NYPD to fire 30 rookie cops who should have been disqualified by background checks

Rocco Parascandola and Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on Jul 10, 2025

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NEW YORK — The NYPD is poised to fire 30 new officers who were never qualified to join the department in the first place, department officials said Thursday.

But the Police Benevolent Association union late Thursday obtained a court order temporarily blocking the department from proceeding with its plan, which stems from allegations that the head of the department’s Candidate Assessment Division allowed applicants to attend the NYPD Academy who should have been disqualified, police sources said. A court hearing is set for July 15.

The affected probationary officers, hired within the past 18 months — with some still in the academy — were told Thursday that they should resign or be fired.

“Following an internal investigation, the NYPD recently identified officers who joined the department in the past two years despite receiving final notices of disqualification during the application process, which is a violation of the law,” an New York Police Department spokeswoman said. “The department was not legally allowed to hire these individuals and was forced to inform them that they could no longer continue as members of the NYPD.”

The officers are facing termination because of “criminal records and other reasons,” a high-ranking NYPD source said. A 31st officer resigned on their own.

Some of the probationary officers had felony criminal convictions, had lied about being fired by other employers, or didn’t inform the department that they had their driver’s licenses suspended for traffic infractions, the source added.

“These are officers who can’t legally be police officers,” the source said. “They should not have been hired in the first place.”

Earlier this year, the head of the Candidate Assessment Division, Inspector Terrell Anderson, was transferred to another unit and stripped of his gun and shield after investigators learned that he allowed unqualified candidates to continue with the hiring process, according to NYPD officials.

He was found to have pushed through about 80 candidates who had failed the department’s psychological exam, officials said, and the 31 leaving the department are among that group.

PBA President Patrick Hendry said the new officers shouldn’t be penalized for the department’s mistakes.

”We are grateful for the pause in these unjust firings, but this is only the first step,” he said. “These police officers did nothing wrong. It is not their fault that their hiring was tainted by a rogue inspector and arbitrary process. In many cases, they were initially disqualified for minor issues and may have been hired on appeal if given the opportunity to do so.”

Once they’re hired to attend the NYPD Academy, probationary officers can be terminated for any reason for the first two years of their career. After that, officers have the recourse of a departmental trial.

“It is an absolute travesty that the department is trying to cover its tracks by summarily forcing them off the job, without affording them the same appeal process available to other applicants,” Hendry said, adding that the PBA was “exploring all legal options to protect our members’ rights and hold the NYPD accountable for this complete management failure.”

Earlier this year, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the NYPD is in a “hiring crisis” and reduced the number of college credits required to join the force.

Incoming recruits only need 24 college credits, a steep drop from the 60 previously required.

“We’re practically begging people to take the exam,” Tisch said at a breakfast sponsored by the Association for a Better New York in February, claiming that “vile” “defund the police” and anti-cop rhetoric has drained the potential applicant pool.