Thirty officers disqualified from the New York Police Department because they failed psychological exams or background checks will stay on the job, according to an agreement between the city and their union.
The department moved to fire the 25 full officers and five recruits in July. Many officers had been working for a year and the recruits were on the verge of graduating from the Police Academy when the department gave them termination notices. The Police Benevolent Association immediately sued to stop the firings and a judge sent both sides to negotiate a settlement.
On Monday, the judge, Phaedra Perry-Bond, dismissed the case after lawyers for the city and the union said they had reached agreement.
“We have found a path forward for these officers to protect and serve our city,” Jessica S. Tisch, the police commissioner, said in a statement.
Patrick Hendry, the union’s president, said in a statement that the officers had “already proven their dedication and value on the job.”
“We are grateful to have reached a resolution that allows these police officers to continue their careers,” he added.
The officers will serve a 36-month probation, rather than the 24 that all new officers must complete, according to the agreement. If the officers commit misconduct, the department can factor the failed psychological evaluations or background checks into any punishment.
All applicants trying to enter the Police Academy must pass the psychological exam, along with a background check, a physical fitness test and a medical exam.
But some say the two-part psychological exam, which includes a written portion and a one-hour interview with a psychologist, sidelines candidates who struggled as adolescents or were treated for depression and other common mental health problems. Others say that candidates of color are more likely to be penalized than white peers.
Nearly all the 30 officers who were disqualified were people of color, according to union lawyers.
Lieutenant Patrick Gordon, president of the Guardians Association, which represents Black officers, said he was “so relieved” to hear of the agreement, but that the settlement was “merely a bandage on a critical wound.”
“For decades, the N.Y.P.D. hiring practices have plagued applicants of color,” he said in a statement. “The N.Y.P.D. Guardians Association stands steadfast and committed to continuing our fight for fairer hiring practices.”
The department has declined to provide figures showing how often minorities, or recruits in general, fail the mental health exam.
City lawyers had said that those targeted for dismissal had serious problems in their backgrounds, including one officer with a driving history that included striking a pedestrian, eight license suspensions and $6,000 in unpaid parking tickets. Another officer admitted to paying a stripper and a masseuse for sex.
But union lawyers said none of the officers hired had disciplinary issues and some had even received awards and commendations.
The officers were hired after the commander of the Candidate Assessment Division, which assesses prospective officers, overrode negative psychological reports. Defenders of the commander, Inspector Terrell Anderson, said he had the authority and was under pressure to fill recruit classes as the department faced a shortfall of officers.
Inspector Anderson was moved to the department’s housing unit in May. He has been reassigned to Patrol Borough Brooklyn North, the command that oversees all the precincts in that area of Brooklyn.
The Times has interviewed a dozen officers and candidates, as well as psychologists and a lawyer who handle appeals by rejected candidates, who said that rejections have often been based on behavior that could be characterized as youthful transgressions — shoplifting and cutting class, or getting caught with marijuana or a fake identification card.
The department has defended the process, noting that in three years, the city’s Civil Service Commission, which reviews appeals, has not overturned a disqualification decision. Most of the department’s rank and file is now made up of people of color; 33 percent of uniformed officers are Hispanic and 17 percent are Black.
The department has just under 34,000 officers, according to its most recent figures and has been struggling with an exodus. This month, the department said it had hired more than 4,000 officers in 2025.
Maria Cramer is a Times reporter covering the New York Police Department and crime in the city and surrounding areas.
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