College Waiver Urged So TEAs Can Be Cops;
School Agents Would Also Be Covered, Says Legislator

By REUVEN BLAU

State Sen. Eric Adams has renewed his call for the NYPD to drop its college-credit requirement for individuals working in the city's peace officer titles as a way to help boost its dwindling ranks of Police Officers.

ERIC ADAMS: Restore career ladder.

Mr. Adams, a retired NYPD Captain, said that School Safety Agents and Traffic Enforcement Agents with two years' experience should be allowed to take the Police Officer exam, which was permitted before Raymond W. Kelly became Police Commissioner in 2002.

A New Career Ladder

"This is an excellent opportunity to create a tier system to evaluate if someone has the temperament for law-enforcement," Mr. Adams said during a May 30 phone conversation. "There isn't one study that shows you get a better Police Officer based on his college credits."

The proposal - which would require an amendment to the City Charter - has also been backed by the unions representing the peace officer titles, including Gregory Floyd, the head of Teamsters Local 237, and James Huntley, president of Communications Workers of America Local 1182.

RAYMOND W. KELLY: Won't lower standards.

Currently, by the date of appointment Police Officer candidates must have completed 60 college credits with at least a 2.0 grade-point-average. A high-school diploma and two years of full-time military service may be substituted for the college requirement.

Mr. Adams argued that the military exception made no sense. "A person in the military is eligible to have their college requirements waived, but the guy who's working protecting our schools isn't eligible? There's no logic to that," he said.

The city's School Safety Officers and Traffic Agents have experience in public safety, reside in the city, and are predominantly black, Latino, and female, Mr. Adams said.

Kelly Won't Compromise

Mr. Kelly, however, is opposed to reducing the educational requirements for prospective Police Officers or lowering the department standards, said Paul J. Browne, the NYPD's chief spokesman.

"So we are saying that we have a lower standard protecting our children?" Mr. Adams asked incredulously. "I can't believe that."

GREGORY FLOYD: NYPD should keep promise.

The matter has been an issue of contention since Mr. Kelly took over the department again in 2002 and extended the college credit requirement for Police Officers to TEAs seeking the job. That prerequisite essentially eliminated the career path for hundreds of TEAs and others in similar titles who signed up for those positions with the intention of eventually transferring to the NYPD.

Mr. Adams also noted that many officers joined the department via that route before Mr. Kelly changed the policy. Those cops, the former police supervisor said, have proven that the city's peace officers are capable of serving in the NYPD.

School Stepping-Stone

"School Safety could be used as a stepping-stone to the Police Department," Mr. Floyd added. "We were promised a career path when our School Safety Agents were transferred to the Police Department from the then-Board of Education on Dec. 20, 1998."

Mr. Adams and the union leaders also mocked Mr. Kelly's scheduling of a Police Officer exam in May 2002 at Harvard, where he took management courses while climbing the departmental ladder nearly two decades ago. The Harvard exam attracted 372 test-takers, but it is unclear how many were actually appointed.

"He went to recruit at Harvard and Yale instead of taking New York City officers," Mr. Adams said. "It was the wrong thing to do. And I think it is a level of arrogance and stubbornness that he is not willing to bend or change when you are acknowledging that you are going to have to cut public-safety posts. That sends a terrible message."

In an e-mail response, Mr. Browne denied that the department might have to cut safety posts. The Police Commissioner, however, testified before the City Council recently that the latest recruitment woes could force the department to scale back its Operation Impact program.

Cites FDNY Precedent

Mr. Adams pointed out that the Fire Department last August changed its college credit requirement in an effort to increase the number of minorities. "Precedent is already set," he said.

For the FDNY, the college-credit requirement was slashed - down to 15 from 30 - and any candidate with a valid high school diploma and at least six months of full-time paid work at any type of job was allowed to waive the requirement entirely.

In addition, Firefighter candidates who had served at least six months in the military were exempt from the college requirement, as long as they were able to show proof of honorable discharge.

By contrast, the NYPD has increased the ranks of its minority officers over the past several years, according to hiring figures. But the Police Department has been struggling mightily to recruit new candidates under the drastically reduced starting salary of $25,100 for officers during their first six months of training.

Pact Delay Won't Help

The protracted deadlock in contract negotiations between the Bloomberg administration and the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association will aggravate the NYPD's shortage of officers, its Chief of Personnel has said.

The lower starting pay is projected to leave the NYPD 1,600 officers short of its hiring goals for the police class that begins training in July, with just 800 expected to enter the Police Academy. In addition, the class scheduled for January will be smaller unless the salary is increased.

"The numbers in the Police Department are down, recruiting is down, and he has to look at ways to try and fix it," Mr. Floyd said, referring to Mr. Kelly. "Because let's face it - someone from Harvard is not going to take a $25,000 job to start."

Mr. Adams likened the problem to the Yankees' struggles. "We have a great farm team, but we don't want to bring them up to play in the major leagues of policing in New York City," he remarked.