The Making of a Police Officer

There is a long and arduous process and numerous screenings before a person becomes a police officer. Several thousand people apply to take the initial written exam, but few become police officers.

Westchester County test and hiring process:

Police Officer Exams (westchestergov.com)

All potential police candidates start the process of becoming a police officer by taking a state designed, county administered Civil Service written test, which is given every four years. To take the test a candidate must be a county resident at the time of taking the test and have a high school diploma. Although a candidate must be a citizen at the time of hiring, one need not be a citizen to take the written test. There is a minimum age of twenty to be hired but no minimum age to take the test. One may not take the test after their thirty fifth birthday. A valid driver’s license is not required to take the test but is required for appointment to the position of police officer. The cities of Mount Vernon, New Rochelle, White Plains and Yonkers each hold their own separate examination.

From the written test results comes a list of candidates who must then pass the Municipal Police Training Council standards of a medical check and a physical agility test.

There is an additional County written and verbal test for those who are proficient in the Spanish language, and if passed, places a candidate not only on the County Police officer candidate list but also on a separate list of those deemed proficient in Spanish. This additional qualification enables departments to more easily hire needed Spanish speaking officers.

Department review, hiring, and training of candidates:

Once the three main County administered screenings are completed and a candidate list is published by Westchester County, police departments may choose candidates from the list in order of their grade.  Candidates are placed in sequential order of their grades, but departments are given a list of candidates with grades given a grouping/ range for canvassing purposes. There are three lists for a department to choose from.  There is a county wide candidate list, a list of candidates who reside in the municipality doing the hiring, and a Spanish Language ability list.  Once a department chooses to utilize a County or Municipal list, they cannot use the other list until there are no longer candidates on that list.  For example, if Croton chooses to hire from the Croton residents specific list, it cannot use the list of county wide candidates until the Croton residents list is exhausted. 

When utilizing the Westchester County Civil Service list, each department will review a list of potential candidates who will need to pass that specific department’s requirements. Requirements to become a Croton Police Officer include the New York State mandated psychological examination, both written and an interview by a trained psychologist. The Croton Police department requires an additional medical screening, illegal drug screening, driving and criminal record review, a thorough background check to include a Croton detective interviewing family, friends, neighbors, and current employers, a rigorous candidate interview, and while a college degree is not required, it is preferred. Additional experience and qualifications such as but not limited to Emergency Medical Technician, Paramedic, nurse, firefighter (volunteer or professional), Correction officer, a master’s degree, volunteer work, or experience working with youths, service in the military are desirable. Once hired, Croton does not offer emergency Medical Technicians or those with greater medical training additional pay for this important skill set.  While speaking Spanish is helpful for a candidate to be hired from a Spanish language Civil Service list, once hired Croton offers no additional pay or perk for this additional and much needed skill set.  The Village offers financial support for all employees to attend college or other accredited continuing education programs and some language programs would be covered by tuition reimbursement. Online programs through language instructional websites are not available for the Village’s tuition reimbursement.

The entire process from first taking the test to being hired can take several years.

Once hired, an officer is formally sworn in by the officials of the municipality whereby the officer swears to uphold the United States Constitution, and all State and local laws.

Being hired is just the first step to become a full-fledged Police Officer. A police recruit must attend the Municipal Police Training Council approved training academy in Valhalla NY for twenty-four weeks, for a total of 960 hours.  An academy recruit must pass strenuous physical training, non-lethal compliance techniques and training in the use of any non-lethal equipment, use and proficiency of firearms training, rapid deployment training for major incidents, training for response to active shooter incidents, basic first aid, mental health crisis assistance, self-defense to include officer and civilian safety, and driving instruction to include safe driving, and when to pursue or not to pursue and how to keep the public safe during a potential pursuit. In addition, the recruit must pass all classroom lessons in law to include the penal law and vehicle and traffic law, youth law and legal status and treatment of youths, the New York State “Extreme risk protection order” law also known as the “Red flag” law, the United States Bill of rights and civilian’s civil rights, the Miranda warning (case law and application of the Miranda warning) current case law, and when an officer may or may not use deadly force or non-lethal methods of compliance. Non-law-based lessons include de-escalation training, implicit bias training, domestic violence, child protection, community policing. Role playing in many scenarios is a vital part of the academy training. Finally, the recruit will return to their department to pass a twelve-week field training program. The field training is split between two different Croton field training certified officers, with whom a recruit will work one on one.  Field training officers go through a rigorous program to become certified.

At any point in this lengthy process from the initial County written test to the passing of field training, and then the 1-year probationary period, if a candidate fails one step, that candidate is eliminated.

Croton will at times hire an officer who is working for another Police agency.  This candidate will already have passed the same rigorous New York State and the Municipal Police Training Council approved initial qualifications and testing, academy, and all other training and standards to become a police officer. Hiring an officer from another police agency has several advantages.  Such a hire saves on the cost of sending the officer to the academy and the time needed to attend the academy, along with invaluable experience the officer has from the previous police department.  Hiring an officer from another police agency also has the potential for a more diverse group of candidates.  Croton will further screen all previously employed officer candidates to ensure the exacting standards and Community Policing focus of the department are part of the officers’ qualifications. A Croton detective will perform a thorough background check to ensure there are no off-duty behavior or professional complaints, or questionable actions and behavior and all disciplinary records from all previous employment are reviewed. Family, friends, neighbors, and current employers are interviewed. Once hired, the officer will have eight weeks of one-on-one peer training by a Croton field training certified Officer.

Once a person becomes a fully qualified police officer, the training does not end. It is a never-ending striving to become better trained, to study the ever-changing current law and best practices and techniques. Officers attend continuing education and testing throughout their career. Along with continuing education, officers are required to remain proficient with their duty and off duty weapons throughout their career, with yearly lessons, qualification, and written testing.

Officer promotions:

To be promoted to the rank of Sergeant or Lieutenant, an officer must take a Civil Service written exam. From the list of officers who pass the exam, the three top scoring candidates are considered for promotion. Their experience, police abilities, work productivity, community policing practices, discipline record, and leadership ability are examined by the Chief of police. The Chief of police will then give each candidate a formal interview. If chosen for promotion, a Sergeant will attend a three-week supervisor training course at the police academy along with continuing education throughout their career.

The position of Detective is within the Village rank and therefor, a Village / County written test is not administered. An officer’s experience, skill set, and ability will be considered prior to appointment to the position of Detective. Once appointed, a detective will attend an additional one week of training at the police academy and continuing classes relevant to detective work throughout the time in the Detective Division. Detectives often attend additional training on their time off and pay for classes on their own. Croton detectives are members of the Westchester County Detective and Youth Officer Association where they attend lectures and have the opportunity to learn from and meet with other local detectives and Youth Officers.

The Chief of Police brings all promotions and appointments before the Board of Trustees for approval.

The Board of Trustees appoint the Chief of police. The position is a civil service position and requires passing a rigorous written civil service exam.

This article was written by members of the Police Advisory Committee as part of the Community Information Project.