Dozens of NYPD officers and recruits who failed to meet departmental standards — including mental health requirements — are being forced to resign or face termination, according to law enforcement sources.
At least 30 officers and cadets hired between 2023 and 2024 under Inspector Terrell Anderson, who has since been reassigned from the Police Academy, received notices of the NYPD purge on Thursday.
“They were all called in,” a police source told The Post. “They’re being told, ‘You didn’t meet the qualifications. You shouldn’t have been hired. You have 24 hours to resign or be fired.’”
The NYPD confirmed the move in a statement to The Post.
“Following an internal investigation, the NYPD recently identified officers who joined the department in the past two years despite receiving final disqualification notices during the application process, which violates the law,” a department spokesperson said. “The department was not legally permitted to hire these individuals and has informed them that they can no longer remain members of the NYPD.”
The affected personnel include both sworn officers and academy recruits, who were given 24 hours to resign or face termination, according to law enforcement sources.
During their application process, the recruits were issued notices of disqualification, which under state law prohibits the NYPD from hiring them, sources said.
Some of the recruits allegedly lied about prior convictions, multiple arrests, and previous employment terminations, according to sources.
Over the past few days, the officers had their firearms confiscated, the sources added.
Dozens of NYPD recruits failing to meet department standards are being forced to resign.
Patrick Hendry, president of the Police Benevolent Association, is seeking a temporary restraining order to block the removal of the officers from the department.
“These police officers aren’t responsible for the NYPD’s broken hiring process,” Hendry said. “As far as they know, they were qualified to be New York City police officers because the NYPD hired and trained them.”
“It is an absolute travesty that the department is trying to cover its tracks by summarily forcing them off the job without affording them the same appeal process available to other applicants,” the union leader added.
“We are exploring all legal options to protect our members’ rights and hold the NYPD accountable for this complete management failure.”
Sources said the controversy follows an NYPD effort to bolster its shrinking ranks, with 34,475 uniformed officers this year—a 14% decline from 40,200 in 2000.
Earlier this year, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch eased some recruitment standards, reinstating the 1.5-mile timed run while reducing college credit requirements and other criteria.
Meanwhile, Anderson, who led the NYPD’s “Candidate Assessment Division,” was transferred to the housing unit on May 12 amid an Internal Affairs Bureau probe into claims he allowed more than 70 candidates to remain at the academy despite failing psychological requirements.
Anderson is now facing serious departmental charges, according to sources.
Among the recruits allegedly retained by Anderson was Emilio Andino, nephew of former NYPD Lt. Quathisha Epps — a former department official implicated in a scandal involving sex-for-overtime, sources said.
Andino, who was still on probation, had previously been fired after a fight at the academy, according to sources.
Civil rights attorney Eric Sanders, who represents both Andino and Epps, condemned the decision to terminate the officers and recruits.
“These so-called psychological assessments are just a red herring to distract from the NYPD’s corrupt and subjective hiring practices — particularly within the Candidate Assessment Division, which has quietly operated this way since the late ’80s,” Sanders said Thursday.
“This isn’t about fitness,” he added. “It’s about retaliation linked to Anderson, Epps, and Andino.”
