Over 30,700 sign up for Suffolk cop test

More than 30,700 applicants have signed up to take the new Suffolk County police civil service test June 11, even though they will have only a 1-in-150 chance of being hired.

The number of applicants is higher than the 28,800 who took the exam nearly four years ago. It is below Suffolk's record of 41,600 who signed up for the test in 1996, a year when there was no age limit. The current age limit for taking the test is 36.

Another 2,990 applicants have signed up to take the test for a separate position for Spanish-speaking police officers, a new category sought by police to deal with a Latino population that has grown nearly 65 percent in Suffolk County in the past decade to 190,411.

Applicants will be competing for just a few hundred jobs over the next four years, the time the competitive hiring list will be in use. In the past three years, only 140 officers have been hired with another 60 recruits expected to be hired in September before the current list expires.

Officials say those hired have to score at least 95 and later have to pass agility, psychological and criminal background checks. According to the Suffolk Police Department, the starting salary for a new police officer is $42,000. After five years, the base salary is $108,608.

Civil service officials released the numbers after the March 31 deadline.

Some applications mailed before the deadline are still being accepted.

The exam was developed as part of a long-standing consent decree with the U.S. Justice Department to assure it does not discriminate against minorities.

Officials said the number of women and minority applicants is increasing. There are 5,400 women, or 23 percent of those signed up for this year's test, compared with 4,500, or 21 percent in 2007. Among African-Americans, 2,900 or 13 percent have applied, compared with 2,375 or 11 percent in 2007, while 5,100 Hispanics or 22 percent have signed up this year, compared with 4,100 or 19 percent four years ago.