Your neighborhood NYPD officer isn't likely to be your neighbor
The NYPD Patrol Guide states that officers must “live in one of the city’s five boroughs or Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, Westchester, Putnam or Orange counties.”
Why do residency requirements exist?
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Residency Requirements
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Most Police Don’t Live In The Cities They Serve
I was curious where within the allowed counties most officers live, and curious if there are any exceptions to the rule. Using personnel data provided by the NYPD (see below for details on how the data was obtained), I found the following:
- 58% of NYPD Officers live in NYC
- 17% of NYPD officers live in Queens
- 16% of NYPD officers live in Brooklyn
- 11% of NYPD officers live in The Bronx
- 10% of NYPD officers live in Staten Island
- 4% of NYPD officers live in Manhattan
- 26% of NYPD officers live in Long Island (Nassau or Suffolk County)
- 13% of NYPD officers live in Approved Upstate NY Counties (Rockland,Westchester,Putnam, or Orange County)
Less than 1% live in, I guess, specially approved non-standard counties.
The Patrol Guide also states that officers can’t live in the same zip code they work in. However, I found that 4% of NYPD officers live and serve in the same zip code.