Suffolk police to offer hiring exam every two years starting 2027
Suffolk police will test applicants every two years starting in 2027, a change meant to widen the hiring pipeline as applicant numbers keep falling.
Suffolk County is shortening the wait for police job seekers, moving its entrance exam from once every four years to every two years starting in spring 2027 as leaders try to rebuild a thinner hiring pipeline.
County Executive Ed Romaine and Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina announced the change after Suffolk County Civil Service approved it. The county’s recruitment materials now say the next exam is tentatively scheduled for summer 2027, and the written test will carry a $125 fee, with waivers available for some veterans, auxiliary police, volunteer emergency service members, CERT members, Explorers, unemployed applicants, and people receiving Medicaid, SSI or public assistance.
The shift is aimed at a problem that has been building for years. The department’s hiring presentation says the exam had been offered once every four years and shows applicant totals declining from 24,591 in 2011 to 17,272 in 2015 and 17,031 in 2019. Suffolk police also point to broader labor-market pressure, including a 2024 International Association of Chiefs of Police survey that found recruitment and retention problems remain widespread across law-enforcement agencies nationwide.
The department is not just trying to fill one class. Its recruiting materials say it takes about six months to establish the certified list after the exam and about six months for screening before hiring decisions are made. The police academy lasts seven months, followed by an 18-month probationary period that includes academy training. In a county with 28 uniformed law-enforcement agencies and more than 5,000 officers overall, those delays shape how quickly Suffolk can replenish its ranks.
That is why the exam schedule matters beyond Civil Service paperwork. Fewer applicants can mean fewer choices for patrol, specialized units and neighborhood policing, while vacancies can push overtime higher and make it harder to keep coverage steady across a county that stretches from western suburbs to the East End. Suffolk Police Benevolent Association President Lou Civello appeared on News 12 as the change was discussed, underscoring that the issue reaches beyond recruitment into staffing, morale and retention.
Officials did not give a target headcount or say exactly how many vacancies they want to fill. But the new two-year cycle is a clear attempt to keep a steadier flow of candidates moving toward Suffolk police hiring classes, after years of shrinking turnout and an increasingly competitive public-safety job market.
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