NYC School Safety Agent Exam (2024 Guide)

What Is an NYC School Safety Agent?

School safety agents are specialist security personnel employed by the New York Police Department (NYPD) to look after pupils, staff and school visitors.

As such, they have the authority to make warrantless arrests, use handcuffs and deploy other forms of appropriate restraint. Under New York Criminal Procedure Law, they are considered peace officers.

Currently, there are more than 5,000 NYC school safety agents working for the NYPD School Safety Division. Each passed a specific aptitude test, the NYC School Safety Agent Exam, before being accepted.

An NYC school safety agent looks remarkably like an NYPD traffic enforcement agent, as they also wear French blue shirts with dark blue (almost navy) pants. The only difference is that an NYC school safety agent wears a dark blue eight-point cap, much like unformed police do.

However, their badge is noticeably different. An NYC school safety agent’s badge features an eagle on top of an oval, rather than a shield. (In fact, how to dress correctly features in the NYC School Safety Agent Exam.)

NYC school safety agents can be spotted almost anywhere in and around a school. As part of their surveillance, they will walk the perimeters and visit the walkways inside middle and high schools.

Most small to medium-sized schools will have one NYC school safety agent. However, larger schools may have more – so it really depends on the neighborhood and student population size.

Being an official peace officer, an NYC school safety agent may also assist with nearby 911 calls as they can make an arrest much like a uniformed police officer.

Being unarmed, though, they would not be called to high-risk emergencies.

As the NYC school safety agent exam teaches, school safety agents are not the same as NYPD school crossing guards. Crossing guards do not hold any peace officer authority.

However, the two divisions work closely together to ensure students' safe entry and exit from school.

What Are the Benefits of Training as an NYC School Safety Agent?

There are many advantages of taking the NYC School Safety Agent Exam. As any serving agent will say, you get to protect and serve the community in a role that comes with a host of benefits.

Salary

The starting salary is attractive at just over $32,000 per annum, rising to just under$47,000 after seven years of service.

There are other ways to increase your earnings, too, since there’s a differential increase if you are assigned as a group leader. You can also top up your earnings with plenty of overtime opportunities.

There’s a whole host of healthcare benefits, with a range of medical and dental plans to choose from. You can also expect to receive great vacation and sick pay and a fantastic retirement package.

Retirement Benefits

As an NYC school safety agent, you have two pension choices – the 6SO-25 or Tier 6.

With the 6SO-25, you can receive a Service Retirement Benefit once you’ve reached 25 years of service, the calculations for which can be found on the NYCERS website.

There are also several other pension plans.

The percentage deducted from your wages can range from 1% to 25%, depending on what you want your retirement fund to look like.

Opportunities for Promotion

As the NYC School Safety Exam will test you on, there’s a formal reporting structure within the NYC Police Department School Safety Division.

For instance, as a supervisor, you can expect to earn around $65,000 per annum.

Supervisors typically take on more of a managerial and investigative role and oversee agents' performance, including managing any violations.

There are union benefits too. As an NYC School Safety Agent, union coverage under the International Brotherhood of Teamsters starts on your 91st day of employment.

What is the Application Process for the NYC School Safety Agent?

As with all NYPD roles, there are very specific employment requirements that you must meet before even thinking about taking the NYC School Safety Agent Exam.

Candidates applying to become an NYC school safety agent must meet the following criteria:

• Be at least 21 years of age at the time of appointment
• Must reside in one of the five New York City boroughs and be a United States citizen
• Have a High School Diploma or GED
• Meet certain medical requirements
• Have passed relevant character and background checks
• Must pay a $75 fingerprinting fee
• Be eligible to obtain NYC Special Patrol status following training

If you meet the criteria, you can take the first step, which is taking the NYC School Safety Agent Exam.

Each year, the NYPD posts an annual schedule of exams for agents it is seeking to hire.

You must pay for and take the exams online or at an assessment center.

You must then pass the NYC School Safety Agent Exam to make what is called the ‘eligible hire list’ from which the NYPD will select applicants for interview.

If you are successful at the interview stage, you will be assigned to the Police Academy for around 17 weeks.

Here, you will learn about the law, police science (fingerprinting and evidence gathering), behavioral science (why people may act the way they do and how to control situations) and safely restraining someone.

You will also need to pass a physical agility test, so while you are practicing for your NYC School Safety Agent Exam, you may also want to put in a few hours at the gym.

From what we hear, the simulated stair climb is tough!

What to Expect on the NYC School Safety Agent Exam in 2024

You’ll want to ace the school safety agent exams, and these can be quite tough if your knowledge is limited or you’re out of practice.

So, what does the NYC school safety agent exam cover? Here are the nine sections:

1. Written Comprehension

It’s important that you can decipher what a passage of text is telling you.

This part of the exam will ask you to read the text and select the correct answer to multiple-choice questions.

2. Written Expression

A crucial skill of a school safety agent is writing up reports, which may well act as evidence in court.

Therefore, this aspect of the test will ask you to write clear passages of text in English.

3. Ordering of Information

Following the letter of the law is essential in any NYPD peace officer role.

Therefore, this part of the exam measures your ability to arrange things or actions in an expected sequence.

This could be numbers, words, pictures, or even letters and sentences.

4. Problem Sensitivity

This section assesses your ability to identify a problem and pinpoint any errors based on the information available.

5. Spatial Orientation

Having a good eye and quickly assessing your surroundings, especially in an emergency, is fundamental as an NYC school safety agent.

This test examines your understanding of space and whether you can accurately recall the distance between yourself and an object.

6. Deductive Reasoning

All peace officer work is based on logic and reason.

This exam section tests your ability to apply specific rules to a scenario and arrive at a practical answer.

7. Inductive Reasoning

This part examines your ability to piece together information to arrive at a conclusion.

Essentially, it is testing your investigative skills.

8. Memory

This type of test is used in lots of aptitude tests.

Usually, you will be presented with a picture and be asked to recall as much information about what you see as possible. Or you may have to remember a series of shapes or numbers and reference the next one in the sequence.

9. Visualization

You may not be too familiar with this type of test. Still, the series of questions in this section will review your ability to review an image and form a mental rearrangement of the picture by moving objects or patterns around.

You will need to score at least 70% on the school safety agent exams to be considered for the interview.

However, you’re not guaranteed an interview at 71%; whether you get selected depends on how others have scored too.

Therefore, practice makes perfect.

Familiarizing yourself with each of the nine sections found on the test will help you prepare for the exam.

NYC School Safety Agent Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As with any psychometric test, you may still have some unanswered questions.

Here are five that we think you’ll want to know the answer to:

How Much Do I Have to Pay to Take the NYC School Safety Agent Exam?

The registration fee for the exam is $49 per applicant.

Is There a Fee Waiver?

You may qualify for a fee waiver if you already participate in other forms of public assistance programs or are a veteran.

When Can I Take the School Safety Agent Exams?

It depends on whether the NYPD has a demand for school safety agents.

Usually, exams take place in the summer months (either July or August), and details can be found on the NYPD school safety agent recruitment webpage.

What if I Do Not Have Access to a Computer to Take the Exam?

If you do not have a suitable device, you can take the NYC School Safety Agent Exam at one of five assessment centers in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx.

How Will I Find Out My School Safety Agent Exam Results?

If you score 70% or above, your name will be placed in a final score order on the eligibility list on the NYPD website along with a list number. You will also be sent a letter with your test results.

Depending on how other applicants score, you may also be selected for an interview.

Frequently Asked Questions

Final Thoughts

The most important question to ask yourself is, ‘Do I think I have what it takes to work with school staff and protect young people?’ If the answer is yes, you’re already a good candidate.

After all, it’s much harder to teach an applicant the soft skills required of a role than how to pass the NYC School Safety Agent Exam.

Just remember to give yourself enough time. If you know the exams are a matter of weeks away, introduce a realistic study plan, and you’ll soon master the test.

Good luck.