NYPD Entrance Exam and Hiring Process Online Preparation & Tips – 2024

What Is NYPD?

The New York Police Department, also known as NYPD, is one of the oldest municipal police departments in the U.S, established in 1845. It’s also one of the largest, with over 36,000 officers, and 19,000 civilians on the staff. These officers are responsible for the public safety of the 8.5 million residents of New York City.

The NYPD is divided into several bureaus. Enforcement, investigation, and administration. The city is divided into 33 precincts, and 12 transit districts. Officers assigned to transit districts are responsible for ensuring the safety of subway riders on New York City’s extensive subway system.

Jobs with the NYPD are highly competitive. Not only are you competing against thousands of other applicants, but you must also demonstrate you have the cognitive skills and psychological capacity to handle such a challenging position.

What Is NYPD’s Recruitment Process?

Before you can seriously be considered for a position in the NYPD you will need to complete the written entrance exam. More on this later.

If you successfully pass the written exam and meet the education and age requirements, your next step will be to complete a medical exam. This is to ensure that you have no physical limitations that would prevent you from performing your duties as an officer.

Written and oral psychological exams will be required. You need to demonstrate that you are mentally strong enough to handle the rigors of police work and that you do not demonstrate characteristics that could signal problems if you are hired.

You will be given the Job Standards Test to ensure your physical fitness, prior to hiring.

Candidates will also need to pass a criminal background check as well as a drug and alcohol screening.

The written and physical tests will be given at the Candidate Assessment Center.

Exam filling period for Police Officer: April 3, 2024 until May 7, 2024

NYPD Written Exam

The written exam is divided into several sections. Each of these sections evaluates a skill that is necessary as a police officer and shows the candidate’s critical thinking abilities. The test has 85 questions and you will have 2.5 hours to complete it.

• Memory Test – Candidates will all be given a photo. You will have 5 minutes to examine it. When your time is up you will have 3 questions to answer about things you observed in the photo. You will not be allowed to look at the photo again.
• Reading Comprehension – This skill is necessary for reading and disseminating information in reports. The questions on this test will be based on the information in sample police reports. You will need to read the reports and use what you have learned to accurately answer the follow-up multiple-choice questions.
• Written Expression and Communication – Here, candidates will be given information regarding an incident that needs to be written up. You will need to pick the correct wording and sentence structure from the multiple answers you will have to choose from.
• Spatial Orientation/ Directional Map Reading – This involves being able to determine where an object or person is in relation to you. Questions will involve determining the last known location of someone or something, as well as using a map to determine the quickest way to arrive at a destination.
• Deductive Reasoning – You will need to use logical thinking to correctly answer the questions. You will be given a set of rules, followed by a set of statements. Based on these rules you will have to determine which of the statements makes the most sense.
• Inductive Reasoning – This section involves being able to use reasoning to determine the relationship between things. Once you are able to do that, you will be able to form rules which you can use to answer a question.

NYPD Job Standards Test

This is the physical fitness test candidates need to pass to show they are physically capable of performing their duties. You will have only 4 minutes and 28 seconds to complete all 6 elements of the test.

• Barrier Surmount – After a 50-foot sprint, you will kneel, and climb a six-foot barrier.
• Stair Climb – This time you will be ascending 6 feet of stairs.
• Physical Restraint Simulation – This is a simulation of the use of physical force and restraint.
• Pursuit Chase – This is a 600 ft sprint, dodging cones to simulate obstacles.
• Victim Rescue – You will have a 175 lb dummy to drag 35 feet.
• Trigger Pull – You will be timed on the amount of time it takes you to pull the trigger 15 times per side on a (non-functional) firearm.

How to Prepare for the NYPD Tests?

The Police Officer Entry Exam is a lot to prepare for. There are several key areas you should concentrate on to guarantee you pass.

The first is memory. Any activity that improves your short-term memory will be helpful. Children’s matching games are a good place to start. You can also emulate the test by studying pictures and writing down how many of the details you remember. You can invest in some brain-game books, or even download one of the many phone games that enhances memory.

Practice your logical reasoning. Both inductive, and deductive skills are part of logical thought, and your ability to “connect the dots”. Inductive reasoning helps you develop a theory based on observation. Deductive reasoning uses those observations to see if a theory makes sense.

Logic puzzles can help with this, you can find many online. Keeping things fun can make studying easier. Board games like Clue, and Mastermind, are good deductive reasoning practice. Take notes as you play, so you can see why you draw certain conclusions, it will make you more aware of the process that goes into deductive reasoning.

The best way to work on reading comprehension is just to read. To see how well you understand what you are reading, look for study guides for high school students that include a quiz. You can easily find these online. Read the material then take the quizzes. This not only improves your reading comprehension, but it’s also good practice for test-taking.

While you’re studying for the written exam, don’t neglect your physical fitness. Focus on running, climbing, and functional exercises like the sled pull and farmer’s carry.

The NYPD announces its testing dates, so you will know how much time you have to prepare. Use every bit of that time to your advantage so you stand out as a candidate.