Police Officer Preparation & Law Enforcement Resource - Archive

I had valve replacement surgery. Im very interested in becoming a cop but dont know at this point if I should even bother. I am planning to take the test in July, and the NYPD currently has a 2-3 year waiting period. During this time, I was planning on getting myself in better shape and get my 60 credits. I also have asthma and currently working on that as well.

Will your family doctor write a letter stating that you are physically fit and capable of going through the Police Academy and becoming a Police Officer ?

Even still , that doesn't mean the NYPD doctors will clear you but it would be a GOOD indication.

Sorryy to say, your valve replacement surgery will disqualify you from employment. I seriously doubt that any department in the US would take you.

My doctor would write a letter saying that I am physically fit. Although, this would be in a couple of years(1-2) I'm working on getting fit again. I recently had an MRI and my cardiologist stated that the results were very good and that any issues I had were fixed by the surgery. It would suck to have this automatically dq me....I was seriously looking forward to becoming a police officer.....is there any way to get the medical part done after the exam or something. I would hate to spend several years training and waiting when in the end I can't join...

No go...heart issues are a DQ automatically since the job itself causes so many...you are predisposed to damage/injury sooner or even with worse results.

Same on the west coast. Any heart problem coming up after you're hired here is considered on the job occupational disease so we screen for that beforehand pretty hard. In fact, we send every applicant to an cardiologist, we don't even trust GP's to certify them. Nor do we take another doctor's word for your condition.

Sorry, hope you can find something else in LE that interests you.

That's real disheartening to hear....i know when I spoke to someone they said I would be placed under review. Is there anyone I can contact to know for sure? I'm kinda stubborn and do not want to give up on this...maybe some test I can get done prior to even taking the exam or something...

If you don't believe us a simple call to the NYPD medical section should get you the answer you seek.

No no guys, its not a matter of disbelief, its a matter of disappointment...was really looking forward to this..

Plenty of support roles you can do!

Joey, can you name some for me please? I was looking for the Parks Department Ranger job but can't find much info on it.