Suozzi and Lawrence Announce Efforts to Recruit Minority Police Officers
Mineola, N.Y - Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi and Police Commissioner James H. Lawrence were joined today by community leaders to announce that applications are now available for the Nassau County Police Service Exam.
“We are making an extra effort in the coming weeks to reach out to women and to minority communities to make sure they know about the tremendous opportunities within the Nassau County Police Department,” said Suozzi. “We need to try and do a better job of making the county’s police force look like the people of the communities we serve. A career as a police officer offers a very competitive salary, great benefits, stable employment and dozens of opportunities for career advancement. Most importantly, a police officer has a chance to serve as a role model and to impact our communities in a positive way.”
“We are endeavoring to hire qualified candidates to replenish our ranks,” said Commissioner Lawrence. “As Police Commissioner it has always been a priority of mine to hire a diversified and qualified Police Force that is representative of the community in which we serve. To that end, we have and will continue to reach out to members of the minority communities in an effort to find qualified individuals looking to serve their community. Our Recruitment Unit has been visiting job fairs, colleges, community events, community groups, high schools, parades, fairs, etc. As a matter of fact, the recruitment unit of the Nassau County Police Department has attended and actively recruited at 285 venues since November of 2006.”
Currently, there are 2,668 sworn members of which 10.8% are female. The racial breakdown of sworn members is: 89.2% are white, 4.3% are Black, 5.4% are Hispanic, .7% are Asian, and .2% are Indian.
The filing deadline to take the exam is June 8th 2007. The exam will be given during the week of August 13 - 18th of 2007. Applications can be obtained at any Nassau County Police Precinct, Highway Patrol Bureau, Police Headquarters in Mineola, the Nassau County Civil Service Office, or by contacting the Nassau County Police Recruitment Section at 1-800-RECRUIT. Candidates must be at least 17 years of age and have not reached their 35th birthday on the date of the written exam; provided however, that time spent on military duty or on terminal leave, not exceeding a total of six years, shall be subtracted from the age of any applicant who passed their 35th birthday.
The starting salary is $34,000 a year and increases to $91,737 after 8 years of service. Officers receive 15 paid vacation days to start, increasing to 30 days after 15 years of service, fully paid health and dental benefits, twenty year non-contributory pension, and several other fringe benefits.
