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Reimagine policing

Posted

To the editor:

Policing is at a critical crossroads. Most departments are grappling with severe staffing shortages. Agencies simply cannot recruit or retain enough officers. The crisis is so bad in New York City that over the past eight years, the number of police applicants declined more than 50 percent. Furthermore, the current NYPD headcount is short thousands of officers. In 2020, NYPD had about 40,000 officers. Current headcount is about 34,000 cops.

Because of the ongoing staffing concerns, the NYPD changed some of the police academy’s fitness standards. Arguably, changes such as eliminating the 1.5-mile run could have increased the number of police recruits. But minor fitness modifications will not have a huge impact. Considering the gravity of the officer shortfall, radical policy changes are needed.

Lawmakers must consider changes such as eliminating the age limit for future officers; modifying the citizenship requirement to allow applicants authorized to work in the U.S.; removing the residency requirement; and exploring a deferred retirement option plan. Those changes would be controversial. But in the end, they could very well increase the pool of future police applicants and bolster retention.

James T. Scott

The writer is a retired Connecticut State Police sergeant and an associate professor at Albertus Magnus College

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