NYPD Recruits Harvard’s Finest

New York’s finest is seeking out the best and the brightest.

The New York Police Department (NYPD) is looking to recruit Harvard students into its ranks, and will administer a free walk-in Police Officer Examination at the Kennedy School of Government at 1 p.m. tomorrow.

NYPD Captain Martin Morales said college recruiting within New York state has traditionally been a primary tool of the NYPD to find new officers, but since Sept. 11 the NYPD’s recruitment has re-focused on attracting the best qualified candidates from Northeastern college campuses.

The drive has already begun, and at a recruitment event at Columbia University on March 27, several dozen students registered for the examination, but a forum on “21st-century policing” was cancelled due to low turnout, according to the New York Times.

A similar forum at Yale garnered more support.

Many of the Columbia students, said the New York Times, were deterred by the police officer’s starting salary, which stands just under $35,000—a figure below the starting salaries of many graduates, and lower than the cost of attending an Ivy League university.

However, both Morales and Associate Dean of the Kennedy School Joseph J. McCarthy, who is helping to coordinate the examination with the NYPD, remained optimistic about the potential turnout at Harvard.

McCarthy said he thought that the public service inherent to police work would be a draw for many in the Harvard community.

While tomorrow’s exam will be limited to 200 applicants, NYPD officials said they did not expect the event to draw that many people.

Although the exam will be given at Harvard, the NYPD is also hoping to draw applicants from throughout the Boston area.

Sgt. James A. Rector said that in addition to the exam at the Kennedy School, the NYPD tabled in Boston area subway and bus stops, malls and other schools, including the University of Massachusetts Boston campus over the course of the past week.

The NYPD also reserved a television spot on the show, “Police on Your Side,” for last night, according to Rector.

Applicants must either have 60 college credits with a 2.0 GPA or two years of military service, and must be 21-years-old when they are hired.

In addition to the written examination, applicants are also required to pass medical, physical and psychological examinations, as well as undergo a background check.

Those coming to take tomorrow’s exam will be required to present identification.

Morales said over 1,600 applicants will be admitted into the police academy in July.

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly is a 1984 graduate of the Kennedy School.

—Staff writer Christopher M. Loomis can be reached at cloomis@fas.harvard.edu.