POLICE AND CORRECTION OFFICER JOBS AVAILABLE

Cop Filing to Close May 15; Written Exam Set June 14; CO Test Aug. 2; Expect Thousands of Hirings For Both Titles

The city is looking to hire thousands of Police Officers and Correction Officers, with filing for the next police exam scheduled to close May 15.

Applications are continuously accepted by The Department of Citywide Administrative Services. The Correction Officer test is given four times annually; the Police Exam is given three times annually.

Main Cop Test June 14

The Police Officer written exam is scheduled for June 14. Alternate afternoon and evening test dates are also set for June 13, 19 and 22.

DCAS has also launched a pilot walk-in testing program to allow individuals to take the Police Officer exam at their leisure. The tests are being administered at 2 Lafayette St., a couple of blocks north of City Hall, every weekday morning.

The Correction Officer exam is scheduled for Aug. 2; there is a $30 application fee.

The starting pay for Police Academy recruits is $25,100. The annual salary for new Police Officer is $28,900, the aggregate of an arbitration award issued in 2005 that reduced the entry pay scale for new cops but boosts it to $32,700 after they complete six months of training. Officers reach $59,588 after 5-1/2 years on the job. The starting pay as well as the maximum, are expected to be increased by a soon-to-be-issued contract arbitration award.

That unresolved Patrolmen's Benevolent Association contract for the period from Aug. 1, 2004 forward is the reason salaries for Correction Officers are currently higher than those for Police Officers.

The starting salary for Correction Officer is $27,734, which will rise to $28,843 as of Aug. 1 and to $37,577 on Sept. 1. Individuals hired on or after Sept. 1, however, will start at $35,000. Maximum pay for Correction Officers, reached after five years' service, will be $68,475 as of Aug. 1.

Test Requirements

Appointees for both titles must be a U.S. citizen, have a state driver's license and be a resident of New York City or Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Orange, Rockland, or Putnam counties. Applicants must pass a character and background check; a medical and psychological evaluation; a physical evaluation and drug-and-alcohol screening. There is a $75 fee for fingerprint screening and the background investigation.

In addition, applicants must score at least 70 percent on a written multiple-choice exam. Scores will determine the applicants' position on the eligible list. Questions will measure the following skills: written comprehension; written expression; memorization; problem sensitivity; problem-solving; deductive reasoning; inductive reasoning; spatial orientation and visualization. The CO exam will also include basic mathematics.

To be hired, applicants must qualify in firearms for the duration of employment, determined by annual testing.

Two-Year Probation Period

Appointees will have probationary status for 24 months and must complete a training course. Officers must pass an annual firearms test and must remain authorized to carry firearms under Federal and state laws.

Officers are required to work weekends and holidays, change tours and work overtime.

Applicants for Police Officer must be at least 17-1/2 years-old by the last day of the filing period, but under 35 by the first day of filing, and must be at least 21 years old to be hired. Applicants who have served in the military may deduct the length of service time from their actual age, up to six years.

By their date of appointment, 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.

Correction Officer Criteria

Correction Officer applicants must be at least 17-1/2 years old by the last day of filing and at least 21 to be hired.

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.

Further information about both exams is available on-line at www.nyc.gov/dcas, by writing to the DCAS Application Center, 18 Washington St., New York, N.Y., 10004, or by calling 1-877-NY1-BOLD, for the Correction Officer exam or 212-RECRUIT for the Police Officer exam.