 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. 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.