Reduced recruitment potential?

Anyone else notice a reduced pool of qualified applicants for recruitment? I remember when (God I never thought I'd be the one saying that!) if you scored below a 95% on a police Civil Service test you were nervous. You were never guaranteed an interview with a 90%. It seems lately though that we reach further and further down the list to find good applicants.

Our department may have 40 or so applicants with scores of 90 or above. Of these we can lose 10-12 on residency issues (don't get me started). Then the day of the physical agility comes and we get 5-6 no shows. Seriously, you can't even show up? Then the test begins and it never fails we lose a half of whats left on the situps or the 1.5 mile run. So we are down to about 12-15 out of 40. This is sad. Sad at the lack of apparent interest and sad that so many of out 20-25 year old men and women can't pass a simple physical agility test.

I haven't even touched on the interviews, where it seems many of today's young people just see this job as a paycheck. Or worse yet, think they are entitled to the job.

Anyone else notice this trend?

Preparing for the Physical Fitness Test

This is taken from a post on my Internet Gym site. There is only one purpose to this program; to significantly increase the number of pushups, pullups and situps you can do. It is a lot harder than it looks.

Most physical agility tests consist the following:
Pushup max in 1 min
Situp max in 1 min
Timed 1.5 mile run
Sit and reach stretch test.
(this is the most common test, but by no means the only type)


You will need to start this program as close to 12 weeks out from your test date as you can. Stop this program 3-4 days before the test to allow your muscles to rest.

The Program
Do a set of each exercise: pushups, pullups, and situps. Round down to the nearest 5 unless your max is under 10 (for example 32 would be 30, 48 would be 45, but a max of 7 would stay at 7). This will be your max for that exercise. If your max is less than 10 you will pyramid by 1's. If you max is between 10 and 20 you will pyramid by 2's. If your max is between 20 and 40 pyramid by 5's. Greater than 40 pyramid by 10's

So the workout would pyramid up to you adjusted max and then back down, all by a set number. Something like this:

Pushups (max 45) : 10-20-30-40-45-40-30-20-10
Situps (max 32) : 5-10-15-20-25-30-25-20-15-10-5
Pullups (max 7) : 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

You will move from one exercise to the next in a circuit, taking a 1-2 minute rest after all three are done. Then move to the next step on the pyramid. You will continue until the longest pyramid is complete. If you finish a shorter pyramid, just continue doing the lowest amount on that pyramid until you complete the others. So in the above example our workout would look like this:

Pushup 10-20-30-40-45-40-30-20-10-10-10-10-10
Situps 5-10-15-20-25-30-25-20-15-10-5-5-5
Pullups 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

You will be working for 13 total sets taking you about 30-45 minutes depending on your pace. You will have completed 285 pushups, 190 situps, and 49 pullups. If you struggle with these exercises then do pushups from your knees, crunches, and chair-assisted pullups. Continue with the easier versions for three weeks, then retest yourself to set a new max on the original exercises.

You should do these exercises three days a week, alternating with running on the other three days (yes you only get Sundays off). Your runs should be as follows:
Day 1: 2-mile run, sprint half a lap, jog/recover half a lap.
Day 2: 2-mile timed run. Try to get under 16 minutes. 13-14 minutes would be ideal.
Day 3: 3-mile easy run at your own pace.

Do this program for three weeks. Then retest your max after a day or two of rest, readjust the pyramids, and start over. This method is a proven to boost your max dramatically in each of these exercises.

The Firefighter Stephen Siller - Tunnel to Towers Run/Walk NYC

Tunnel to Towers Run/Walk
08 Date: Sunday, September 28th, 2008
START TIME : 9:30 AM
Location of Race: Brooklyn side of the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, New York City, New York


The Run/Walk distance will be approximately 5K, or 3.1 miles.

The Run/Walk route will start in Brooklyn on the Gowanus approach (I.S 142) to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, go through the Tunnel, north onto West Street, left onto Liberty Street, to Battery Park Esplanade, right (east) on Warren Street, right (south) onto West Street and finishing at West & Vesey Streets. For your safety strollers and bicycles are not allowed

The sole purpose of our Foundation is to honor the legacy of love given to us by Stephen Siller, FDNY. We do this by paying tribute to his heroic life and death, his 342 FDNY brothers, and all those lost on 9/11, through the annual Tunnel to Towers Run.

Visit the site for complete info and registration.

Test Day

On the day of your exam make sure that you are well rested. Experts tell us the the best thing we can do is get a good night's sleep. Fatigue is one of the main barriers to successful test performance. Get a full nights sleep and eat a good breakfast. And remember get there early! Give yourself plenty of extra time to get to the test center and to park.

Once inside, listen to the test monitors and follow their instructions carefully. They will be providing you with important information about taking the test. Listen specifically for information about how to fill in your answer sheet. If you fill in your identification number incorrectly on your answer sheet, the computer will not be able to assign your examination score to you. If you do not complete your answer sheet according to the directions, the computer may have difficulty reading your answers. Ask your proctor if you have any questions about the exam. They are there to help you.

Listen for instructions about how much time you will be given to complete the examination and what to do when you are finished with it. Knowing how much time you have to complete the examination, you can figure out roughly the amount of time that you can spend on any one question. Use your watch or the clock in the room to keep track of your time during the test. Answer the easy questions within each subject first, then tackle the more difficult items. It's to your advantage to answer as many questions as possible, even if you must guess. Mark your answers on the answer sheet and NOT in the test booklet. Only answers clearly marked on the answer sheet can be given credit. Try to save some time at the end of the examination to review your responses to the more difficult questions and to check your answer sheet to be sure that you have not missed any questions

Next time we will cover specific strategies for taking Multiple Choice tests, as well as the topics covered on the exam.

Your First Police Exam

Ok, let’s get you ready for your first Civil Service exam.

The written examination is your first step in the screening process for Police Officer candidates and is used to identify unqualified candidates without any possible accusation of favoritism or prejudice. The Civil Service System was established to insure the maintenance of a merit personnel system to recruit, employ, promote, and retain qualified persons for employment. Entry-level examinations do not presuppose knowledge. You will not be expected to know police rules, regulations, or procedures, but rather to reason and think like a Police Officer.

First: Find out test dates
Most civil service exams are administered as needed, many being annual. Make sure to contact the city or state administering your exam for more information. Most cities make this information readily available on their websites. Do not procrastinate! Not a fun feeling to finally go check on testing information only to find you missed applying by a day. You may be waiting up to a year for the next test date.

Second: Learn where and when the test is being given
Contact the city or state administering your exam for more information. Make sure you are familiar with the location. If you are not, take a drive before the test date to make sure you will have no problems finding it. Even so, plan on being to the test 30 minutes early on test day.

Third: Provide all necessary paperwork
Fill out all necessary forms, get copies of any identification, transcripts, etc. that they require. Also, there is a fee for taking these exams. Be prepared to pay it when you turn in your forms. Different municipalities have different rules on accepting cash, checks, or credit cards. Find out what form of payment they will take for the testing fee.

Next time we will discuss what test day will be like and how to be prepared.

Where to retire?

There are many things that figure into out decision on where to retire. Family, climate and activities all weigh into the decision. With a 50% or higher retirement benefit, plus possibly 457 or deferred comp payments, it would be nice to make our dollar stretch as far as we can. There are only a few states that offer us the following benefits:

No Income Tax
No tax on our NYS Retirement
No tax on 457 or deferred comp
No tax on Social Security

These states are Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

So if one of these states fits into your retirement plan that's great. If they don't then it is worth taking a look at the possibility of making a move. In the long run its all about making your retirement stretch as far as possible, for as long as possible.

Disclaimer: This information applies to New York State Police retirements.
If you are reviewing this information to seriously contemplate a move to a particular state, you should be mindful of the fact that states often enact, amend, and repeal their tax laws; please contact their Revenue Agency yourself to verify that the information is up to date.

Where do we start?

Over the next few weeks I will begin by covering the hiring process and what you can do to best prepare yourself to succeed. First I will cover the Civil Service written exam. We will discuss test taking strategies, what to study, and how be at your best on test day. Next we will get you prepared to take the physical agility test. You would be surprised how many potential candidates fail out at this stage. This is due to only one thing, lack of preparation. Lastly we will cover the oral interview. What to wear, how to answer, and how to act.
Hopefully after this series you will be more than prepared to take your first steps towards becoming a Police Officer.

Welcome!

Code Four is the radio code used to let fellow police officers know that everything is under control.

I hope to use this website to provide useful information to current, retired and future law enforcement officers.