Sea Girt, N.J. - Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa and Colonel Rick Fuentes today visited the State Police training academy during the Physical Qualification Test (PQT) to observe people in the current pool of applicants vie for a spot in the next academy classes. The Attorney General used the opportunity to discuss the encouraging diversity in the applicant pool.

"At this stage of the process, our diversity has improved in every category," said Attorney General Chiesa. "As one of the nation’s most richly diverse states, I think it’s essential that we strive to have local, county and state law enforcement agencies that reflect our diversity."

"We have seen the number of troopers decline through attrition while our missions have continued to expand in very important areas. We look forward to selecting the very best men and women from this promising pool of applicants to become the next New Jersey State Troopers," said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the State Police.

More than 12,000 men and women submitted online applications, the most in any New Jersey State Police recruiting drive. More than 9,600 of them met all the initial qualifications and 8,500 scheduled themselves to take the PQT, which is the current phase of the process.

The tentative diversity numbers of this applicant pool entering the PQT is very strong, with 19% Hispanic, 15% Black, 14% female, 3% Asian, and 2% listing two or more categories. By comparison, the last recruiting process, held in early 2010, resulted in approximately 5,200 applicants moving into the PQT phase with 15% being Hispanic, 11% Black, and 9% female.

The PQT includes four graded activities. Applicants begin with a 75 yard pursuit run that simulates a brief foot pursuit, directing the runners around a course with right angle turns. Next are push ups followed by sit ups, each over a two minute period. Finally, applicants must run a 1.5 mile course with a minimum time of 14:26. The better the performance in each exercise, the higher the score the applicants will receive. There is a brief rest period between each exercise.

Applicants passing the PQT will be invited to take a written examination. Those passing the written exam will have a thorough background investigation performed. Continuing applicants will receive medical and psychological examinations. Class rosters will be filled and applicants will then be invited to attend the residential academy, which lasts approximately 25 weeks.

The online application process was open from May 7th through May 29th of this year. There is a rough target to graduate 250 total troopers in 2013 as a part of the 152nd and 153rd State Police classes.

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