NYPD Lowers Minimum Age Requirement for Officer Candidates
Source Officer.com News
What to know
- The NYPD has lowered its minimum officer applicant age to 20.5 years and is waiving exam fees through September.
- The changes are an effort to boost recruitment while ensuring recruits are at least 21 upon academy graduation.
- Officials emphasize the need to attract qualified candidates to maintain public safety and build the department’s ranks.
In an effort to attract more recruits, the NYPD is lowering its minimum age requirement for officers for the first time in 25 years, the agency stated in a release last week.
The new minimum age requirement NYPD officer applicants is now 20.5 years, the news release stated. The department is also temporarily waiving application fees through September for its open officer exams, which will be offered monthly.
“We want the best and brightest to join the NYPD, and we’re clearing the path for those who are ready to lead and committed to serving this city,” Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated in the release. “Our officers work tirelessly to keep crime down and protect our communities, but it’s no secret that the NYPD is facing a staffing crisis. Keeping the greatest city in the world safe requires recruiting and retaining the best people for the job and this will help us build the next generation of NYPD officers.”
For over three decades, the NYPD's minimum age has been changed twice to respond to the department's recruitment needs. It was raised from 20 to 22 years old in 1995, but in 2000, it was lowered to 21.
The new requirement is part of an effort to broaden its recruitment reach while finding qualified candidates, the department stated. Because academy training runs six months, all recruits will be at least 21 years old when they become officers.
"This is an open call to the next generation of police officers: now is the time, and best of all, the application is now free," Mayor Eric Adams stated in the release. "We are consistently recruiting new, dedicated public servants to join our ranks and protect all New Yorkers and visitors alike.”
![“By the early part of next year, I think we’re going to be up close to where we only have about 350 vacancies, and it continues on that trend. In three or four years, we’ll be up where we should be, which is 2,500 [sworn officers],” says Commissioner Richard Worley about the agency's aggressive hiring.](https://img.officer.com/files/base/cygnus/ofcr/image/2025/06/68405de973e934e2dec66844-richard_worley_baltimore_pd_commissioner_md_tns.png?auto=format,compress&fit=&q=45&h=139&height=139&w=250&width=250 "“By the early part of next year, I think we’re going to be up close to where we only have about 350 vacancies, and it continues on that trend. In three or four years, we’ll be up where we should be, which is 2,500 [sworn officers],” says Commissioner Richard Worley about the agency's aggressive hiring.")
