New standards make it easier to join police, military, corrections

In recent years and especially since COVID, recruiting for uniformed services is down across the country. As a result, a career in the military, state police or as a corrections officer may be a bit easier due to an ease in hiring requirements.

These agencies have employed a variety of tactics to attract candidates:

Some, like the U.S. Navy, no longer require a high school diploma or GED.

A corrections officer in New York State can start the job at 18 years old; the minimum age had been 21.

A Pennsylvania corrections officer no longer has to live in the Commonwealth.

You can be as old as 34 to apply to become a New York State trooper; the maximum age had been 29.

Pennsylvania State Police adjusted physical standards to account for gender and age.

Several agencies also liberalized their tattoo policies.

And based on interviews with people who make hiring decisions for the military, police and corrections, the efforts are, for the most part, paying off. Here’s a review:

The U.S. Navy

Since recruiting cratered in fiscal year 2023, all five branches of the U.S. military are meeting or exceeding their goals.

“While this represents a significant accomplishment,” according to a September 2025 memo from the Department of Defense (now Department of War), “the military services remain focused on mitigating the potential impacts of pervasive challenges in the recruiting market to ensure sustained recruiting success.”

That is a far cry from prior recruiting updates, such as fiscal year 2023 which DOD said was “without a doubt the toughest recruitment year for the military since the inception of the all-volunteer force” as only the Marine Corps and Space Force reached recruiting benchmarks.

A 2024 memo described the recruiting market as “disinterested.” During that time, the Navy made multiple changes to recruiting standards to make it easier to enlist.

It began enlisting individuals who didn’t graduate from high school or get a GED. The last time the service took individuals without education credentials was in 2000, according to a January 2024 Voice of America article. That step came on the heels of a December 2022 decision to bring in a larger number of recruits with poor scores on the Armed Services Qualification Test.

Physical requirements have not changed.

That same article cited the Navy’s then chief of personnel who said that of the more than 2,400 applicants who were turned away the previous year, as many as 500 could score high enough to get in under new rules.

Since fiscal year 2022, Navy numbers look good at local recruiting stations in Middletown, N.Y., and Newton, N.J. In Middletown, the combined number of sailors recruited for fiscal years 2022 and 2023 was 76. In the two years since, that number climbed to 96. In Newton, numbers in that time span climbed from 32 to 58.

“Interest in service tends to ebb and flow based on local demographics and awareness of opportunities, but recruiters remain focused on connecting with individuals who are motivated to serve and interested in careers in areas like aviation, cybersecurity, engineering, medicine and other technical fields,” said Elijah Leinaar, deputy director of public affairs at Navy Recruiting Command.

The mission at the Navy recruiting station in Middletown remains the same, according to Petty Officer 1st Class Kaitlin Baker.

“We are looking for morally, physically and mentally qualified individuals,” said Baker, a Goshen native. “We are seeing encouraging progress nationwide and believe we will achieve our mission this year.”

New York

State Police

Hiring requirements for state troopers have also changed in recent years.

Since 2023, the maximum applicant age went from 29 to 34 (including one additional year for fulltime active military duty up to seven years), the retirement age went from 60 to 63, the tattoo policy was liberalized by removing arms from the list of prohibited areas and additional police academy classes have been funded. The minimum application age of 20 remained the same as did physical requirements.

At the same time, the state police recruitment program was tweaked to reach more potential female and minority candidates with a goal of having women comprise 30 percent of all recruits by 2030.

“The goal was to expand the eligibility list in order to attract candidates who have served in the military or worked in other careers who might be looking to transition to a career in law enforcement,” said Police Executive Director of Public Information Beau Duffy.

The recruiting efforts may be paying off as the number of troopers rose from 4,742 in the fall of 2022 to 4,981 as of this month.

State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision

Like other states across the country, New York is dealing with a corrections officer shortage.

In 2025, the number of statewide corrections officers was 11,278 for an inmate population of 33,845. In 2019, prior to COVID, there were 19,072 corrections officers for an inmate population of 44,334.

To close the gap, Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Commissioner Daniel Martuscello implemented the Recover, Recruit and Rebuild Initiative last year that included lowering of the minimum age requirement from 21 to 18.

“The department launched an aggressive recruitment campaign that, in addition to changes to eligibility, included a new labor management agreement, incentives that include referral and hiring bonuses, pay reallocations and retention bonuses,” said Department of Corrections and Community Supervision Assistant Public Information Officer Nicole March. “This effort has resulted in a 155 percent increase in those taking the correction officer exam, a 64 percent increase in appointments, and a 43 percent increase in those completing the academy.”

For the younger officers, there are stipulations for the first year and a half of employment such as restrictions on carrying firearms and having close contact with prisoners. There are also additional reporting, enhanced training and mentoring requirements.

Since August 2025, the Department of Corrections has accepted 72 under-21 academy trainees.

Orange County Correctional Facility

While the situation at Orange County Correctional Facility in Goshen is also challenging, the new hiring requirements for state corrections officers do not apply to county correctional facilities. Appointees must be at least 20 years of age, have a high school diploma/GED along with various combinations of college credits and work experience.

“Current correction officer staffing levels are approximately 8.5 percent lower than they were 10 years ago,” said Orange County Sheriff Deputy Christie Meany. “The Sheriff’s Office has implemented a continuous recruitment and anticipates that this approach will help reduce officer deficit over the next 12 months.”

The inmate population at the jail went from 318 in January of 2025 to a high of 471 in June 2025. As of January 2026, the number was 418. The increase can be attributed to several factors, Meany said.

“Revisions to bail reform laws, the housing of federal detainees and individuals who had been remanded to the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections but remained in county custody due to the temporary suspension of state intake all contributed to the increase in population.”

As hiring efforts continue to the corrections side, Meany said there are enough resources to house the current prisoner population.

Pennsylvania

State Police

The state police made changes to eligibility requirements for troopers due to shortages in the ranks. Currently, 4,634 of the 4,844 state trooper positions in the budget are filled. At the end of 2021, there were 4,548 troopers out of a budgeted number of 4,744.

“Our goal is to graduate approximately 380 troopers this year,” said state police Communications Director Sgt. Logan Brouse. “In August 2023, Gov. Josh Shapiro announced that applicants will no longer need college credits to apply and the state saw a 258 percent increase in the number of applicants the following fiscal year. In 2020, the tattoo policy was changed to now permit tattoos that can be covered by the long-sleeved uniform shirt while on duty.”

Additionally, physical standards have changed. Prior to June of 2020, there was one set of requirements for the vertical jump, Illinois agility run, 300-meter run, push-ups and 1.5-mile run. Now, standards differ based on gender and age.

State Department of Corrections

In 2022, with its corrections officer vacancy rate at 10.5 percent, Pennsylvania instituted a series of steps to attract and retain qualified corrections officers as quickly as possible.

First, the state created a Recruitment and Retention Division which allowed recruiters to participate in more than 750 job fairs, college and university visits, military and veteran programs and other community events in 2024.

The minimum age for corrections officer trainees also dropped from 21 to 18, the residency requirement was waived and the hiring process was reduced by at least 10 days.

As of last year, the state’s corrections officer vacancy rate had dropped to 4.8 percent.

“Everything we do begins with people, and our recruitment and retention team is out in the community virtually every day, engaging with potential applicants to share the benefits and opportunities in the field of corrections,” Pennsylvania Department of Corrections Secretary Laurel Harry said in a press release last year. “As corrections officer vacancies decrease, our facilities become safer, more cost-effective and better equipped to meet the needs of the incarcerated.”

Pike County Correctional Facility

For the first time since COVID, officials at Pike County Correctional Facility in Lords Valley say corrections officer staffing levels should reach budgeted levels by April.

Currently, there are 78 officers (80 last year) for the 321 inmates at the facility as compared to 89 for which there are budgeted, according to Jennifer Hughson, the facility’s executive administrative assistant. The number in 2021, during COVID, was 53 officers for an inmate population of 141.

While hiring standards and requirements have not changed, Hughson said there have been salary and benefits increases in recent years.

New Jersey

New Jersey Department of Corrections

In state prisons across New Jersey, the number of “correctional police officers” is down in recent years relative to the inmate population. In 2021, there were 4,711 correctional police officers for a prisoner population of 12,808. This year, there are 3,605 correctional police officers and 12,225 prisoners.

Like Pennsylvania, New Jersey waived the residency requirement for correctional police officers to increase the hiring pool. Furthermore, the Department of Corrections transitioned from a civil service process to direct hire, established a Custody Recruitment Unit, launched the “Serve with Honor. Protect with Pride” marketing campaign and provided correctional police officers with 3.5 percent annual salary increase.

To encourage professional growth, the department partnered with Thomas Edison State University to offer college credits to Correctional Officer Academy graduates.

The mandatory physical condition entry requirements (a minimum number of pushups and sit-ups in a minute, a 12.5-inch vertical jump, and time benchmarks for the 300 meter and 1.5-mile run) are the same regardless of age or gender.

If academy class sizes are any indicator, the situation in New Jersey may be improving.

“The most recent graduating class consisted of 157 new officers, which is the largest since 2017 and the fifth consecutive class with an increase,” said the department spokesperson. “Simultaneously, the officer attrition rate has plummeted by more than 65 percent. Since 2023, 94 percent of academy graduates remain with the department after their first year of service. Through innovative leadership and modernization, [we] are no longer managing a shortage but actively building a stronger and more sustainable workforce.”

As of deadline, the New Jersey State Police had not provided information for this article.