NYPD Lowering Standards To Recruit Female Police Officers

This decision has sparked debate, with experts, current and former officers, and city officials expressing differing opinions on whether this move benefits the force and its citizens.

March 17, 2023

Jillian Snider, a former NYPD officer and current professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, voiced her criticism to Fox News Digital, saying that the reason given for nixing the requirement – that it may hold some women back from joining the force – is “insane.”

Snider noted that the job standard test (JST) has historically been more of a challenge to women than the timed run, pointing specifically to the 6-foot barrier s requirement. However, she added that during her time on the force, she held herself to a higher standard as a woman, noting that most of the suspects she encountered were male.

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"Mounting and jumping over a solid 6-foot wall, that is much harder for women just due to not as much upper body strength as men. But guess what? Women did it, and that would have been the only component of that test that was a little more troublesome for women. You should have to have the same physical requirements because you're doing the same exact job."

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Training Chief Juanita Holmes, who was recently named New York City’s Department of Probation commissioner, told the New York Post that no police officer on patrol runs 1½ miles. In July of last year, the outlet exclusively reported that the department had replaced the 6-foot barrier wall recruits have to launch themselves over with a chain-link fence that is easier to climb.

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Sinder had issues with these comments. "There has never been an instance that an officer will chase a suspect for on foot for 1½ miles," she said. "You need to have some level of endurance because that endurance that you get from running in a timed capacity. When you are fighting or trying to subdue a suspect, you need to be in decent enough physical conditioning to be able to do that.

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"You lose your breath when you are wrestling with a suspect on the ground. So that is the point of that run. They're not training you to chase people a mile and a half, but you have to have stamina and endurance and maintain some level of physical fitness."

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Snider argued that policing is gender neutral and suspects don’t care if an officer is a man or a woman. Lowering standards for recruits can leave citizens more vulnerable to crime than the officers themselves, she added, noting the need for physical fitness and endurance when subduing criminals. However, the NYPD defended doing away with the requirement, saying it is essential to screen prospective candidates to ensure they can keep the city safe and that the job standard test satisfies the Municipal Police Training Council’s fitness standards.

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The change comes as the department contends with its largest staff exodus since 9/11, with 3,701 members leaving the ranks last year alone. The exodus is part of a nationwide staffing crisis following the protests and riots of 2020 in the wake of George Floyd’s death. Snider noted that cops are "demonized" in the media and questioned why someone would voluntarily sign up for a job where they feel like every decision they make will be under the microscope.

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Instead, she suggested that the NYPD should work to incentivize people to join the force, including by the police union securing a contract that has been in limbo since 2017 and providing financial incentives for those striving to attain master’s degrees.

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NYC Mayor Eric Adams' spokesman, Fabien Levy, told Fox News Digital that public safety is the administration’s top priority and that the NYPD remains fully prepared to keep New Yorkers safe. He did not directly address the decision to drop the running requirement.