SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — The Syracuse Police are offering young people the chance to see if they could see themselves being a police officer, while getting paid at the same time with their Cadet Program.
The Syracuse Police Cadet Program is a one-year paid program that is designed for individuals interested in becoming Syracuse Police Officers.
“The program was something that was brought up when Chief Buckner was here. We’ve been working on it since then,” said Julie Shulsky, Deputy Chief Syracuse Police Department.
A recruitment initiative that bridges the gap between high school and when you can take the police exam.
“Usually people are graduating at 17 or 18-years-old and you can’t actually take the police exam until you’re 19 and a half. So this is a good way to get these people into our department,” said Shulsky.
The Cadet Program provides opportunities for those interested to accomplish training and get work experience.
The purpose of the whole program is designed to serve as a gateway to becoming a Syracuse Police Officer.
The program initiative includes classroom and physical fitness training to assist individuals with successfully passing the civil service exam for police officer and the physical fitness test.
“Our mornings in the cadet program are going to start with physical fitness training and then after that we will do some classroom training to get them ready for the civil service test as well as prepare them for the police academy,” said Shulsky.
Shulsky added, “In the afternoon it will be work experience in the police department getting real experience working with detectives, the officers, and the different people throughout the department.”
The Cadet program is not to be confused with the Syracuse Regional Police academy. Although similar, this program is for those who are interested in becoming a police officer but haven’t made the commitment to do so yet.
Just like many police departments across the nation, Syracuse is facing a staffing shortage. But the department is hoping this program helps fill that gap.
“This is one of our initiatives to help increase the pool of candidates that we have and really get our staffing back up to where it should be in the department,” said Shulsky.
All appropriate Civil Service laws, including testing, and comprehensive background checks, will still need to be completed to be eligible for hire as a Syracuse Police Officer.
Applications for the Cadet Program are due by January 27.
To apply, applicants can contact SPO Baratta at (315) 907-7363 or email at vbaratta@syracusepolice.org.
