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City councilors, advocates urge raising maximum age for Boston Police Academy applicants
Summary
City officials and a Worcester police recruiter told the Joint Committee on Public Service that raising the maximum age to enter the Boston Police Academy would expand recruitment opportunities for otherwise qualified Boston residents and diversify the force.
Boston City Councilor Gabriela Coletta read a letter to the Joint Committee on Public Service urging support for House Bill 4093, which would raise the maximum age for entry to the Boston Police Academy from 39 to 45. Coletta said the change would remove ‘‘a persistent barrier to expanding and diversifying the ranks of the Boston Police Department’’ and reduce the need for repeated home‑rule petitions to admit otherwise qualified Boston residents.
Coletta told the committee the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association was neutral on the bill; she said union representatives raised concerns about retirement implications for later entrants but did not oppose the change. Committee members asked questions about how later entry would affect pension and retirement timelines; Coletta replied that individuals could decide whether the timing worked for their careers and that entrants would still vest in a pension.
Officer Casey Onyegobo of the Worcester Police Department, appearing virtually as a recruiter and diversity, equity and inclusion officer, told the committee increasing the age cutoff from 32 to 39 (in his department's context) ‘‘will help me reach out to other people’’ and that older applicants in the BIPOC community could serve as visible role models.
No committee vote was recorded at the hearing. Proponents asked the committee to issue a favorable report so more Boston residents could pursue policing as a career.
