Becoming a Police Officer: Are You Too Old?

It’s natural for people to want to switch careers or start a career in law enforcement at an older age. However, many people who show interest in this field are often demotivated as they think they’re too old for the job. If you read up about it, your age may come with a lot of benefits to the police department.

Many people join the police department later in their lives. These people have ample professional experience and bring a lot of expertise to the position of a police officer. The department is also willing to invest in their career advancement.

In this blog, we discuss why your age is not an issue when it comes to becoming a police officer.

Cops Are of All Kinds                        

We live in diverse communities with people differing in race, class, gender, religion, etc. Therefore, the police force must be like the community it protects. There’s no one-type-fits-all approach when it comes to the police. The officers come from different backgrounds and ages.

Age Requirement 

Every police department is an autonomous entity. Therefore, the age requirement for police officers differs in every state and city. For instance, the police departments in San Diego and Philadelphia don’t have a maximum age limit for recruits. But the department in Forth Worth, TX cap their hiring age at forty-five years of age. The maximum age in Rhode Island is thirty-five, while New York City Police Department allows a candidate over thirty-five if they’ve served the military. One should, however, not forget that the retirement age for most of the police departments is fixed at sixty-five.

Physical Requirements

Applicants still need to pass a physical agility test. Clearing the test shows that they can manage to accomplish the physical tasks needed for a police officer. This kind of test is formatted in a pass-fail manner. Therefore, stay active. Practice for this test. If you’re aged, no one expects you to perform exceptionally well, but you should be able to prove that you have what it takes to succeed.

For people aged thirty and above, the minimum requirements for New York State Police Department consist of:

• Sit-Ups (per minute) – 27 for female, 36 for male
• Push-Ups – 14 for female, 27 for male
• 5 Mile Run (per minute) – 14 mins for female, 12 mins for male

Other Requirements 

Some police departments need recruits to reside in a particular area. Many may provide some time to recruits to move to that area. Others may require you to be a resident of the state while applying. These requirements vary across the departments. Similarly, some police departments need their officers to have a college degree with a minimum of 2.0 CGPA and sixty credit hours of college coursework. If you didn’t go to college, look for a jurisdiction where the requirement is General Education Development (GED) equivalency. If you’ve served the army, your education requirement may be waived off.

Get in the Right Department

Being an old applicant, it’s your responsibility to read up and find out which departments in the law enforcement value recruits with life experience, because not all departments do that. If an agency doesn’t have a maximum age cap, it doesn’t mean that they encourage all old candidates. You won’t be able to get the entire picture of the requirements from the job advertisement or the website. You’ll have to set up a meeting with the agency for that. You can then ask them if you’ll be considered as a competitive applicant, given your age. This meeting will give you a clear sense of whether that particular department would welcome an aged candidate like you or not.

Your Experience is Important

When it comes to life experience, you have the edge over younger recruits. The minimum appointment age ranges from nineteen to twenty-one. When they’re hired, young officers don’t have much exposure to the society, they lack awareness about the tribulations that different communities go through each day. That is where your experience and wisdom come in and make you an ideal candidate.

Different Considerations

Attending the police academy is mandatory to enter the police force. While admitted, you won’t get paid. It means that you’ll have to ensure that you have a strong financial backing to rely on for the months that you’re at the academy. It may be not easy if you have a family to support. Moreover, once you’re in the force, you’ll join at the bottom of the ladder. If you’d been on a managerial position at your previous job, it might hurt your ego – so be prepared. Lastly, it would be best if you also considered that since you won’t have a lot of years to your retirement, you won’t be able to secure a good pension. Therefore, ensure that you have retirement savings in place.

The Written Exam  

Given your age, you may not perform very well on your physical agility test. Therefore, the written exam will be your saving grace. Prepare well. It’s not a pass-fail test, so try to score high in this test. Spending time in preparing, with the right training institution, will help you achieve your goals.

Age matters when it comes to appointing the right police officer, but if you do your research and are well prepared, the odds may be in your favor. Take all the right steps before applying and see your dream of joining the police force come true. If you’re interested in joining the police force, you should prepare for the NYS civil service exam.

We are a distinguished institution preparing candidates for the NYS Court Officer, NYC Sanitation Worker, NYC Firefighter & Suffolk Police for over 40 years! Visit our website and register for one of our training courses here.