Police now can recruit non-Phila. residents

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New hires will have to move in within six months. Nutter sought the move.

For the first time in more than 50 years, the Philadelphia Police Department will be allowed to search for recruits outside the city's borders - but new hires still will have to move into the city within six months of their first day.

The policy change, announced yesterday by Mayor Nutter, comes as the department revs up to hire as many as 500 officers, most to replace others retiring this year.

Until now, prospective recruits, like other city job applicants, had to live in Philadelphia for at least a year before they could enter the Police Academy. The only exception has been for active-duty military personnel. "The Civil Service Commission's move to waive the pre-academy residency requirement ensures that all new recruits will be of the highest caliber available," Nutter said at yesterday's City Hall news conference.

Flanked by police brass and the president of the police union, Nutter continued: "If someone wants to come to Philadelphia and make a career of protecting our city, I don't want to stand in his or her way."

Efforts to relax the requirement have been stymied for years. In 2001, Mayor John F. Street - an ardent opponent of waiving the one-year rule - vetoed legislation approved by Council that would have done away with it.

Nutter, however, favors eliminating the requirement, and not just for police.

Yesterday, he said he supported a bill introduced by Councilman Jim Kenney that would exempt all but 766 of the city's 23,767 civil service workers. The exception are laborers, who perform unskilled jobs. A hearing on Kenney's proposal is scheduled for tomorrow.

One of the biggest obstacles in hiring officers has been their inability to pass the agility test, police officials said.

Allowing the waiver will allow Philadelphia to compete for recruits who live elsewhere in the region, or even the country, Deputy Commissioner Patricia Giorgio Fox said. Like other cities, Philadelphia will now go on the road to search for potential officers.

Officials noted that starting salaries in Philadelphia are competitive. For example, recruits here earn $38,481 a year, more than their counterparts in New York. However, New York police salaries increase more in the next five years.

Through April 4, the department is accepting applications for a new police class. It aims to hire 150 officers.

Applicants must be at least 19 but not more than 40 by their first day at the academy. They must have a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma and pass a medical exam, drug screening, a psychological evaluation, and a background investigation.

John J. McNesby, president of Lodge 5 of the Fraternal Order of Police, lauded yesterday's change as "welcome news." "This opens the door," he said. "It's a plus for the Police Department to be able to fill the ranks."

Source: Philadelphia Inquirer