Phoenix opens second round of written tests to hire police officers

PHOENIX — The Phoenix Police Department began accepting applications Monday for those interested in taking the department’s written exam.

“Interested applicants can go to the city’s website starting Monday and register for two upcoming police written exams,” Lt. Anthony Lopez said. “One will be in April and one will be in June.”

Adding new officers to the force is welcome news for the department, which hasn’t hired new officers in six years, Lopez said.

The city plans to increase the number of officers from roughly 2,700 to 3,000 by June 2019, so Lopez said the department expects to continue offering exams for the foreseeable future.

“Starting in April, essentially we’ll be giving the test every month for an extend period of time,” he said.

Fifteen members of the first batch of applicants were hired.